What have we, as a nation of immigrants, become? Border patrol agents dump water on the ground and toss the empty plastic bottles on the desert floor, tear gas is sprayed over the crowd as women and children flee the spray, crying children are forcibly separated from parents and friends and relatives, others are placed in “containment” cells while more are transported to unknown locations, and a 7-year-old girl is allowed to die without adequate food, water or medical care.
And these are only the incidents that rise to the level of national news. There is so much more — pain and anger and suffering. When did we reach this low point? Where are those who have been chosen to lead us and to express our caring for each other? What is the path forward?
We are together on one small, delicate planet. Instead of talking of walls and razor wire, we should be sitting together to discuss ways to stop violence, to end tribal conflict and to abandon weapons that kill. We are, as a people, better than that. We need to seek solutions that encourage, embolden and enable all to be part of the partnership of humanity.
Dorothea Farris
Crystal River Valley