After Ana and I moved back to Chicagoland (from Wisconsin, where Bill Burton, Ana’s dad, died in 1990), I couldn’t find a teaching job – or really any full-time position – and was seriously underemployed for quite a long time.
Thankfully, Kelly Temp Services came to my rescue again – and I ended up as a paralegal in the real estate law department at Sears, Roebuck, and Co.
As we purchased and sold property for past, present, and future Sears stores, I got to know the attorneys, paralegals, and assistants pretty well – and they me. I remember one day, in particular. Our department windows overlooked a gruesome scene … an overnight predator’s invasion of a cygnet nest, leaving at least one mangled and bloody baby bird next to the pond.
As the legal crowd gathered to observe, Tom – not one to wear his heart on his sleeve – looked over as I approached and said, “Nancy, you don’t want to see this.”
This incident and casual conversations over lunch and over time, led to my growing reputation as a “defense lawyer’s dream juror.” Because I would rather see nine guilty people go free than a single innocent person incarcerated.
Yes, okay, unfortunately, in my personal relationships and social settings, I’m not always the one who sees both sides or resists jumping to false conclusions. Mea culpa.
But when it comes to the liberty of law-abiding citizens, I’ll take their side every time. The shadow of a doubt makes my vote “Not guilty” – even if it means a scoundrel gets off scot-free.
And that’s why my stomach tightens up and my eyes fill when I read about a 5-year-old taken, with his father, from Minnesota to (most likely) a “facility” in Texas.
The details are ambiguous:
- Some say dad was the target and Liam was used as bait to lure his dad or other targets out of the house.
- Others report the dad ran, so ICE rescued/took the “abandoned” child.
- Another source said that a family member present at the scene begged ICE officers to leave the child with her. They refused.
- The family is reportedly in the asylum process.
So, yes, the story is messy.
I DON’T GIVE A DAMN!!!
But people with whom I thought I shared faith continue to rehash —
- isolated incidences of crimes committed by immigrants
- the presence of “bad actors” and paid agitators
- a source-less FB story that the President purchased a café so no one will go hungry
- “how dare they invade a house of worship”
- “what about her emails?”
- “do you really want your tax dollars supporting illegal aliens?” Ugh – no one is illegal.
I’m sick of it. Sick of hearing more about the sanctity of a building embellished with a cross than cruelty to children treated as criminals. Sick of hearing “the worst of the worst” when witnessing a child, wearing a bunny hat with white ears, whisked away to who-knows-where. Sick of accepting collateral damage. Sick of “Well, I don’t agree with everything they’re doing, but…”
There is no “but.”
Children of God…
- STOP supporting this cruelty and injustice.
- STOP normalizing dragging people out of cars when their only crime is annoying so-called officers who wear tactical gear and weapons but carry no warrants or humanity.
- DEFEND the unarmed and harmless from “hunt down, arrest, zip-tie, incarcerate now… check their story later – after we’ve terrorized them.”
- STAND UP for the constitutional rights of EVERY PERSON who abides here – not just the white and lovely citizens or those with enough wealth and power to bend the rules.
I want to say “this is not who we are” but the evidence continues to pile up… it’s exactly who we are. And, evidently, it’s what we’ve always been – from the landing of those first European sailing vessels to the current horror in towns across the United States.
Lord have mercy. Forgive us. Forgive me.
And, for some reason, my lovelies, it seems a little inappropriate to ask for God’s peace. So instead, I leave you with simply take good care.
Bunny photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash
Cygnet photo by Phil Botha on Unsplash
Nancy Burton Wolfe 