 on how it treats its most vulnerable.”[x]
Perhaps, the genetic code of the immipartheid virus contains important strains of a moral configuration that we are just now beginning to explore and unravel. My sense is that this is the arena where we must now re-focus our efforts. Maybe it’s the simple, time-tested, fundamental truths that we must learn to return to, in times as rapidly changing and complex as ours. Allow the simplicity of the following to speak to your senses.
“We gain something profound when we stand up for our beliefs, just as part of us dies when we know something is wrong, yet do nothing. We would call this radical dignity – if we remain silent in the face of cruelty, injustice and oppression, we sacrifice part of our soul.”[xi]
My prayer is that the soul of the body politic and the citizenry of the U.S. will begin to appreciate the term immipartheid for what it really is. I hope that this appreciation may birth a new posture that requires a reorientation in our attitudes, discussion and actions that respect the lessons of our Nation’s history. Just as we have identified anti-semitism and other racially-based slurs as a scourge, my hope is that we will apply this same fervor to the elimination of anti-immitism. The history of this nation reveals that we are capable of rising up and exterminating the social diseases we have somehow contracted. Our zeal to heal the infirmities of the world is presently hampered by our untreated condition here at home. Listen to the following:
“America is unlikely to play a different role in the world until it is a different America — until it finds ways once again realize the values of equality, liberty, democracy, and, one day, perhaps even of community in our own land. Efforts to alter the excesses of America’s international stance and to persuade the United States to respond more humanely to global problems are both essential and laudable. If we Americans truly hope to help others around the world, however, we have much hard work to do, first and foremost, here at home (emphasis is mine).”[xii]
Let’s not overlook the riveting insights of Baldwin, the counter-intuitive curiosity of Salk, the passionate persistence of Lemkin, as we prepare to assume a new posture, kneeling before the words, the language, of those who have gone before us. May we be reminded that we are the one’s called to work with human clay, with the heart and the soul.[xiii] Hearts that beat. Souls that hope. People just like us.
“When our language changes, behavior will not be far behind.”[xiv] I certainly hope so.
It’s the immoral part of our dilemma we cannot hide.
Somebody call 911.
About The Author:
Bill is a freelance writer. Bill is published in numerous professional publications, magazines, websites, journals, newspapers and newsletters. You can enjoy Bill’s writing on his website at http://billdahl.net/ For reprint permission, Contact Bill at wsdahl(at)bendbroadband(dot)com. All Rights Reserved.
Handy, Charles The Age of UNREASON
Harvard Business School Press © 1994 p. 17.
[ii] L’Engle,Madeleine – Compiled by Carole F. Chase – Herself – Reflections on a Writing Life, ShawBooks, An imprint of WaterBrook Press, Copyright © 2001 by Crosswicks Ltd. P. 15.
[iii] Power, Samantha A Problem From Hell – America and the Age of Genocide, Perrennial, An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc. NY.NY. Copyright © 2002 by Samantha Power, p. 31.
[iv] : http://www.census.gov/population/documentation/twps0056/tab01.xls
[v] Baldwin, James James Balwin – Collected Essays – Edited by Toni Morrison – Published by The Library of America, Copyright © 1998 by Literary Classics of the United States, Inc. NY,NY excerpt from Notes of a Native Son pp. 19.
[vi] Albright, Madeleine The Mighty and the Almighty – Reflections on America, God and World Affairs, HarperCollinsPublishers, Inc. NY,NY Copyright © 2006 by Madeline Albright, Pp. 89-90
[viii] Chittister, Joan The Ten Commandments – Laws of the Heart, Orbis Books Maryknoll, New York Copyright © 2006 by Joan Chittister p. 118.
[ix] Kinnaman, David and Lyons, Gabe UNChris