American Identity
The Enduring Power of Hate in Suffolk County
originally posted by Rev. David L. Ostendorf for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Mar 16th
There is perhaps no other locale in the nation where anti-immigrant hatred has sunk roots as deep as those in Suffolk County, New York, where the powerful County Executive has built a career on it and where the judiciary is challenged to empanel a jury for the murder trial of a man accused of immigrant-killing for sport.
Almost a decade ago Newsday reporter Bart Jones aptly labeled Suffolk County “ground zero” of the anti-immigrant movement. As day laborers were brought in to provide low-wage labor for many of the upscale residents of the Long Island enclave, opposition to their presence began to build. The bellicose and belligerent “Sachem Quality of Life” crowd that sought to drum immigrants out of the County was subsumed by the Federation for American Immigration (FAIR)’s successful efforts to “mainstream” anti-immigrant bigotry, in spite of courageous efforts by community, religious, civic, labor, civil, and immigrant rights organizations. A decade later, the enduring power of FAIR-inspired anti-immigrant hatred is still manifest.
The New York Times reported last week that the task of empanelling an impartial Suffolk County jury for the first trial in the murder of Marcelo Lucero had become “a struggle to find tolerance.” Mr. Lucero was stabbed to death in the fall of 2008 when a group of seven teenagers out for an evening of “beaner hopping”—the “sport” of assaulting Latinos—killed him. Of 130 potential jurors interviewed over three days, only 5 were selected; the pall of anti-immigrant feeling ran deep and explicit, though subdued, among the pool of potential jurors. FAIR must have exulted—its work had, indeed, sunk deep roots.
The fact that teenagers even engaged in such “sport” is testament to the enduring power of anti-immigrant fervor in Suffolk County. Those who attacked Marcelo Lucero grew up in their formative years in an atmosphere rife with bigotry and hate that seeped into the lives of children and youth, as well as adults who, in 2010, could not serve as impartial jurors in the trial of those raised in their midst.
As the trial itself unfolds, reporter Bart Jones will likely not be writing about it for Newsday. After years of covering the anti-immigrant movement and its impact in Suffolk County, Jones has been reassigned by the newspaper, possibly under pressure from the powerful, anti-immigrant County Executive Steve Levy. Joe Strupp of Media Matters suggested last week that Levy may, indeed, have had his way at last, after complaining publicly for years about Jones’ thorough coverage of anti-immigrant activity and Levy’s own role in it. Jones helped break the 206 story that Levy was in the thick of the FAIR-inspired front group, “Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform,” and he never let up reporting on Levy’s nefarious anti-immigrant politics. As much as the teenagers involved in the Lucero murder, Levy is testament to the enduring power of hate in Suffolk County; indeed, he is the embodiment of the political power birthed by such hatred.
In 2001 I saw the impact of this hatred when I first journeyed to Suffolk County to work with local organizations and religious leaders to counter it. Even in those early days of “ground zero,” hatred had taken deep root. As FAIR advanced its agenda in the County it became clear that it was playing a dual, pivotal role: mainstreaming its anti-immigrant mantra and, simultaneously, keeping the embers of hate glowing by ignoring the flames they would yield. In the early days neo-Nazis attracted to the County assaulted and intended to kill several immigrants. Immigrants were burned out of their residences. Hatred followed bigotry. Violence followed hatred. Murder followed violence. An immigrant died at the hands of youth raised in such an environment. An elected County Executive, a Democrat, fanned the embers, and when flames erupted he acted as if there were no heat.
Such is the enduring power of hate in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. Unchecked, this is where anti-immigrant fervor goes, burning through neighborhoods, counties, and—as in Europe—countries as well; consuming the lives and spirits of youth and of those struggling for livelihoods and families; and making pawns of alleged leaders who smell only political opportunity in the deadly smoke of its flames.
Trailblazer of Civil Rights Dies Forgotten
originally posted by Imagine 2050 Editors for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Mar 14th
A sad reminder of how easily the individuals who inspired generations and paved the way for expanded freedom slip into obscurity. Tragically ironic that this comes amid a vicious backslide on the civil rights won by individuals like Juanita Goggins.
The New York Times’ Robbie Brown wrote:
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Neighbors were chagrined last week when the police here found the body of a 75-year-old woman who had frozen to death, alone in her house, during unexpectedly frigid weather. Last year, part of Highway 5 in Rock Hill, S.C., was renamed for her.
But they were shocked this week when they learned that the woman, Juanita W. Goggins, had been a civil rights trailblazer who in 1974 became the first black woman elected to the South Carolina legislature.
Now residents of this normally neighborly Southern capital say they are feeling regretful, and slightly guilty, for allowing one of its most revered figures to disappear into a sleepy ranch house with little company. Possibly mentally ill, living without running water or heat, Ms. Goggins is believed to have died on Feb. 20 — when temperatures dropped below freezing — but her body was not discovered for 11 days.
Several neighbors in her elderly, mostly black community in downtown Columbia said they had learned the full scope of Ms. Goggins’s accomplishments only from her obituaries. At the peak of her political career, in the 1970s, she twice visited President Jimmy Carter at the White House and was the first black woman appointed to the United States Civil Rights Commission.
In the legislature, where she represented Rock Hill, on the northern border of the state, for three terms in the 1970s, Ms. Goggins, a Democrat, helped pass key legislation for improving elementary school education and public health. Last year, a stretch of Highway 5 was renamed in her honor.
To read more about Juanita Goggins, click here. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/us/12frozen.html
Neo-Nazi Activities Target Immigrants
originally posted by Sarah Viets for IMAGINE 2050 » Immigration [click here]
Mar 12th
When I first heard about the National Policy Institute’s “Boycott the Glenn Beck Boycott,” I was a little surprised, but just a little. Due to Beck’s racially charged reporting, Color of Change launched a boycott targeting companies financially supporting Beck’s television show.
The National Policy Institute (NPI), a white nationalist organization, believes that in order for “The European identity of the United States and its people [to] be maintained, Federal decentralization and territorial separation should be recognized as legitimate and humane means of preventing and resolving divisive social, ethnic, and racial conflicts.”
Glenn Beck has yet to respond to NPI’s boycott; however, this is an ideal opportunity for mainstream media to finally speak out against Beck’s racially divisive brand of journalism.
The National Policy Institute’s “boycott” comes amid a rash of neo-Nazi activities targeting immigrant communities.
On February 20, forty-eight Ku Klux Klan members covered in white hoods protested against undocumented students marching to Washington D.C to raise awareness of immigrant’s civil rights. The KKK’s Imperial Wizard Jeff Jones stated that “We are here to tell you wake up Georgia and stop the Latino invasion now.” “I know plenty of people who are willing to work and would do anything right now,” according to the Jacksonville newspaper.
The Nationalist Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group, is currently mobilizing its membership to attend its national meeting, “Reclaim the Southwest,” on April 17. In the announcement, the NSM relies on immigration issues to rally its base. The flier for the event says, “Let your voice be heard as we speak out against illegal immigration, Sanctuary Cities”. According toNSM’s webpage, the “rally will be hosted in Southern California this year with the rally on the South Lawn of L.A. City Hall”.
On May 1, the American Nazi Party (ANP) is hosting its National Conference in Detroit, Michigan. Like the Nationalist Socialist Movement, ANP also uses immigration issues to rally its troops. On the front page of ANP’s webpage, the Nazi Party sends its visitors an alarming message by claiming that “America has an estimated 20 MILLION brown, mestizo ILLEGAL ALIENS who have INVADED OUR NATION – this evil”.
The biggest concern for the American Nazi Party (ANP) is the upcoming demographic changes, particularly for white Americans. On the top part of the page, the ANP warns that”only 23% of the American population under the age of 18 is WHITE. Already, four U.S. states are MAJORITY NON-WHITE, and 10% of all counties in America are MAJORITY NON-WHITE. World-wide, White women of child-bearing age comprise only 3% of the earth’s population. Do these FACTS disturb you? They should.”
When the anti-immigrant leader, Shawna Forde, murdered 9-year-old Brisenia Flores, the anti-immigrant group NumbersUSA said nothing. When a gang of teenagers killed Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant in Suffolk County, Rhode Island, the Center for Immigration Studies said nothing. When congressional leaders support hate-crimes legislation, the Federation for American Immigration Reform supports elected officials who oppose hate-crime legislation.
While the Tanton Network portrays itself as credible single-issue anti-immigrant organizations the organization’s founder, John Tanton, sings a different tune. As neo-Nazi groups express concern of whites no longer being the majority, I’m reminded of John Tanton labeling immigration as a demographic issue.
As immigration legislation reform looms, reporters hold America’s moral compass in their pens. Mainstream media continues to say very little about Glenn Beck’s journalistic habits, it also says very little about the John Tanton Network’s ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups campaigning on behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, Center for Immigration Studies and NumbersUSA’s anti-immigrant agenda.
Congressman Trent Franks: Good Time to Pick Up Foot, Insert in Mouth
originally posted by Amy Spicer for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Mar 6th
Rep. Franks, a virulent anti-abortion activist and extreme right-wing conservative from Arizona, suggested in an interview with blogger Mike Stark that the Black community was better off under slavery than it is today.
“In this country, we had slavery for God knows how long. And now we look back on it and we say what was the matter with them? You know, I can’t believe, you know, four million slaves. This is incredible. And we’re right, we’re right. We should look back on that with criticism. It is a crushing mark on America’s soul. And yet today, half of all black children are aborted. Half of all black children are aborted. Far more of the African-American community is being devastated by the policies of today than were being devastated by policies of slavery.”
This started as an interview discussing civility and outrageous language within political parties and correspondents before Franks went on a tangent about abortion. And for the record, for over 250 years, that’s how long. For over 250 years slavery legally occurred in America.
30 years ago the political climate carved out by the Civil Rights Movement and the recently won Roe v. Wade wouldn’t have allowed this comment to be just another in a line of horribly misguided and offensive item out of a politician’s mouth. To argue the “policies” of slavery as better for the Black community because of strident anti-abortion beliefs wouldn’t have been tolerated.
The implications are staggering. Just pause and think about this. The most immoral time in American history used to decry abortion? I’m not arguing there isn’t racism present in reproductive wellness. Neither is Franks. He’s using this as his platform for his own pro-life beliefs.
In a moment in which I’m sure he intended to come across as self-deprecating Franks says one of the only things that is spot on. When Stark tells him that “you believe what you say and say what you believe” Franks responds “sometimes I miss the curve once in awhile.”
Yes, yes you do.
English-only Policies Threaten Civil Rights
originally posted by Cloee Cooper for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Mar 2nd
Tomorrow marks the 42nd anniversary of the Chicano Student walkout from LA high schools in 1968.
Bold Chicano students organized high school students across east LA to demand the right to speak their language without institutionally sanctioned abuse in their high schools. Students were forbidden from speaking Spanish in class or from using the restrooms during lunchtime.
While nearly 70% of the high school students in east LA originated from a Spanish speaking country, the teachers were mandated to physically abuse and humiliate students in front of the rest of the class who spoke Spanish. The common drill: a young person slipped and responded to a question in Spanish. The teacher calls the student to the front of the room demanding that they place their hands out for the class to see, and proceeds to use a baton against their hands until blood is drawn.
Despite the restrictive environment that rang loud across the halls “you do not belong here”, Chicano/a students, emboldened by civil rights gains in the 1960s, took democracy, freedom and equality into their own hands. On March 3rd, 1968, over 20,000 students and families took to the streets in east LA to demand equal language rights in their high schools. 13 students were arrested and many more beaten with batons. Months later, high school across east LA were forced to reconsider their English only policies and in 1964 the Civil Rights Act was passed which called an end to discrimination based on sex and race within public institutions – a huge victory for our nation.
42 years later, those gains and the civil rights struggle that underpinned them, are under attack. Pro-English and U.S. English, two organizations in the John Tanton Network have recently introduced a bill that opens the door for employers to enforce English-only policies in the workplace. The bill, H.R. 1588 – Common Sense English Act, was introduced by Rep. Tom Price R-GA – a member of the House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC), which was founded by virulent anti-immigrant former congressman Tom Tancredo and supported by the Tanton Network. H.R. 1588 would rescind the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that removed barriers based on sex and race in the workplace.
Unfortunately H.R. 1588, is one of many English Only Bills that have been drafted and introduced by John Tanton Network affiliates in recent years. The English Language Unity Act of 2009 introduced by Rep. Steve King R-IA, another HIRC member, is another on a seemingly endless list.
If not now, then when? In the name of Chicano Students who walked out of their classrooms, risking their future to demand opportunity and dignity, we might ask ourselves the question, what will it take for us to step out equally as bold against bigotry and racism now?
Great White Hopes: Race and the Right
originally posted by Rev. David L. Ostendorf for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Feb 24th
One of the high privileges of being white in America is to be able to speak of race in coded terms and language—or by allusion to “broader” political issues, critiques, and concerns—and then profess innocence (“plausible deniability”) when called out for one’s racism.
Recent gatherings of the Tea Party and the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) provide a case in point, as do almost daily sound bites from so-called Congressional leaders determined to prevent the Obama Administration from moving forward on any agenda. Tea partier and former Congressman Tom Tancredo called for a return to Jim Crow-era voter literacy tests, declaring the President was elected by “people who could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English.” CPACers Mitt Romney declared that “President Obama fails to understand America,” while Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty suggested taking a nine iron to the “window of big government,” as Tiger Woods’ wife had done to his vehicle. House Minority Leader John Boehner told CPAC that, “Voters thought they were electing a commander in chief; instead they got a finger-wagging professor.”
While Tancredo’s remarks were over the top, as usual, those of Romney, Pawlenty, and Boehner are considered “run of the mill” political jibes. Unpacked, they are—to the contrary—racially laden to the core. Romney may just as well as have said what he really meant: that Obama “fails to understand OUR America,” the white America he and the CPACers want back in their hands. Pawlenty may just as well have said, “It’s time to take a golf club to this African American President who has cheated OUR white nation.” And Boehner—well, he may just as well said, “No African American can be either the commander in chief or a professor who thinks he’s better than WE are.” He may have just as well used the “uppity” epithet often attributed to African American men.
To grow up white in the U.S. is to be immersed in racially-charged language from childhood, to know the “code words” implicitly. Those attempting to coalesce the political right are becoming ever-more adept at coding this racism—“OUR country” comes to mind here—in their critiques of and attacks on this President. Language is power. It is the means by which we describe and define, demean and diminish, categorize and characterize. Racially coded, it is another means by which dominance is maintained, advanced, sought, or secured.
Bararck Obama is by no means above criticism. The President and the Democratic Congress have not delivered. In the face of entrenched and unwielding opposition and the rise of race on the right the task has not been easy. No one said it would be.
But amidst all the analysis by the political and pundit classes, one seldom reads or hears about the role of race in the current state of disarray in Washington. No one really wants to touch that rail, even though the political right is riding it all the way to November and beyond.
When Black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson ruled the boxing ring in the early twentieth century, white fans yearned openly for “the great white hope,” “their own” boxer who would take Johnson down for the count. Republicans now speak openly of Obama’s “failed Presidency.” When U.S. Representative Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) spoke of “a great white hope” for the GOP at a conservative gathering in her District just last August, her “slip” barely raised a political eyebrow. Oops. Didn’t know, didn’t mean, didn’t intend… anything by it.
Such “slips” are rather unusual, actually. After all, the racial code suffices quite nicely when speaking of this President (recall “You lie!”?), and most white politicians are smart enough to avoid such blatant missteps. But put your ear to the ground and listen to what is really being said by the Tancredos, the Romneys, the Pawlentys, the Boehners, the countless other who know full well how to use the code to their advantage.
Listen carefully—what you’ll hear is that race and the right go hand in glove, like the one that today’s “great white hopes” are using to win back “their country.”
Racism Exists in Saint Cloud
originally posted by Garat Ibrahim for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Feb 22nd
An act of hate was recently perpetrated by a resident in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. A packet of hateful, deragogatory depictions of Prophet Mohamed engaged in bestiality was posted to a telephone pole in front of a Somali store. This was a calculated move meant to cause embarrassment, and create an environment of hostility in this community of 68,000 – a third of whose population are black, Muslim, and Somali refugees
What was more frustrating was the decision by both county attorneys, Stearns and Benton, not to file criminal charges against the person responsible.
Actually this was not the first time the community has faced racism. In the conservative heartland of central Minnesota there is always the feeling by refugee communities that race plays into their daily interactions, but the hope is always that it will change for the better.
In 2001, when the largest group of refugees was moving into Saint Cloud, there was great resistant by property owners to rent to the refugee community because they believed that they would not be able to pay their rents. After some time the perception changed because of economic factors, and even organizations were for changing and renting their properties in large numbers to the refugees.
In 2002 a Somali center was vandalized and sprayed with swastikas and bullying of Somali children in the schools was quite prevalent. There were tensions between students and a feeling in the youth that affected their presence in the school system.
Human rights issues are universal. I believe it is time the community opens a human rights office, so that it can investigate hate crimes. The disgruntled who perpetrate these crimes could learn the reality around them. It is time we all defend the rights of community members, whether we are majorities or minorities, black, white or brown – we are all equal in the eyes of God.
There are many good people in the community, and I don’t want to undermine the work they do to make Saint Cloud a better place. It is my utmost hope to see the faith community play a bigger role making inroads by defending other faiths when they are demonized.
Cross-post: Republican Bill Seeks to Deprive American-Born of Citizenship
originally posted by Imagine 2050 Editors for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Feb 20th
Alex DiBranco highlights an ongoing threat, not just to the children of immigrants, but to any American whose ability to prove birthright is compromised.
A proposed bill sponsored by Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) wants people born in the U.S.A. to no longer receive automatic birthright citizenship.
The 14th Amendment, definitely one of the more awesome amendments in that it determined people born in the U.S. are all citizens, not slaves, states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Miller wants a federal law that says that “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” bit excludes children born in the U.S. to two undocumented parents.
And what is that jurisdiction bit actually used for? The only babies born in the U.S. who are not automatic citizens are the children of diplomats. Diplomatic immunity means that they are, in fact, not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. laws, and cannot be prosecuted under our legal system. Undocumented immigrants, however, are in violation of a civil law, and most definitely subject to the jurisdiction of the United States — they can be prosecuted, sentenced, and imprisoned if they commit a crime. The children of undocumented immigrants certainly don’t have immunity from U.S. law either (I assume Miller is not saying that they should?); they are subject to the same laws as every other resident of the United States.
Read the entire article here.
Middle American Radicals Come of Age in Texas Attack
originally posted by Eric Ward for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Feb 19th
Over the next several days our nation’s political leaders and media pundits will spend countless hours dissecting the actions of American suicide bomber Joseph Stack. On Thursday Stack deliberately flew a small aircraft into an office building housing federal offices killing one person and wounding over a dozen individuals.
The media spectacle will go something like this. Conservative leaders, who have, since the election of the first Black president, stoked the flames of political paranoia, have all but abandoned a semblance of civil society will be quick to explain Stack’s crime as the act of a “lone lunatic”.
Tea Party factions will quickly distance themselves from the action at the same time attempting to justify this act of domestic terrorism as proof of an “out of control” Federal Government. Tea Party leaders will work overtime to claim that Stack’s suicide note proves that he was a “rabid left winger.” They will point to Stacks’ quoting of communist philosopher Karl Marx in his suicide note as proof.
Of course we can’t forget Democratic and progressive leadership who will be quick to condemn the actions of Joseph Stack, make fun of the “extremism” of tea baggers, and finish up by taking some well-deserved political jabs at the Republican Party.
All of this ignores what Stack represents for the future of our nation. Progressives in the coming days would do better to turn off MSNBC and spend some time reading a book published nearly forty years ago. The book discusses the rise of the Middle American Radical (MAR) and Stack’s suicide note reflects the MARs worldview with all of its contradictions.
In 1973, the late Donald Warren released the seminal study The Radical Center: Middle Americans and the Politics of Alienation. In the book Warren analyzes a demographic of the American public that he refers to as Middle American Radicals (MAR). Warren argues that these American’s don’t fit the classic political definitions of “left” or “right” but instead are a group “made up of a distinct set of views which, briefly stated, focus upon the individual as caught between threats to his way of life from the wealthy and the powerful, on the one hand, and militant, organized minorities on the other.”
Warren states that the MARs demographic perceives itself as alienated from American life and is not easily swayed by speeches from religious leaders, union officials, and/or public officials. It is disconnected from traditional institutions such as mainstream churches, labor unions, and political parties. It is a demographic that speaks of jobs, taxes, and the economy as code words for a deeper discussion on American identity and who (and who doesn’t) belong.
Despite their wariness of demographic changes and challenges to structural racism, Middle American Radicals are not just fodder for racial extremists. One can find MARs joining political attacks on minority communities while in other situations defending them.
In 2004, the State of Arizona passed a ballot initiative to deny non-emergency services to any individual unable to provide proof of their legal status. While some Middle American Radicals supported this attack on immigrants, exit polls suggest that the majority of them voted against the anti-immigrant measure.
For over twenty years white nationalists have attempted to organize this group for its “racial holy war”, conservatives have given it lip service when votes were needed, and progressive democrats have either ignored MARs or deemed them worthy of only “bread and butter discussions”. This move by progressives ignores that Middle American Radicals want to debate “who is an American and what will America look like?” It is a debate that occurs on the historic terrain of race, belonging, and national identity. Progressive have not shown themselves to be ready for this type of debate and the results have been disastrous.
The continued push by progressives to ignore this debate by sticking to “economic issues” has only served to send Middle American Radicals into further isolation or into the folds of white nationalist, anti-immigrant and tea party organizations ready to organize them. Discussions with Middle American Radicals on policy issues such as health care, immigration, and education should not ignore or attempt to downplay the issue of race in America.
Middle American Radicals should be seen as a crucial part of strengthening a multiracial democracy. Progressive democrats should see MARs as a valuable constituency that should be engaged and organized around social issues that expand opportunity for all.
The Names Will be Changed
originally posted by Joan Flanagan for IMAGINE 2050 » American Identity [click here]
Feb 13th
When my very Norwegian mother was selling ads for the Chicago Daily News in the 1930’s, the company assigned her the name “Miss Kelly.” This was so that irate or flirtatious customers could not track her to her home address. How different from today when people will tell 350 million total strangers every bit of their so-called private lives on their Facebook pages!
Obviously there are sound commercial reasons for changing a name. Would you flaunt a polo shirt from Lifshitz? Fraydl and Frank Lifshitz were immigrants from Belarus and named their son Ralph Ruben Lifshitz. But he changed his name to Ralph Lauren to sell his wildly successful ultra-preppie clothing line emblazoned with polo ponies. According to Forbes, Ralph “Lauren” is the 224th richest man in the world worth $2.8 billion (tied with Georgio Armani, after Steven Spielberg and before Oprah Winfrey), so it was a very smart move.
Would earnest anti-war protesters want to hear from Robert Zimmerman from Hibbing, Minnesota? How about Bob Dylan from Greenwich Village? When his parents emigrated from Odessa in Russia, they were named Zimmerman, but as Bob “Dylan” he became the voice of a generation and won world-wide fame and fortune.
But sometimes there are more serious reasons for changing a name. When my best friend Barb was the manager of the cosmetics department in the glory days of Marshall Field’s department store, a tough part of her job was being the Rules Police for the 124 people who reported to her. This meant she had to write up employees for minor infractions of company policies like not wearing their name badge that would say “Miss Pierce.” In those days the sales associates were professionals and always referred to by their last names.
One day she saw one of her most reliable saleswomen who had replaced her badge that should have her last name (Silverman) with only her first name (Joyce), so Barb had to call her in to the office to review the rules. The saleswoman Joyce said someone had called her a name for being Jewish. She said “I don’t want my name in his mouth…on his tongue. I’m proud of my name but it shouldn’t be in his mouth.”
There was also a rule that everyone had to sign in by name and their employee number so that payroll could separate the people with the same names, like the three men named Mike Adams. She had a guy working in the stockroom who would never use his employee number. The policy said that she had to get him to use his number.
Barb recalls, “But when I called him in to talk about this, he showed me a number burned into his arm from a World War II Concentration Camp. He said he would no longer be a number.” She asked payroll to give him an exemption and they did. He didn’t have to sign in with his number like every other employee. In fact, they discovered they had four employees who had been in concentration camps, and granted all four survivors the right to skip the number at sign in.
The best sermon I ever heard was called “There are no secular jobs.” Pastor Steve Dahl, preaching at the Historic Methodist Campground of Des Plaines, said that although most people think that ministers and rabbis are the ones to care for people, actually every person in every job can help people get more peace in their lives. Because she was such a good listener, the lifelong Methodist Barb was able to comfort an employee who had been hurt by anti-Semitic remarks and to change the company policy for holocaust survivors. You might not think of the cosmetics counter as the place to do justice work, but why not? And why not where you work?
Joan Flanagan is the Fundraiser for the Center for New Community. Barbara Pierce was one of “Field’s Finest” employees from 1972 to 2007 and is now proud to be a monthly donor to the Center for New Community.