It’s difficult to gauge the temperature of a country untill you’ve been out of it for a while and then come back. For many this is not an option, and radical changes in government and social policies go unobserved til the heat swells in their faces. Upon returning to America- my America, last November, this roving reporter has been astonished by the level of increased control over it’s citizens as well as the amazing difficulty it is just to cross through border control in Mexico into your own land.
What purpose does it serve to profile a lone woman with Oklahoma plates with drug sniffing dogs, electronics detectors, and questions as to her very existence? In Palomas I crossed to get a serious cup of coffee and was detained instantly by a big fellow who unclipped his gun and proceeded to go thru my purse and read personal notes I’d written. I was sent to an inside office where I couldn’s see my car or what they were doing. Then the interrogation began and every one who came in asked me the same questions. Where does my mother live? How far does my husband drive to work every day? Why are you here? I left the station with my GMC hood broken and some small items missing. No one can say anything.
Had I become an international spy in secret the few years I was gone? Or were they stereotyping every blonde female who came through just to see her squirm? I asked myself these questions as I waited outside the Agua Prieta station in the cold inspection area with 3 other women as guards looked on in amusement. 200 cars must have went by in this time but did I see any men being searched? No. Did I see any cars with Mexican plates being searched? No. Was I carrying anything in my car other than myself? No. The answer as to why so much trouble is only known by the powers that be. But it only confirmed my suspicions that our democracy is not what we think and our former cry of freedom is heard only as a faint whisper in this new age.
Recently in the news, in the Manhatten area, a nine year old boy was nearly suspended for playing with a two inch toy gun at lunchtime, thus disregarding the school’s no guns policy. Does a tiny plastic representation of a gun- make it a weapon? Does a photo or drawing of a gun make it a weapon? If so then normal school books should be thrown out if they show photos of policemen, government workers or even old west cowboys packing a pistol. This small gun wouldn’t even harm you if you swallowed it. So where is the danger? Where is the offense? (So now we exaggerate the circumstances in the name of trying to stop terrorism.)
In another part of America, one homeless girl- not a vagabond but a hardworking girl who’s family was evicted and sent to a shelter for processing-missed her final exams at school and wasn’t allowed to graduate because she was held at the center for hours so her family could have a place to sleep. (Can you sense a trend where we are majoring on the minors instead of being concerned with the well being of our people?)
Midwestern states can stay the same for years, but bordertowns are nervous places. An American can’t get a job if he doesn’t speak Spanish. People on the street are looked at with suspicion and you feel guilty even when you’re not doing anything wrong. Homeland Security officers walk around like they’re God’s gift to men, but the basic concern is not security but tax money on stuff bought by tourists, apprehending fence jumpers, and the power such a job gives you over the locals.
But who’s fault is it when government gets too big for their britches? The working population gets so narrow focused that we encase ourselves in our own fences. We debate the television over major issues.We hesitate to get involved in real life because involvement means commitment. Committment equals time and time equals money. You say that “I am just one person, and alone I can do nothing.” But many battles have been fought by single solitary examples of greatness. Cancer survivors, mountain climbers, mission builders, philanthropers, and everyday people who brighten the lives of others merely by their existence. Larger organizations like the Red Cross-( worldwide), No More Deaths (at the Mexican Border helping save the lives of thousand of migrants), Salvation Army-( food and shelter for the homeless), and many others, were created to help change situations, solve problems and foster good will within our communities without taking on the world alone.
Gone are the songs of old- ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee’, ‘America the Beautiful’, and ‘Yankey Doodle’. These are past reminders of our beginnings with justice, truth, liberty, and the purusit of happiness for the rich and poor alike. People who stand for something, die for someone, and live for a better future. But maybe it’s too much to ask that America return to her former glory days. It’s just more easy to settle down, relax, and fade into popular opinion- accepting the modern remade version of today’s society-… ‘God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy’.
