A Vocabulary Lesson

Each Tuesday and Thursday, I work with my Gonzaga students in an after-school program to help 7th and 8th grade immigrant and refugee students learn English. We teach them academic vocabulary -- words that are prevalent in school texts, such as concept, assume, and environment. These nuanced, abstract, highly contextual terms are deceptively difficult to explain. And so, my students and I nearly jumped for joy when Malik, a 7th grade Iraqi refugee, spontaneously demonstrated what he had learned that day. Before boarding the bus he spread his arms, looked to the sky, and jubilantly proclaimed, "THIS is totally an environment!" 

Lately, however, when I observe the discourse permeating the media, I sigh when I say, "This is totally an environment." An environment of fear, of mistrust, of political maneuvering. And yet, there is reason to be hopeful. Malik and his family are building a new life, grateful to be safe, relentlessly optimistic, infusing new energy into a school, a neighborhood, and an economy at times weighed down by poverty and cynicism. 

This is what I've seen refugees do time and time again: 

As they gain a new life, they breath new life  -- into what else? The environment. 

Thanks, Malik. Now I get it. 

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/christiaanbriggs/18696206

Common Ground. Higher Ground.

The horror of the terrorist attacks in Paris was bad enough. The extreme reactionary responses by some (politicians, pundits, and ordinary people) nearly put me over the edge. And so I posted an experience (below) on Facebook. In the broader landscape of social media, the post was hardly a blip -- but for me, personally, the response rekindled my hope. 

This is why: the 60+ "likes" represented individuals across the religious, political, economic, and educational spectrum. Within that group there were fans of Glenn Beck to Bernie Sanders, agnostics to devoutly religious, Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, PhDs and GEDs. And yet it seemed to me that we all resonated with the impulse to take higher ground. 

What's next? What are we willing to do to help shape the discourse around refugees? I believe this humanitarian crisis is not fundamentally a partisan issue, though there are those who would make it one. Though details and policy will and should be debated, can we agree to take one issue off the table now and forever? 

We will not accept the false logic and morally bankrupt assumption that condemns Middle Eastern refugees for these or other terrorist attacks. We will not punish millions of suffering and displaced humans for the cowardly, violent acts of a few. 

As president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker put it, "Those who organized, who perpetrated the attacks are the very same people who the refugees are fleeing and not the opposite." Instead, we will take higher ground and stand with those who know all-too-well what it is like to be caught in the firestorm of civil war, extremism, random acts of violence, and hopelessness. Maintaining national security and wise compassion that includes opening our doors to refugees are not mutually exclusive propositions. 

Finding Our Way

Two years ago, I was alone in Germany without a functioning cell phone trying to meet up with my aunts, who were in another town. Lost and jet lagged, lugging my bags and looking every bit like a clueless tourist, a young man came to my aid. He asked where I was going, carried my suitcase, and made sure I got on the right train. In my broken German and his broken English, I learned that he was a Syrian. He had taken refuge in Germany — hoping to build a life that included a future.

When I hear reactions to the evil attacks in Paris that include a call to seal our borders from Syrian (or other) refugees, I worry that those who react from a place of fear have sealed their hearts. And I think of the young Syrian who helped me find my way in Germany. There are many more like him who will help us find our way to a better world. If, and only if, we retain the best of our humanity, even and especially in the face of evil.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/syriafreedom/6819475588