Natural disasters, destructive as they are, tend to unify communities and countries. A storm like Hurricane Harvey doesn’t care whether you are a Republican or Democrat, rich or poor, citizen or immigrant, documented or undocumented; a storm just blows wind and pours rains on everyone. A natural disaster brings out the need for compassion and cooperation in order for people in a community to survive together.
This is evidenced by a joint statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U. S. Customs and Border Protection in light of Hurricane Harvey which said, “The Department's law enforcement components will be at the ready to help anyone in need of assistance. . . . Routine non-criminal immigration enforcement operations will not be conducted at evacuation sites, or assistance centers such as shelters or food banks.”(The full statement was translated into Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.)
As our country faced a potential devastating disaster which in the past had been also an opportunity to unify our country, President Trump did two things that he knew would further polarize the people of our nation – pardoning Joe Arpaio and directing the Pentagon to begin the process of banning of transgender Americans from serving in the military.
It’s as if Trump did a preemptive strike on unity. “Before the people of this country come together in unity to support each other to face this storm, I am going to make sure you are divided.” Because unity of the people is what a dictator fears most. A dictator rules by dividing people, destroying their ability to come together out of fear projected onto each other. As long as the people are fighting each other, the dictator maintains his power in the midst of chaos. However, a dictator would begin to lose his power when the people are able to work together and find a common voice and action to counter the divisive force.
We are dealing with a president whose consistent goal is to divide our beloved nation. What are we going to do to resist that? My proposal is that we make conscious efforts to come together despite our differences. We must find opportunities to share our love for this country, and share our experiences of what this divisive force is doing to our personal lives and our communities. In the process of sharing our truths, we might find the common truth that we can speak together and take action from so that we can start the movement of returning our country back to its original call. The U.S. is a country that ensure everyone has his or her “unalienable rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And that our government derive its just powers from “the consent of the governed.”
Eric H. F. Law
The Kaleidoscope Institute
For competent leadership in a diverse changing world
www.kscopeinstitute.org