Category Archives: human rights

It Happened in Virginia

history, human rights,

Virginia has a very complicated history. Home to 8 presidents, all of whom owned slaves themselves or, in the case of Woodrow Wilson, came from slave-owning families. Hotbed of segregation following Board v Board, in some cases choosing to close public schools rather than integrate.

Through my book group’s September book selection, I have learned of Virginia’s leadership in another infamous chapter in US history: the eugenics movement.

The Lies They Told by Ellen Marie Wiseman is a powerful and disturbing novel. Wiseman focuses on the eugenics movement in the United States in the years between the world wars. She does so through the story of Lena, a German immigrant who arrives in Ellis Island in 1928 with her mother, brother and young daughter. We follow Lena through the often humiliating process of being admitted to the country on Ellis Island and learn more about those who are turned back from our shores.

From there, the story moves to the hollows of Virginia’s Blue Ridge. Plans for Shenandoah National Park include removing the families whose ties to the mountains go back for generations. Eugenics plays a large role as outsiders use dubious science and deceptive tactics to label the people inbred and feebleminded, institutionalizing and in many cases sterilizing them.

What makes this novel so powerful is the way Wiseman brings horrific history down to human level. The mountain people understand the injustices being done to them but are trapped in a system beyond their control, some literally imprisoned against their wills for decades. Sections of this novel were tough to read. Wiseman does not spare the reader the horror of the treatment of people who were deemed not quite human. And now, some 100 years later, we are seeing a resurgence of these repugnant ideas.

I am sad that Virginia was a leader in this movement.

Get ’em out by Friday

human rights, music, politics

The news cycle moves to fast for me these days. But, I can’t let this one go: Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, announced last week that after thousands of simulations, the government determined that Americans could eat a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla and one other thing as a meal that is inexpensive ($3) and meets the new food pyramid guidelines that were recently released.

I will leave it to others to critique this suggested “meal.” All I could think about is a song from the progressive rock band Genesis that seemed dystopian when it came out in 1972. “Get ‘Em Out By Friday” tells the story of corporate greed and government corruption working against human beings in tragic and drastic ways with greedy landlords leading the way. Set in the present, it ends in 2012 with this vision:

This is an announcement from Genetic Control
It is my sad duty to inform you of a four foot restriction on
Humanoid height

I hear the directors of Genetic Control have been buying all the Properties that have recently been sold, taking risks oh so bold
It’s said now that people will be shorter in height
They can fit twice as many in the same building site
They say it’s alright.

The song features multiple voices as part of the story. Since everyone is quoting George Orwell these days, I thought I would add Genesis to the mix. Dystopian vision or potential reality?

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits

human rights, thinking out loud,
183/365 for 2010 (July 2, 2010)
Pear hanging on a tree

This week, the government rolled back federal bans on segregated facilities and removed disability guidelines for US businesses. Does this mean we will return to the days of “whites only” signs or see stores refuse to add ramps? Who knows?

Here’s what I do know: with those restrictions and requirements removed, we will be able to see even further into the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. The process began with the election when we wondered how people who seemed so nice, so-called “good” Christians, could vote for hate and cruelty.

And then I remembered what Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 “You will know them by their fruits.”

Tone Deaf Privilege

human rights, politics,
Crimson and Clover

Fifteen years ago, my husband and I left the once-sleepy college town turned retirement mecca and moved south across the river (think wrong side of the tracks). We bought a farm, grew some food, raised pigs and chickens. While we have mostly left farming behind, we continue to live in our old farmhouse on the edge of a tiny town. In those 15 years, we have learned a lot about what it means to be underprivileged and underserved in America.

It was with that perspective that I read a thread from an urbanite this morning who listed all the companies he and his family would be boycotting from Amazon to Walmart. He also helpfully shared the businesses, both online and offline, that his family would be supporting. If you were wealthy and lived in a city with a car or good public transportation, it sounded quite doable. He admitted it took more time and planning but was willing to make the sacrifice to lodge his protest.

When one of his followers did suggest that those in “rural-esque” areas (fyi: we call it the country) might find this more of a struggle, the writers and his followers immediately went to the buying online argument, noting that you might incur shipping costs. But, again, all in sacrifice to this greater good they were pursuing.

I had to put the phone down and walk away as I make it a general rule not to engage on social media and, by this point, was just shaking my head at how little these people understood of the world beyond their bubble of privilege. My favorite part was the discussion of toilet paper. Of course, they all use bamboo toilet paper that, according to the writer, is generally the same price as the regular stuff. Seriously? Maybe in the city. The brand he referenced runs about $2/roll. In my “rural-esque” community, toilet paper is widely available at less than $1/roll. It may not be as soft or smooth on your bum, but it gets the job done.

One replier talked about missing the lovely vegetables at his upscale market. Unless you grow them and slaughter them yourself, fresh vegetables and meat are not available in my town. There was a grocery store in the town when we moved there: it smelled bad, and I learned that “manager’s special” meant items were often long out of date. It closed a decade ago so now the nearest full-service grocery store is almost ten miles away. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot for suburban commuters, but many people in my town do not have cars. There is no public transportation. They are limited to what can be purchased from one of the three discount stores. While those stores increased their inventory of food when the grocery has closed, they do not have fresh food, and the packaged food is low-end and over-processed. Even now, the milk delivery truck doesn’t always make it in time to replace the outdated milk. I laughed out loud at the writer when he described how they were now buying directly from a butcher and a baker, “just like the old days.” Again, seriously? My town probably had those things in the old days, but when the lumber mill closed, most businesses went right along with it.

I hesitate to jump into the conversation about why Democrats lost, but this thread gives a glimpse into one possibility. Poor “rural-esque” people (I just can’t quite get over that description) are struggling and were largely invisible in the previous election. As far as I know, neither of my senators, both good Democrats, has ever visited our town. At the fall festival, the local Democrats couldn’t even put together a booth.

Since Democrats seem to be starting from scratch, here’s a humble suggestion: come to my town and every other town like mine. There are plenty of them: if you drive Route 460 in Virginia to get to the beach, you pass through them. You may have gotten a speeding ticket because you decided you didn’t need to slow down to 35 when you passed through my town. Sorry, not sorry. Your law breaking (yes, friends, speeding IS breaking the law) helps fund our police force that does a lot of good community work.

I am sending out an open invitation to anyone who is interested to come to my town. We are happy to have you stay with us since the closest hotel is 30 minutes away on the interstate. On second thought, if you do stay at the hotel, your drive to my town will allow you to experience rural America: there are still crops and fields and animals, but more and more of the land is being taken over for industrial solar. I support solar as I know most liberals do, but I wonder how happy those in surbuban-esque areas would be if the fields outside their town suddenly sprouted solar panels. I can’t say for sure, but I suspect they would come down with a whole lot of NIMBY.

I know a few people who read my writing, and my intention is not to offend but rather help you see past your privilege. It took me some time, too. I remember how shocked I was to discover the closest dry cleaner was in my old town, a ferry ride away. What did these people do? Well, clothing at the dollar store is never dry clean only. And, to be completely transparent, my privilege is one of the reasons I can live here. I can afford to have food and essential supplies delivered to my house. I have a car to get to the “urban-esque” areas when I need to. We provide rides when we can and help our neighbors order online as their Internet access is often limited to cell phones with strict data plans.

Phew! I think I have had this rant in me for awhile. I know you may be wondering who, if anyone, these people voted for. It doesn’t matter. They have been left behind by everyone, Democrats, Independents, Greens, and Republicans alike. They are mostly invisible to the rest of the country. Perhaps I can help bring them into the light.

Meanwhile, go on with the boycotts and the protests. Wealthy white people tend to get attention and if your dollars start to make a difference in the pocketbooks of these companies, it could help. And, also spend some time learning about the struggle of rural communities. This article from The Chronicle of Philanthropy is a good starting point. You can learn more about poor people in the United State at the Poor People’s Campaign.

Language As Weapon

history, human rights, rhetoric

On the morning of November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington and nearly 700 United States soldiers attacked a village of 750 Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Native American tribes comprised primarily of elderly, women and children. They had been placed in the big bend of Sand Creek by the military as they waited to negotiate peace. Black Kettle, one of the leaders, was known to desire peace. He was shot down as he waved an American and a white flag. If you are not familiar with the massacre, the National Park’s website has a detailed history that includes links to recently discovered and horrifying first-person accounts from soldiers who refused to participate.

Colonel Chivington is infamous for his dehumanizing language towards the Native Americans and urging his men to scalp and kill them all even as some soldiers resisted. In her essay “Deprived of Humanity: From the Sand Creek Massacre to Today“, Nellis Kennedy-Howard of The Sierra Club and a member of the Navajo Nation reflects on her 2018 visit to the massacre site and the continued use of dehumanization towards the oppressed, calling it “one of the steps on the road to genocide.” She is correct, according to the United Nations.

Kennedy-Howard warns of not ignoring this use of language:

No human being is an animal, or an insect, or an infestation to be eliminated. When people with power use it to dehumanize others — watch out. Learn from the experiences of Native peoples and other persecuted groups. This isn’t just idle talk. It’s a warning sign that we have a duty to heed.

Dehumanizing language may be used by both sides in a conflict, but as Kennedy-Howard suggests, the more powerful opponent will often control the narrative and thus the definitions.

Boston University’s Dr. Elizabeth Coppock, a linguistics expert, discusses the use of language as a weapon in war. It is a quick read and I encourage you to take a look. Her responses to two of the interviewer’s questions stood out for me:

How do we talk to one another when one side’s “terrorist” is another’s “freedom fighter?”

I think we should focus on listening to each other.

The one substantive comment to the interview makes it clear that while this sounds simple, it is a lofty potentially unattainable ideal and certainly not part of our current climate. Oh we listen but often only to those with whom we agree, taking hard lines and claiming the moral high ground. The commenter is defending his group’s definitions of terrorist that arise out of their world view, exactly as Coppock describes in her other answers.

But it is Coppock’s response to the last question that broke my heart:

Is this time unusual, in that every single word seems to carry so much weight and to be subject to scrutiny that makes some people fall silent?

There is unspeakable sorrow and trauma all around right now.

Sigh.

I was thinking about ending with a poem, maybe Wendell Berry or Mary Oliver. But, instead, I found this…Walt Whitman’s list of synonyms for sorrow that he probably used as he wrote his elegy to Lincoln. Language used to express human emotion at its rawest and deepest, not a as a weapon but as a solace.

Whitman, Walt. “sorrow.” The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 06 June 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.

Here is the first section of Whitman’s poem, “When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d“:

When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d—and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

O ever-returning spring! trinity sure to me you bring;
Lilac blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.