October 22, 2014
Il?t ^orttani» (Observer
Page 9
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the
Portland Observer. W? welcome reader essays, photos and
story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
A More Just and Less Violent Image of America
Honoring the
Original People
by
C ris T offolo
T he S e a ttle C ity
Council took the coura
geous decision to cel
ebrate Oct. 13th as In
digenous People’s Day.
This is a national event, for in making this
decision, Seattle is showing all o f us how
to take steps toward renewing our nation
and remaking it in a more just and less
violent image.
Americans descend from many dif
ferent indigenous and non-indigenous
nations and it is often unclear just what
defines us as a people. Let me put forth
the idea that what many o f us share is a
history of violence, suffering, oppression
and trauma.
Sometimes it is seen as impolite in this
country to talk politics or religion in social
gatherings. So instead we often turn to
that most acceptable and completely
American question, “So where is your
family from? W hen did your family im
migrate to the US?” And those o f us
with immigration histories quickly and
proudly tell our stories, and once we
even had a shared pride in being a nation
of immigrants, as symbolized by the
Statue o f Liberty.
Taking a deeper look at our shared
conversation about our origins, how
ever, we will see a more disturbing truth.
Well-known peace studies pioneer Johan
Galtung argues that what we typically
think of as violence (i.e., rape and mur
der) is only the tip of the iceberg. For that
type o f violence sits atop two other,
much larger layers, of socio-economic
violence, (what Galtung calls “structural
violence”), and cultural violence.
Many of us know the truth of this
claim from our fam ilies’ immigration
stories. My Italian grandfather came to
the US after experiencing the horrific
direct violence of World War I: He
watched his brother bum to death in a
fire bombing raid and he almost died
him self as a soldier in that “great” war.
The parents of my Italian grandmother
had arrived earlier, fleeing the oppres
sive structural violence of grinding pov
erty and hunger. So poor were they, that
they only ate meat once a year, on
Christmas. And the only orange my
great-grandmother ever ate as a child
was a gift from the mayor, an act of
charity which he doled out, again, on
Christmas.
But like many A m ericans I also
have ancestors from another country,
and from my D utch side I heard the
stories o f cultural violence, mixed with
direct violence. M y great-grandpar
ents left H olland after living through
W orld W ar II and w itnessing the vi
cious anti-Sem itism o f the N azis who
told a tale about how Jew s were so
much lesser than others that it was
m orally okay to cast them out and kill
them. In sum m ary, like so m any other
A m ericans, my ancestors cam e here
due to a com bination o f direct, struc
tural and cultural violence, no one kind
worse than another.
And yet, our arrival to these shores
brought with it the violence of disinher
iting and wiping out Native American
peoples, the original inhabitants of this
land. And along with Europeans also
came the horrific institution of slavery,
and millions of involuntary immigrants in
the form of Africans in chains.
As a result, both Native Americans
and African Americans have suffered
levels of direct, structural and cultural
violence beyond comprehension. Still
today these two com munities suffer the
highest rates of direct violence and crip
pling poverty, and the deep cultural vio
lence of racism which makes the direct
violence and poverty go largely unno
ticed by mainstream society.
With S eattle’s action we have taken
one step tow ard lessening the cultural
violence perpetrated on N ative A m eri
cans. W hile this m ight seem like ju st a
tiny step, it is only by transform ing our
cultural narrative that we w ill be able
to move on to tackle the other form s o f
violence that affect us all. With Seattle’s
action they have helped us all to begin
to see how those o f us w ho live else
w here could take sim ilar actions, rel
evant to our own contexts, to heal the
wounds that were inadvertently caused
by im m igrants com ing to these shores.
It makes it possible to im agine an
American narrative in which our shared
story is not one o f violence but one of
shared redem ption, o f overcom ing of
injustice and pain.
Cris
and is
Justice
eastern
Toffolo writes fo r PeaceVoice
professor and chair o f the
Studies Department at North
Illinois University in Chicago.
The Human Tragedy of Wholesale Displacement
We can’t give up on the Palestinian refugees
by the
R ev . M.
L inda J aramillo
It is one thing to hear
news reports about con
ditions in Palestinian
refugee camps, but it is
quite another to actually be there in
person. As part o f Global Ministries (a
joint ministry of the United Church of
Christ and the Christian Church D is
ciples of Christ), I recently visited such
a camp in Beirut, Lebanon. There is no
way to fully describe the situation, but I
am sure that what I saw will remain in
my memory for a long-time to come.
The Joint Christian Committee for
Social Serves in Lebanon, which is part
of the Middle East Council of Churches,
boldly demonstrates extraordinary com
mitment to serving Palestinian refugees.
It is important to remember that these
refugees were first displaced over 65
years ago, first to Syria then from Syria
to Lebanon. The director o f the joint
committee, Mrs. Sylvia Haddad, is cou
rageous in her quest to keep the Pales
tinian com m unity’s story alive, genera
tion after generation.
Mrs. Haddad first wanted to expose
and passageways between buildings many children, they are filled to capacity
greeting people along the way. Even so the rest are left to pass their day in the
our group to a positive experience at the with the electrical wires hanging over camp. Three little boys were jostling as
service group’s Sabra Center because head from building to building and street we passed, one sporting a t-shirt with the
she knew that entering the nearby inner- to street, there are still some small home words “Never Give Up” across his chest.
city refugee camp would present a more spaces without electrical power.
Regardless of our political feelings
disturbing picture that would jolt our
We came upon a stack o f baked about Israel/Palestine, we cannot ignore
consciousness. She was correct.
bread, safely tucked in clear plastic bags. the human tragedy of wholesale dis
Following an orientation to the center’s We were told that many in the commu placement of Palestinians from their
inter-generational programs, we were nity are without food so the bread is left homeland generations ago. The mes
greeted by pre-school age children with on a concrete shelf for them to take with sage on this little boy’s t-shirt reminded
sparkling eyes and joyful smiles, and an no questions asked. In this way they do me that we all have a part, and if we do
occasional frightened face.
not have to beg on the streets, their nothing justice will never be realized.
In classroom after classroom, teach dignity is preserved and immediate hun We cannot close our eyes to their reality.
ers were busily teaching basic skills, but ger needs are met a clear demonstration We, too, can never give up.
they readily welcomed us with waves of mutual care.
The Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo is ex
and songs. The Center’s youth and adult
As we moved along, we passed chil ecutive minister o f Justice and Wit
vocational education programs include dren playing in the narrow passage ness Ministries fo r the United Church
com puter technology, electronics, hair ways. While the Sabra Center serves o f Christ.
dressing, and literacy to help students to
become self-sufficient. The Center also
offers programs for the elderly, who
503-288-0033
Attn-. Subscriptions, The
according to Mrs. Haddad “carry the
$45.00
for
3
months
•
$80.00
for
6
mo.
•
$125.00
Portland Observer, PO Box
keys to the family and community story.”
fo r 1 y ear ( p le a s e in c lu d e c h e c k w ith f o r m )
3137, Portland OR 97208.
As Mrs. Haddad promised, my con
sciousness was profoundly stirred by the
N ame : _
journey through the Shatilla Palestinian
T elephone :
refugee camp, just a short walk from the
Sabra Center where thousands of people
A ddress :
reside (an accurate number is not known).
We wound through narrow streets
S u u b o s c r i b e
or email subscriptions @ portlandobserver.com