It’s usually really easy living in rural Minnesota to be able to watch the news and still go about our lives. We can keep tabs on the chaos happening in other states or in the Twin Cities and still remain comfortable in our own little bubble.
That isn’t true any longer. We can’t stick our head in the sand and just go about our lives. Why not? Because the events of our state are right here, affecting our lives and the lives of those close to us.
Natalie started her competitive speech season last weekend in Willmar. We lovingly refer to her speech season, the knowledge bowl season, BPA, etc. as our “nerd activities.” We don’t use the word “nerd” in a derogatory meaning. These are activities that are not followed like sports. They don’t have huge groups of fans. Most of the time, people outside the activity do not know how the season is going. However, these activities are so meaningful. They teach lifelong skills and forge amazing friendships. They are also full of a wide variety of students.
So on Saturday, at 6 a.m. Natalie loaded her bus to head to Willmar. It should have been a normal start to the season, but one thing was very different. The team headed out with a safety plan in place due to the increased ICE activity in Willmar.
While the competition inside followed the same format, coming and going was a different story. After the buses were unloaded, the doors were locked for the safety of the students. Throughout the day, two people were stationed at the door to allow parents, students, coaches and judges in and out if needed. You could no longer walk into the event to take part or observe. Instead, you had to be let in so that people targeting those that look different than I do couldn’t get in.
This is a school full of speech students. I am pretty sure this isn’t a place full of the rapists, murderers and law breakers ICE is supposedly targeting. These are students, plain and simple.
Then on Sunday, I sent Brady back to college at the University of Minnesota. We had a lot of discussions about being safe and being aware of what is going on around you. Brady said to me, “Mom, I can walk across campus fine, I’m white.”
How sad is that? He didn’t say it with a sarcastic or cocky, betterthan-you, tone. He said it as a fact and a tinge of sadness. Which shouldn’t be. The U is a completely diverse and unique community full of people from around the world. Brady’s roommate is from India.
Now, he’s three hours away, much too close for this mom’s comfort to all that is happening in our state. This semester students can take classes in person, online or hybrid due to the events in the Cities and making the students feel safe. All of Brady’s classes have an inperson option, but a couple are offering hybrid.
In his first couple days back to campus, he has noticed fewer people on campus. Fewer people walking to and from buildings, hanging out. Essentially, fewer people doing what is a large part of college.
Brady’s roommate arrived back to campus on Monday. I think about his parents often. It’s hard to have your child a few hours away with all this going on, but to have your child half way across the world would weigh on my heart every moment.
Having all that is happening in our state directly affecting my kids is hard. On one hand, I want them to understand what people are going through. I want them to understand what is happening around them.
In Willmar, ICE agents dined at a family-owned Mexican restaurant and then came back at closing time to detain three people. They like to eat their dishes but they don’t want them in our country?
Let me be clear, if we were truly targeting the worst of the country, I wouldn’t be so worked up. If we were going after the top 10 wanted criminals in each county of the state, there wouldn’t be the protests.
Instead, we are denying people their constitutional rights. Yes, everyone in this country has constitutional rights. It’s how our country was founded. We are targeting anyone that has a different skin color than our president or has a name that sounds “foreign.”
That’s funny, Per isn’t that common of a name. No one is coming after him. The reason, his name is Scandanavian. The only names that don’t have foreign origins are those of our indigenous people because every one of our families came to this country from somewhere else.
This is not a political issue, this is a hate issue. Our country is built on a melting pot. This is what makes our country a beautiful place to live. When watching the championship college football game on Monday night, the camera zoomed in the choir singing “America the Beautiful” and I thought, can we even say that?
Right now, our country isn’t full of beauty, it’s full of ugliness. It’s full of selfishness. It’s full of people who are thinking only of themselves. We’re a country that doesn’t take the time to get to know our neighbors like we used to.
If anything, maybe these horrible days in the state of Minnesota will bring us together and bring community members together. Maybe we’ll start to care for each other as we always should do. Maybe we’ll realize that targeting people for their skin color or their name is destroying all that this country has built over the last almost 250 years.
Put your head in the sand if you want. Blame it on the media if you prefer. But you can only avoid what is happening for so long, because it is affecting those right here in our communities. Our neighbors should not be living in fear to go to work, to go to school, to go to an activity.
It’s time to fight hate with love. To fight racism with compassion. To calm the fears of our neighbors with friendship and kindness. If wer don’t, I’m afraid where our country will be in a short time.
