The big ugly mess

This week:

The bloody ugly bill passed in the Senate. The House will most likely pass it as well. The anxiety, rage, and sadness as a result of this will continue for many of us.

A Texas senator decided to rage at Zohran Mamdani for eating rice (it was big beautiful biryani) with his hands. Now some of you may laugh, and say what a jackass. And I might have as well. But he used the word "civilized" and then told him to "go back to the third world." And this "third world" girl did not take that well at all.

. . . .

When we were still living in Lahore, after most of our American missionary friends who had been there for years had left, there was another American who arrived in town. I only remember his last name. I also recall that there was something about his attitude that I did not like at all.

I overheard him tell someone he didn't like Lahore very much. How the people were not "civilized." Unfortunately, that was all I needed to hear to decide that I did not like him at all. And I would not like any American or European who said that. Granted, when one is in a new place, there's a lot to adapt to, but if they already have a prejudice, it is not easy to let go. I don't think Mr. J stayed in Lahore for long. And if he did, I never got to see him again.

When we returned to the US, and arrived in a very small town in Oregon, it took a while for us to adjust as well. But our shock had more to do with the size of the town than the people, most whom didn't know where Pakistan was, and when Mum told us someone asked if we had running water there, we couldn't help but chuckle.

. . . . .

If what the senator from Texas, Brandon Gill, said was not enough, the man supposedly a majority voted to be our President, openly threatened Zohran Mamdani with arrest and deportation if he didn't cooperate with ICE as Mayor. Zohran does not believe he was joking.

Neither do I.

Between the public social media post rebuking an immigrant of South Asian heritage for eating with his hands, and the threat of arresting him, it has been a day for white supremacy to rear its hateful head. For this government to silence us if we speak up. First they came for non-citizens, now they are coming after naturalized citizens accused of criminal acts. Speaking up has become a criminal act.

I have friends who rely on Medicaid for health insurance. I have a sibling who can barely walk, and who may not be able to have surgery to remedy that. Countless people will be affected by the cuts that members of the Senate sold their souls and prioritized their xenophobia for. When ICE is prioritized over Americans' health and the Vice-President deems everything else immaterial beside ICE, the message is a police state is more important than the survival of American citizens.

And this is what is happening in our "civilized democracy."

I'm not going to lie. I am afraid. It is difficult to go on with business as usual these days, and not know what's going to hit us next. Genocide, Authoritarianism, the makings of a police state, the Department of Justice coming after citizens. But we have to go on. We go on, so our government knows that we will not give in to fear. So the world knows that we will not give in, and we will not support genocide. We go on because we still have faith, and hope, and love for one another, and those who have yet to grow up as citizens and residents of this country.

What's next? In the words of Ringo Starr, "Tomorrow never knows."

. . . . .