To the Editor:
Dear Mr. Lang, it is up to you and those who received your “message in lights” at your place of business to decide if it was or was not racist. However, my issue is what you described on your car dealership sign about crossing our borders, and I am assuming you mean the border with Mexico. I say that because when I watch the television news, read local and national newspapers, listen to American leaders and journalists who have actually been to the Mexican border, I hear that the people crossing are young children ages 2 to 5 years old being dropped over the wall at the border, children wandering scared and afraid without their parents, mothers fleeing from sexual abuse and terrorists, fathers who cannot farm their land or earn a living for their families (see Northwest Herald, April 19, page 15). They are quite the opposite of what you describe. I cannot blame them for looking to our country for help and security. Wouldn’t you look to America if you were scared and alone and without any resources from your government to survive and thrive?
It takes compassion and empathy to put yourself in the shoes of a migrant. It takes imagination to feel their suffering and pain. I wonder if the further we are from such a reality, the easier it is to pretend such desperation does not exist. Maybe you could help? I bet you have the resources to find out for yourself. Maybe a trip to the border would clear up some of the confusion. You can travel without risking your life, would have plenty of food and a place to restart without fear.
Someone who I think understands the contrast between what you are living and the people seeking asylum is our Vice President Kamala Harris. I am confident in her abilities and experience to help our country and those who are looking to us for help. She does not have an easy job, and the problems we have at our borders are not easy to solve. It is important to be an informed citizen, listen and ask questions, learn, build understanding and not accept hateful rhetoric.
Lori McConville
Crystal Lake
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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