Haiti

One hardly knows where to begin, and that's largely why I haven't even tried until now.

Today someone finally had the courage to estimate the death tole at 50,000. Frankly, I find that so optimistic as to be pitiful. 2 to 3 million people had their homes, stores, schools, churches, hospitals, hotels, office buildings--WORLD--come crashing down upon them. If only 250,000 were killed, that would be a miracle. And like all natural disasters, the dying has only just begun. Examples in our own nation's history as desperately different as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and hurricane Katrina have taught us this.

They are two moments in history that are actually very applicable to Haiti. The scope of the devastation is Katrina-esque; while the quality of the infrastructure in that nation aligns with San Francisco's from a century ago.

As an American, I am very proud of our president and his administration for stepping up with words of support and promises of aid within hours of the initial tragedy. As a citizen, I intend to both thank him and hold his feet to the fire to make certain that in my name and with my tax dollars, the United States follows through on those commitments.

Furthermore, I will encourage President Obama to extend to the illegal immigrants of Haiti currently residing in the United States the right of "Temporary Protected Status". I have no doubt that if this would have happened, say, in Ireland, that the illegal Irish amongst us would have been granted this status even as I type. No nationality of illegal immigrants from any other country in this hemisphere has faced more consistent, vehement, or racist persecution by our government than the people of Haiti. That even in a moment of such humanitarian need, this discrimination should be allowed to continue is simply without any justification, and only demonstrates how enormous the hatred of black people still is in this nation. In the past half century alone we've welcomed and justified the influx of significant populations of persecuted and disenfranchised people from Cuba, Colombia, and even El Salvador, which demonstrates that the motives are not based on socio-economic demographics, but the color of a person's skin.

If Minneapolis/St. Paul can become a new home to the impoverished persecuted Hmong people of Cambodia/Kampuchea. If Atlanta can welcome record amounts of refugees from Somalia and the conflicts throughout Africa's Maghreb region. If New Orleans and other Louisiana coastal communities can integrate vast numbers of the Vietnamese boat people to such an extent as to actually elect one as a congress person to the United States House of Representatives. Then we as a nation, can not only help to rebuild what remains of Haiti's urban metropolis, but we can welcome those who are already living here now as vital and contributing members of our United States of America, and remove from them any fear of deportation during this tragic catastrophe in their nation of origin.

And in a final thought, I need to respond to the ignorant, truly evil, racist bigots amongst us like Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh, may I simply offer this blessing? "May what you wish unto others happen to you"--my version of the "Fools Golden Rule". People like these only trivialize the life that we all should see as miraculous.