Why I am Here Today
By Cindi Silverman
June 1, 2018
I come to stand with those who say “We See You”
We see you, the silent workers who, for years, have been quietly laboring in jobs white America won’t take, trying to find or stay on the path toward citizenship, who are being rounded up for the crime of being available. We hear your stories, and our heart breaks every time. We see you and we will remember.
We see you, the babies and young children, who are being ripped from the arms of frantic parents, often who are trying to find a safe haven from the dangers of their own lives. Your lives do matter. We see you and we will keep trying to reunite you with your families.
We see you, ICE officers and guards who try to threaten us with your bravado, or with arrest, who accuse us of trespassing when we walk on public sidewalks, or stand on grassy knolls, for the crime of witnessing your cruelty. “We’re only following orders” you insist. We see you and we will remember.
We see you, those who turn away or avert the eye, as we walk in silent protest, in our plea for justice, and a greater ethical code than is being launched by the current administration. It is time to remember that we are all immigrants, that we all have personal histories that, at another time, might not have passed the test to allow us into this great country.
We see you, beautiful Statue of Liberty, with the Emma Lazarus poem offering welcome and comfort to those yearning to be free. May the day come when we can once again be proud to welcome the tired, poor, and hungry to our shores.
I come to bear witness to these atrocities, because I remember that history is repeating in my lifetime, and I must record these events or they will be swept under.
I come to stand with those who cannot bear to look away, while the conscience is being ripped from the fiber of this country’s moral code. We come to say “we see you”.
