Are you keeping up?
Welcome to March, that strange time when you could be snowed in one day and enjoying a meal outdoors with friends the next. And also the relentless and performative celebration of women for 31 days, even as the gender wage gap hasn't changed much in two decades, with even fewer gains for Black women and Latinas. And that business of regulating our bodies, still present in March. So spare me the proclamations and special events. On to other things, but which to choose from?
I'll go with what is taking me back to my days as NYC's Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs. Yes, that was over two decades ago, and just like the wage gap, not much has changed.
For one, there's the new but expected requirement that undocumented immigrants register with and get fingerprinted by USCIS. A similar program, called NSEERS, was established after the attacks of September 11, but focused only on men from certain countries which I won't name to avoid perpetuating stereotypes and xenophobia. So, what's old is new. But also the mechanisms for everything this evil empire is doing have long existed in our beloved democracy.
Next up, English is the official language of the United States. It's mostly symbolic, at least for now. Title VI of the Civil Rights Acts prevents discrimination against those who aren't proficient in English and over the years, in places like New York, many of us worked hard to ensure that language assistance is available to English language learners. Among the many problems with this E.O. is the fact that it uplifts the idea that learning English should be an aspiration. And it always has been. But for years, English language classes have never been able to meet the demand. So, here we are again, blaming the victim and creating no solution. Anyway, our abuelas and dadis are going to just speak what they wish. Try stopping them.
As always, there is so much more. But these two developments remind me that progress is a journey not a destination. Much like exercise or good nutrition, a week or a month is not enough. Even after this particular brand of evil and incompetence ends (countdown here), we'll have to keep at it. Because democracy is a daily practice.
For a meta lesson, here's this clip from the acceptance speech for No Other Land at the Oscars. It's about Palestine and Israel but could be about so much more.
Onward,
Sayu