Finally she had gotten word from them. They had escaped Rwanda and were alive. We hugged and smiled and prayed our thanks to God. We prayed too for all the others, who had not been so fortunate. Our shrinking world is coming apart along sectarian seams.
Ethnic earthquakes send swift tidal waves around the globe.
We're all connected. Our attitudes and our actions in the United States matter. When I see our society's negative attitudes towards today's minorities, mainly people of color, I find it helpful to remember that at the beginning of this century, when my Irish and Italian ancestors were the immigrant minorities trying to get a foothold in this land, we were the ones looked down upon. It wasn't just the Wasps who were prejudiced towards the newcomers. Only sixty years ago, in the tenements of NYC, when my Irish father and Italian mother were dating, there was a lot of suspicion, ill will, and tension between Irish and Italians.