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The other day my friend Abad Hassan was telling me about a situation he got into when his car was being towed.  He went out to his car right as they had hooked it up to the tow truck and were about to drive away but he asked the tow man if there was anything he could do to keep his car from being taken to the tow yard.  The man told him that if he paid a fine, they would leave the car.  After calling the police to make sure he wasn’t getting swindled, Abad pulled out his wallet to pay the fine.  When he handed over the bills, the tow man responded with, “Thanks, ya terrorist.”

 

If you read Abad’s story under the ‘Iraq’ tab above, you would know that Abad is one of the most patriotic Americans and is incredibly loyal to the United States.  When living in Iraq, he daily risked his own life and the life of his family to aid the U.S. Army by translating high profile conversations between high ranking U.S. Army officials and Al Qaeda.  These insensitive comments, made by someone who knows nothing about Abad and his sacrifice for the freedom of Americans, were hurtful and horribly inaccurate. 

In the U.S., and especially here in the Midwest, we struggle with accepting diversity.  We close and arm our borders so foreigners can’t get in and we vote to deport immigrants back to countries where they are denied basic human rights.  Do we forget that when our own ancestors came here not too long ago they too were fleeing discrimination and violence?  Whether your ancestors were Germans fleeing religious persecutions, Dutch farmers leaving high taxes and low wages or Irishmen escaping the potato famine, your family came to America looking for the same freedoms and opportunities of today’s immigrants.

 

The Statue of Liberty, an icon of freedom, which welcomes immigrants arriving from abroad is inscribed with words written by American poet Emma Lazaurs.  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”  Let us not forget the origins of our country, a small group of Pilgrim Fathers looking for relief from their oppressions and hardships, and the immigration of our own families.

 

In the 2014 fiscal year, 1,046 refugees were resettled in Nebraska and even more transferred here from neighboring states.  My hope with this project is to give you a glimpse into the lives of these people so that you may find common ground, inspiration and motivation to reach out to a group that has been made invisible to us by social structure or wounded by us in actions and words.  Let us be a welcoming city with open arms and open doors ready to give freedom and a hopeful future to those not so different from ourselves.