A Voice In Ramah

A Prayer for Haitian Immigrants & Refugees

"I looked at the Statue of Liberty,
but she didn't wave after me.
I said, I looked at the Statue of Liberty
but she didn't wave after me.
You see, I was born in Haiti
and the Coast Guard dumped me
in the raging seas..."

How long?
How much more long, how long?
How long?
How much more long, how long?
I wanna know how much more longer
Is I'm just gon' have to wait on you?

Song: How Long? 
(Lyrics by Sweet Honey in the Rock)

Remember when, as the New York Times front page headline termed, “Reagan Orders Aliens Stopped on the High Seas”? And no one seemed to care that dozens drowned a month later as boats overturned off Florida. Maybe because they were “aliens”?

Remember when US Border Patrol Agents on horseback herded Haitian refugees like cattle? And everybody seemed to be ok because the Agents may have used unnecessary force on human beings, but at least they didn’t hit them?

Remember when Donald Trump lifted a baseless lie on international television, accusing immigrants of eating pets? And with a few weak “fact check” comments from moderators, the debate between Trump and Kamala Harris went on as if there was no reason to be concerned about the implications of a dehumanizing lie from the unhinged leader of a national political party on the lives of the every day Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio.

How long?

That’s it. That is the prayer.

How long, how much more long, how long?