There was a lot about last Thursday’s Council meeting that reminded me of the days when I was going to Klan meetings on purpose.
Back when I was covering organized hate groups in Reading, Pennsylvania, I learned a lot about how “othering” works.
Now, what do I mean by that? Well, “othering” is a way to keep people from uniting by pointing out how they’re different from you…and why that’s a bad thing. You can’t trust that person. They’re the “other”.
When you’re going to Klan meetings on purpose, which I did for a couple of years, you realize who the “other” is. It was usually someone who looked like me, which is why some of the language that I heard during public comment at Thursday’s Council meeting really broke my heart.
Not because of the language itself. I’m used to that.
I was hurt by whom it came from because it came from people who already know how “othering” works and yet are willing to do it to someone else.
The topic that inspired this column was, of course, immigration. On Thursday, Council passed a resolution supporting an effort to make sure that immigrants know their rights in the event of being stopped by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. This is important because (a) this isn’t something that is common knowledge and (b) some folks don’t think that undocumented immigrants have legal protections.
Spoiler Alert: They do.
While most of the people who spoke about this resolution did so favorably, there was a certain amount of “othering” that reared its ugly head. These folks pretty much called for Council members to be censured or arrested for not helping ICE with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Again, I wasn’t surprised by the fact that people were saying this kind of stuff. I covered Klan meetings. That’s just another day at the office for them.
But when the people saying it are from traditionally marginalized communities, it makes me wonder if they understand what they’re espousing.
When people who have themselves been “othered” do that kind of thing to other people it’s a prejudice. And prejudice is stupid, no matter who espouses it. For example, if folks thought that the Trump Administration’s attempt to get birthright citizenship wiped out of the 14th Amendment would only impact the children of immigrants, I have a news flash for you.
You know who became citizens thanks to birthright citizenship? The formerly enslaved and their children. If you don’t think that an administration that’s put a center devoted to the Montgomery Bus Boycott up for sale in the name of “governmental efficiency” wouldn’t come up with a way to extend the removal of birthright citizenship to Black folks, you haven’t been paying attention.
I know that when I go to Council on Thursday, I’ll hear the same attempts at “othering” from the usual suspects.
But, I hope that they know what it looks like. Because the rest of us do.
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