By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
This is not the America to which Lady Liberty welcomed the huddled masses. This is not the country where Gale Swanka grew up, or for which Mohammad Shalabe left his homeland.
But this is becoming the America where people like Swanka, Shalabe and crowds across the nation are being motivated to stand together to protest executive orders from President Donald Trump. In Bowling Green, more than 250 gathered Sunday evening in the green space at West Wooster and South Church streets to rise up, resist and rebel.
They came bundled for the cold, carrying signs reading “No hate, no fear. Everyone is welcome here.” Or “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” They chanted, “No ban. No wall,” and “We need a leader – not a creepy tweeter.”
They came with concerns, even shame, over their country’s latest actions against natives of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
“I know what it means to be left out,” said Dr. Eileen Cherry-Chandler, an African American woman who held a sign saying, “I’m with the banned.”
Cherry-Chandler said she was outraged at Trump’s ban on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations from entering the U.S. for three months, and an extended ban on Syrian refugees.
People at BG rally sign petition against immigration ban
“These people are innocent. These people are fleeing from ISIS,” she said. “We need Muslims in order to win this war on terror.”
Cherry-Chandler has been horrified by Trump’s actions in his first week in office.
“He thinks he’s a king and he can issue decrees,” she said. “That isn’t happening. I’m just delighted that people are standing up to him. That’s the least we can do. It’s good to know people are awake and aware.”
Swanka has also been troubled by Trump’s executive orders – from building a wall along the Mexican border to banning the refugees – all “ridiculous policies,” she said.
“I wanted to give the president the benefit of the doubt and it’s just not working,” Swanka said.
As the crowd gathered for the rally, a line of people signing a petition against the immigrant ban stretched down Church Street. Megan Rancier encouraged the crowd to remember the poem by Emma Lazarus on the Statue of Liberty.
“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-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Four Bowling Green council members – Mike Aspacher, Daniel Gordon, Bruce Jeffers and Sandy Rowland – attended. Gordon reminded of America’s shameful actions in 1939 when Jewish refugees were turned away. “Many went to the gas chambers,” he said.
Gordon compared Trump’s actions to the heartlessness and bigotry shown on the eve of World War II. Instead of persecuted Jews, the U.S. is now turning its back on Muslims seeking refuge from terror.
“He hates American values,” Gordon said.
“This is not conservatism. This is fascism,” he said.
Line to sign petition against immigration ban stretches down Church Street.
Jeffers said immigrants bring value to communities, and added that Mayor Dick Edwards and city council are committed to working against policies such as the immigrant ban. “We will do what we can to keep people safe.”
Rev. Gary Saunders, co-chair of the Not In Our Town organization, said Bowling Green must stand up to the bullying from the president.
“Let’s be a community that steps up,” he said, suggesting that we “love our neighbors” rather than ban their entry to the nation.
The crowd was encouraged to make Sunday’s moment into a movement. They were urged to write their legislators, run for political offices and donate to the ACLU. Every person needs to get involved, Gordon said. “No one’s coming” to the rescue, he said.
“Do not despair,” but get involved, Rancier said.
Bowling Green State University students from the countries affected by Trump’s immigrant ban also spoke to the crowd.
Ramin Khakzad, from the Persian Student Association, vouched for the very thorough immigrant vetting system in place in the U.S. “American already has a very secure system,” he said.
Students from the BGSU Muslim Student Association also spoke to the crowd.
“Today I feel loved,” one man said.
Another said he recently hesitated to raise his hand when asked if he was Muslim. “Hatred by itself cannot create anything positive,” he said.
At least 250 gathered for rally against immigration ban
Others didn’t speak publicly, but attended the rally. Mohammad Shalabe, a Palestinian with an American wife, here in Bowling Green with a Green Card, is now uncertain about his status in the U.S.
“It’s really not fair at all,” he said. “I really do have concerns. It’s not stable at all.”
Shalabe said the Koran teaches respect for everyone, and Americans have nothing to fear from true Muslims.
Mohammed Al-Dailami, who worked for years to get his family here from Yemen, said he was comforted by the support at Sunday’s rally in Bowling Green. Though his wife is fearful to leave their home,
Al-Dailami said he was pleased to see their new community rise to resist the immigrant ban.
“I feel more happy to see this support,” he said as the rally closed.
