This is a lesson we so desperately need to learn. There is nothing patriotic about hate. While it is easy to fall prey to resentful ideologies as our country bears the weight of great change, we must remember that we belong to one another. We are all people. We are all valuable. We are all American.
In 2014, I went to Immokalee, Florida with a group of students from John Carroll University. Like many who attend immersion trips, I was excited to expand my worldview, learn from those we encountered and affirm my passion for social justice. Unlike many, however, my connection to my Catholic faith entering the trip was minimal at best.
This summer, I looked square in the eyes at the pain caused by Tamir Rice’s death. While working as an intern for Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (the congressional representative for the Cleveland area), I talked to constituents who were absolutely heartbroken for their community and frustrated by government leaders’ lack of action. Of course, the police brutality and violence they faced was nothing new. While the rest of the city was just waking up to instances of police brutality, it had been their reality for years. The death of Tamir, though, reopened old wounds in an unexpectedly visceral way.
