Middle of Everywhere - Mary Bray Pipher [139]
JUST PLAIN IGNORANCE (JPI)
Rumors race all around the world while the truth is just putting on his shoes.
—MARK TWAIN
Historically, Nebraska has been a white Christian state. We have African Americans, Mexican Americans, Jews, and Native Americans, but the power and influence have been in the hands of whites. Generally, Nebraskans are a well-behaved and well-meaning people, known for our quietness. We are not show-stealers. Most of us have rural backgrounds and come from places where neighbors help neighbors. It's just that our neighbors vised to look a lot more like us. Now we are moving into a new world.
In Nebraska overt racism exists, but it isn't pervasive. Refugees are doing jobs no one else wants and bringing new life to many communities. Currently we have a steady acceptance and accommodation to newcomers. Our libraries are filled with gray-haired Nebraskans helping dark-skinned newcomers learn algebra or American history.
Reactions of locals range from altruism and interest, to lack of awareness and indifference, to fear and active resistance. Immigrants and refugees are a living Rorshach test. This test requires people to look at ambiguous inkblots and tell what they see. Because of the ambiguity of the cards, the story ends up being about the storyteller and the way his or her mind works.
Refugees generate protective and nurturing feelings in some, anger and contempt in others. Each person reacts according to the shape of her soul or the color of his heart. We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.
We have had a few ugly incidents. Mexicans fight stereotypes that they are stupid and lazy. They are still, alas, called "wetbacks." Vietnamese report being called "gooks" and told to "go back home." Middle Easterners are accused of being unfair to women or of being terrorists. Laotians are asked if they eat cats and dogs. Many newcomers are suspected of odd customs regarding selecting and butchering animals. This is because every culture has a slightly different definition of meat and different procedures for killing animals. It would be hard to argue that our American ways of treating animals, especially the ones we eat, are more humane.
On the other hand, one man I know works full time helping refugees in our community. Norm said, "I have found out just how similar we all are. Our differences are so minuscule. I am working to build a village of kindness."
One of my friends said of the newcomers, "Every different color, every different bone structure, gives me energy." A school administrator in a small town told me, "Immigrants bring us optimism and energy. They are transforming our dying town and saving our school."
Newcomers are helping us reexamine our attitudes toward the other. Sometimes there is less prejudice against the Africans than against African Americans. Working with Africans has sensitized many of us to long-standing racial issues in our state. Meanwhile, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans are involved in efforts to help the new arrivals. They are already bicultural and can help the rest of us learn to be. They can teach us what they know about feeling like outsiders.
It's natural to feel shy and anxious around newcomers. We are all a little fearful of strangers. That first reaction is nothing to be ashamed of as long as our second reaction is to learn more about the other's humanity. One local said to me, "At first I noticed skin color and accent. Now I no longer see us and them. Nebraska is all just us."
Our mistakes are mostly due not to prejudice, but to just plain ignorance (JPI). Our attitudes about refugees have almost nothing to do with facts. We don't know much about the wars in Sierra Leone and Bosnia, the civil unrest in Sudan and Ethiopia, or the flight of Afghanis into Pakistan—all of which ultimately bring many people to our city. We are not terribly aware of what is happening all over the world. Like most Americans, many of us see three thousand