Tried With Fire

This has been a time of raising my own awareness. You would have to be living under a rock to not realize that America is becoming an increasingly divided nation over the issues of race, class, and immigration. Reading Divided by Race , at the recommendation of an African American brother, was eye-opening. Here you have professing believers who have almost opposite assessments of racial issues within the American church. Why do we think so differently? What produced these two wide trajectories? Then came the racial incident involving Michael Luo, deputy metro editor of The New York Times. Now it was much closer to home because, after hearing his story and many others that poured forth, these were my people. Their stories are very much like mine. So to gain more understanding, I began to read and listen. The first book was The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee. This was a fascinating book and quite a feat given its scope. I had no idea that Asian immigrants first came to Cen...

This land is your land, this land is my land From the California to the New York Island From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters This land was made for you and me I grew up singing this song by Woody Guthrie. The fact that my dad, a naturalized citizen, could teach this to his students (he was a  music teacher) was a testimony to the great American melting pot. I took it for granted that I was an American by birth and that this was my land. But it wasn't always this way. If you don't dig into history, you can believe the myth that the United States opened her arms wide to receive immigrants from all nations and from all backgrounds. In reality, we have a history marked by xenophobia. When I listened/read about the events that led up to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 , I was shocked. This was my country , but my people were persecuted, driven from their homes, and even killed based on race. I am not placing blame on anyone today. Those responsible are ...