I woke up to my community in despair on Saturday. A letter to the editor in the local paper, the paper where I work at as a reporter, was causing a stir.
The letter, which many people have spread, can be seen below in the screenshot from the Scotts Bluff County Democrats. It is full of hate and ignorance. Its words make me want to leave this town, but I have spent two days thinking about where to go from here.
Crass jokes and people pushing the envelope has been, and probably always will be, with us. They were written on the walls in Pompeii and the walls of modern public restrooms. We may chuckle or cringe, but how far is too far? And who gets to decide when we have crossed a line.
In the past week, two entertainers have been accused of crossing the line of good taste. One, Kathy Griffin, has been fired from her job and has lost many sponsorship deals. The other, Bill Maher, has apologized for his comments.
My first trip abroad was in the Spring of 1985. My high school French class took a trip each year and I knew I wanted to go. I remember the cost was $1,073 for the ten-day trip. Every penny I earned delivering newspaper went toward that trip.
My French teacher, Mrs. Mazzone, drilled it into our heads we would be ambassadors for America. Our behavior would reflect what people would think of Americans. Careful admonishments were made about how we should act in public and private during the trip and we learned about cultural differences we should expect.
Each day, Americans are faced with the reality of the Trump Administration’s desire to take away our rights or threatening our welfare in some way. On April 30, one of his surrogates, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, said the president is still considering “opening up” the libel laws.
On Friday night, Donald Trump tweeted, once again, about his disdain for the media.
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
My twitter feed filled soon after with cases of journalists who are not the enemy. Journalist Lauren Wolfe pointed out countries, such as Russia, Burma and Venezuela where the media has been declared enemies of the state.
Immigrants have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Every immigrant I have ever known has had a positive effect on my life and shaped who I am today.
Last week, US District Judge James L. Robart ruled against the president’s executive order banning Muslims from Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, and Yemen after a lawsuit was filed against the EO. Robart granted a temporary restraining order.
NOTE: The Star-Herald has decided to stop allowing reporters to write columns. This is what I wrote for tomorrow’s column and would have run on Thursday, February 2, 2017. I normally have more links and photos in my stories, but I did not know until late Wednesday afternoon this column would not run in the paper. I’ve added links for the sites I could remember and could find again.
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