JUNE 12, 2019 – The flag-waver talked on.
“Muslims shouldn’t be allowed into this country either,” he told me.
“How many Muslims do you know personally?” I asked.
“I know what they stand for.”
“No, my question was how many do you know personally.”
“I know what they want to do to this country.”
“But how many do you actually know.”
“Fifty.”
“Fifty? How did you come up with that number, and why didn’t you answer when I first asked . . .”
“I’ve seen them at work, I’ve seen them in stores . . .”
“Merely seeing someone isn’t the same as talking with . . .”
At that moment, the light changed. Traffic turning in front of us sped around the corner. An electric blue, late model Honda Civic was in the lead. Its driver, a middle aged white guy, had rolled down the passenger-side window. He honked. His wave turned into a thumbs-up. The guy with the cap and flag returned the gesture.
When “DON’T WALK” changed to “WALK,” the guy with the cap and flag continued on his way, and I turned and continued on mine. When I looked over my shoulder I saw him progressing up the street, waving his flag as he did.
Not 10 paces later, behind some large landscaping obstacles immediately in front of the courthouse I saw a group of about a dozen older teenagers in the company of two white guys—one with all-white hair; the other, maybe in his mid-thirties, wearing an Outward Bound T-shirt and cap. The kids looked like a United Nations contingent—Muslims, Asians, Africans, Latinos. The older white guy was down on his hands and knees with a couple of the kids assisting him in setting up some unidentifiable blocks attached to a centerpiece by stretches of rope. He was explaining something to the kids. All listened very attentively; several wrote in their notebooks.
I stepped up to the younger white guy and asked him what was going on.
“We’re part of a program called ‘Upward Bound.’ It’s a concept that came out of ‘Outward Bound.’ What we do is take first generation immigrant kids and spend the summer with them, taking them all over the Twin Cities, introducing them to various institutions, and acclimating them to democratic society. It’s really a terrific program.”
The first guy had been wholly unaware of the Upward Bound group, and the Upward Bound students were too absorbed in learning to notice the first guy. The Native American and the New Americans had been separated from each other by just a few feet and at the same time by many worlds. America–in a nutshell.
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May the reader pardon me for not having made more of the opportunities presented by the two contrasting encounters. I regret not having asked the first guy 8,000 questions to reveal what informed his worldview. I also regret not having learned more about the Upward Bound kids. Unfortunately, I was already running seriously late for work. My clients–including Trump supporters as well as recent (Muslim) immigrant entrepreneurs–had more pressing matters demanding attention.
© 2019 Eric Nilsson
