Then and now 

Imagine this: It’s December 1862. You’re walking the cobblestone streets of Philadelphia, a major Union hub during the ongoing Civil War. It is also a prime port of refuge for free Blacks and “freedom seekers,” the name slaves escaping their bondage preferred to be called. 

You have no way of knowing that in just 10 days, on Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln will free all slaves in states rebellious against the Union. Right now you are going to the butcher shop to buy meat for your Christmas dinner and beef jerky for weary soldiers longing for home themselves during the holidays. 

But a ruckus breaks out nearby. Someone cries, “I am a free man! I have my paper!” Three white men, part of a highly organized slave patrol hired to return runaways to their owners, suspect his document is forged. They shove him onto a wagon and carry him away. 

You are a free Black person who abides by the law requiring you to carry at all times a certification paper attesting to your freed status. Do you retreat home or disappear behind a stall until the danger passes? 

If you are white, do you too become outraged, revolted by the indignity visited upon the man, your Christmas spirit dampened? Simultaneously, were you also grateful that your own skin color automatically exempted you from scrutiny? 

Fast-forward to 2025. You and your children are in Baltimore at The Home Depot, shopping for a pre-lit Christmas tree and inflatable snowman. Suddenly vans with flashing red-and-blue lights come to a screeching halt outside. Agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) jump out and surround Latino men repaving the parking lot. The workers are thrown to the ground and handcuffed. Screams that they have not broken any laws fall on deaf ears. 

Are you disturbed by this? Are you relieved that anyone accused of breaking immigration laws is being removed from the streets? Do you tell yourself and your frightened children that what just happened is for the protection of the nation? 

The more I see immigrants detained on televised news and cellphone videos, the more I feel transported back in time – revisiting the nightmare of freedom seekers and the diverse communities that risked their own liberty to aid them. 

So I ask myself today the same questions that co-existing whites, freed Blacks and slaves blending in with them surely must have asked themselves during those dark days when human beings were regarded as property: Do I see this and do nothing? My answer is a resounding “No!” 

As such, my first order of business, along with continuing prayers for impacted families, is to become informed – examining all perspectives. 

ICE’s stated mission is “prioritizing public safety by locating, arresting and removing criminal aliens and immigration violators from our neighborhoods.” This sounds protective. How it is carried out, however, leaves much to be desired. 

In September, the U.S. Supreme Court gave ICE agents the green light to use racial and language profiling during immigration raids and sweeps with no judicial warrants required. 

I’ve since subscribed to the American Immigration Council’s newsletter, drawn to its mission to “bring together problem solvers” through litigation, research, advocacy and communication. 

Slavery that was legal centuries ago is considered an abomination today. All the more reason not to categorize all situations regarding immigrants as either black or white. There are complicated areas in between, areas as gray as that early morn in Bethlehem when hope was born, giving way to a brighter dawn for all who tenaciously cling to hope for peace.  

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