Leaving a Harris Teeter today with some necessities (Beer), I saw two ICE Officers walking into the store, guided by a Harris Teeter Manager wearing a Corporate Logo Shirt. I heard him say “she might have gone left”. To their credit, the young ICE Officers were not wearing Helmets, Sunglasses or Masks or had Weapons drawn. I had no idea if they had a court ordered Arrest Warrant. Two Town of Cary Police SUV’s were parked nearby.
Pushing my cart towards my truck (old widowers need to get their steps in), I made eye contact with one young ICE Officer, rolled my 75 year old salty veteran Submariner eyes and shook my head in disapproval. Midway to my truck, in my peripheral vision I saw a young Hispanic woman, also in a Harris Teeter Company shirt looking past me as she walked quickly away, as unobtrusively as possible.
And I thought about my immigrant Grand Parents and Great Grand Parents. And why they came to a foreign land without even knowing the language. And I thought about the poem by Emma Lazarus on the base of this statue.
A decade ago, I made this photograph. A proud American Veteran.
Now, I fear the fate of our Better Angels.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris 2015
Brooke's Blog 