I, too, was told “Go back where you came from”

I, too, was told “Go back where you came from”

I can relate. The vile racial, cultural, religious bigotry that the president recently hurled at four members of Congress is nothing new, really. At least for me.

I landed in southern Utah in 1995, going to work for The Spectrum. As I met people, as I tried to make friends, I was constantly asked, “Which ward are you in?”

When I said I didn’t know, I was quickly reassured by my new “friend” that they could find out who my bishop was.

“Oh, but I’m not LDS,” I would reply.

Suddenly, my new “friend” seemed as if they had urgent business someplace else.

I had left California to get away from the hustle, the crowds, the fast-paced lifestyle.

I saw the beauty of the red rocks, the splendor of the mountains, the mystery of Iron County’s west desert.

What I didn’t see on my numerous scouting trips to the area was the cultural elitism and non-inclusive attitudes towards “move-ins,” as newcomers are known.

It wasn’t long before I was writing columns for the newspaper, positing opinions that were clearly from the liberal side.

I became the guy southern Utah loved to hate. If you ever read the Saturday page in The Spectrum that they called The Vent, you know what I’m talking about.

It was a disgraceful, unethical, cowardly waste of space in the newspaper where people could say whatever they wished without signing their name without providing sources for their opinions and without holding anybody accountable.

I was regularly told how I was not welcome in southern Utah and told, “Do us all a favor and go back where you came from.”

Beautiful mountains, splendid red rock panoramas, and uncrowded highways are not enough to make up for the feeling of isolation that southern Utah, at its ugliest, produced.

I was accosted in public places, whether I was doing the weekly shopping or going out for dinner. Family were blackballed from jobs in an effort to drive me away — all because I didn’t worship in their church, worship the conservative ideal, and knuckle under to the culture.

So, I know, Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley. I know. And I am ashamed that a man who is looked upon as somebody who is supposed to represent all of us can behave in such a disgusting manner as to suggest that you “go back” to your “broken and crime-infested” countries that he once referred to as “shit-hole countries,” suggest that you are not loyal to the United States, tweet “IF YOU ARE NOT HAPPY HERE YOU CAN LEAVE!” how during a recent speech he incited a crowd to chant the racist “send her back” in reference to Omar.

I’d like to say that this is not the America I once knew, but that would be a lie.

I grew up during the Civil Rights movement. I grew up when the “N-Word” was a part of the national vocabulary. I grew up when people of color were relegated to the back of the bus in every way imaginable.

My troubles in southern Utah are nowhere near the scale of what is happening to these women, nowhere near the scope, and won’t land on anybody’s radar. Although in many ways I, too, was relegated to the back of the bus, the newspaper gave me a voice that I always used to stand for what I believe to be right, moral, and ethical. And I took a stand against those who would stifle and shun others on religious, political, or cultural matters. I still do. It’s why I string together these meager words each week.

Most racism, bigotry, and hatred go unchallenged. I cannot stand by and watch it happen. So let’s be honest here. Despite the denials, despite the spin, and despite the lies, this is a racist regime that is more in line with the white nationalist movement than the U.S. Constitution.

This is a country that has deep seated racist issues.

It’s something the United States was born with, from its earliest days when slavery was acceptable to today when a president sitting in a modern-day Reich Chancellery disparages people of color whether through inflammatory speech or incendiary tweets while those who dare to challenge him and his followers are branded as fake, un-American, or “the enemy of the people.”

We have eliminated slavery in the United States, but we have not eliminated the fundamentals of racism that made slavery acceptable. So while we may not be selling people of color on the courthouse steps, our attitudes haven’t changed as the nation rides a crest of white supremacy that makes today’s racism as painful as the lash. While the scars may not be as visible, they are still there and just as painful.

We deserve better, you and I, and we should demand better, whether from our president or our next-door neighbors.

We can talk about how we are a nation of immigrants and all that. But while there is truth in that, it is a crutch, an avoidance of the real issue here, which is racism.

What we should really be talking about is how to become a nation where we treat each other with respect and dignity without regard for sex, ethnicity, culture, age, orientation, or religion.

We should be talking about how our political and philosophical difference should be opportunities to engage each other in search of solutions to the myriad problems that beset us instead of further dividing us.

We should be talking about inclusion instead of exclusion.

Until then? We will remain a racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, religiously offensive nation of bigots, a nation whose fabric, culture, and existence is rooted in hatred.

There can be no freedom until the chains of oppression — be they emotional, spiritual, physical, or cultural — are removed.

And that means St. George as well as Washington, D.C.

Congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ayanna Pressley, I feel your pain.

I share your pain.

But I’ve got your backs.

Peace.

The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.

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