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Showing the Way from a Youth Perspective

My 16-year-old grandson, Andrew Larsen, participated in North Carolina in the finals of the National History Day competition in June. He presented with students from all 50 states, US territories and American schools in other countries, in the research paper division. National History Day began almost 50 years ago, and is a training program for academic research, which includes mentoring by history teachers and professors.

If you were active in the 1980’s, here’s some good news. My grandson knows what you did and he honors you for it. This year’s theme was Rights and Responsibilities and Andrew chose to research the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980’s and 1990’s and he focused on the rights of immigrants and the responsibility some Americans felt to defend them. I helped him, along with Rick Coshnear of VIDAS, to find Sonoma County residents who were active in that movement or whose lives were saved by it. He was able to Zoom with them from North Carolina.

There is no room in the Peace Press to reprint the paper, but The Washington Post solicited letters to the editor (twice the length of those accepted by The Press Democrat) from the finalists and asked them to explain how their historical paper is relevant to today. In his paper, Andrew had already pointed out the organizations and practices created in the past that are now being used as jumping off points to thwart Trump’s “swift and brutal” attacks on immigrants.

Andrew’s letter:

“Editor: This year’s National History Day theme was Rights and Responsibilities in History, an apt topic for the current
moment. I wrote about the 1980s Central American Sanctuary Movement, a social movement that advocated for the
rights of Central American asylum seekers. The Sanctuary Movement consisted of Americans who noticed that the
United States was breaking immigration law under the 1980 Refugee Act. They decided to take action by smuggling asylum seekers across the border and providing them sanctuary in the churches and homes of movement members. A deeply religious movement, its members drew motivation from their church doctrine that centered justice for the poor, but also from their sense of responsibility as American citizens for the foreign policy at the heart of the immigration crisis.

Under President Ronald Reagan, the US was training and funding death squads in Central America, leading people to
flee to the US for safety. Americans’ growing moral outrage generated political pressure and, in 1990, Congress created
Temporary Protected Status, which allows asylum seekers to stay within the US while their asylum application, is pending. This provision has saved tens of thousands of lives.

The Sanctuary Movement provides important lessons for the present. When President Trump took office earlier this year, he began a swift and brutal campaign of mass deportations of immigrants and green card holders, many without proper due process, and has revoked TPS for certain groups. These moves parallel the lawlessness of the Reagan administration and demonstrate that our rights are always vulnerable. Yet the activism and courage of the Sanctuary Movement gives us a blueprint for how to respond. One of the most important lessons is to speak truth to power and organize.

The Sanctuary Movement was initially a small group of people in the southwest, but it quickly grew large enough to stand up to the US government and managed to effect important change. The movement shows us we can translate
moral outrage into sustained political action and widespread consciousness-raising by using existing institutions
to build the necessary momentum and support. While the US government often appears unresponsive to the general
public, with enough persistence and motivation, average people can come together and put a stop to policy, behavior,
or legislation they see as unjust. As citizens, we have a responsibility to use our rights to do so. Resistance is possible.
All it takes is one person to spark it.”

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by Susan Collier Lamont

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