My backyard happens to be a tiny mountain – 652 feet high, to be exact. It’s not part of my property, but it is my view, my sunset, my ever-present companion and my witness to the changing of the seasons.
Much of the local population is engaged in a relationship with this particular geological formation, because it has walking trails and peregrine falcons and views of the river and the valley that can’t be found anywhere else.
Into this idyllic location, a few days ago, walked a threesome out for a sunny afternoon walk with their dog. While they were walking, they stopped here and there to take pictures. And they chatted. In Spanish.
Along came an angry woman, spewing foul language and shouting at them, “You don’t belong here! This is America! Go back to where you came from!”
Because why? Because they were speaking Spanish.
Two of these people happen to have lived and worked here in the valley for years. They speak English all day long, most days. It is a pleasure for them to converse in their mother tongue, Spanish, when they are in recreational circumstances (reported by Sharon Alpert in the Greenfield recorder, 11/14/19).
If we don’t push back against the hate that has been unleashed and stoked by the current administration, if we don’t muster a mountain of warm-heartedness to reverse the chill, the hate will keep oozing into our back yards like this.
So how do we push back against the contempt being expressed specifically towards immigrants?
I think the best way right now is to learn Spanish. Download the Duolingo app on your phone and for 5 minutes a day, learn to speak Spanish. It’s free. Learn it so that wherever you go you can stand in solidarity with anyone being publicly berated for speaking Spanish. Speak it yourself, proudly and by their side.
I am sorry for those whose lives are filled with anger, foul language, and contempt for others. It is such an unhappy way to live – and unhealthy, too. Studies have shown that living with racial hatred increases rates of cardiovascular disease – both for the haters and for their targets (Tufts Now, 11/17/19).
In an interview with Charlie Rose (3/24/12), Toni Morrison was asked if racism affected her experiences. “That’s the wrong question,” she said. The right question is, “How does that make you feel? What is it doing to you?” People who practice racism, she said, are bereft. They are living a distorted life that makes them as ill as a cancer. “It is a huge waste.”
Loneliness – feeling separated from others – increases blood pressure. Feeling connected lowers it. The happy chemicals that jump into action when we love others (e.g., oxytocin), also override fears and reduce anxiety (mindbodygreen.com, “5 unexpected health benefits of love and friendship).
Imagine: the fears and anxieties of those who are triggered by the sound of the Spanish language being spoken could be gone, whisked away by intentionally growing their own capacity for human kindness.
To the woman on the mountain who felt compelled to spew such hate, I have this message. Your walks up the mountain will not do your heart much good, if your heart us full of contempt for your neighbors. You are making yourself sick, no matter how many trails you climb, or how often.
New Zealand is on the right track by measuring wealth in terms of well-being and happiness, rather than in dollars (Forbes, 7/11/19). Think about that. And when hate arrives on your doorstep, push back with tenderhearted love.
