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04-08-2022, 09:33 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: San Diego, CA, USA
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My brief poem in New Verse News
The outpouring of support for Ukrainian refugees is commendable, and I don't want to detract from that in any way...but it would be nice if equally desperate refugees from other countries were able to inspire the same level of compassion, wouldn't it?
https://newversenews.blogspot.com/20...ue-colors.html
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04-08-2022, 10:06 AM
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Hi Julie,
I like both rhyme and sentiment. The US immigration system, which I've navigated, has its own ins and outs, which can certainly seem arbitrary and carry the weight of years.
Cheers,
John
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04-08-2022, 10:17 AM
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You're exactly right, Julie. And it's very well put. An uncomfortable truth, which applies in the UK too.
Cheers
David
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04-08-2022, 10:43 AM
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Location: New York
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That's true, Julie. But I don't think Ukrainian refugees are being absorbed out of purely humanitarian concerns, as opposed to geopolitical reasons. As you know, if Russia can take Ukraine it would pose a threat to the increasinginly diverse citizens of the NATO alliance, as well as put vast reserves of natural resources into Putin's control. So freedom, democracy, the environment, and the world economy are very much involved and implicated in ways that do not apply to Haiti (although there are still over a million Haitians living in the US). Also, the hope is that the Ukrainian refugees will be able to return to their homes once the Russians are defeated, a prospect that now seems plausible, so their asylum will ultimately be temporary in many cases.
Add to that the fact that the US promised to protect Ukraine and its citizens when we persuaded them to relinquish their nuclear weapons, and I think the disparate treatment can be explained by factors other than skin color (though the paler hues of the Ukrainian people probably do factor in as well).
I completely agree, however, that the US ought to be far more welcoming of refugees from around the world, even when its security interests are less directly implicated. And I agree that your poem is well done and thought provoking.
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04-08-2022, 12:05 PM
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I thought you put it very elegantly Julie. Subtly done. Yes, when the Russians were helping bomb Aleppo we sat there horrified, but we (mostly) just sat there. All a bit too far away from home, too foreign to galvanize meaningful outrage.
Last edited by Joe Crocker; 04-08-2022 at 12:34 PM.
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04-08-2022, 12:35 PM
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Location: Iowa City, IA, USA
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An uncomfortable truth, Julie, and one that needs to be pointed out regularly. So much of the "us vs. them" of immigration policy and popular sentiment depends on unstated assumptions that the "us" includes just the people who look like us (i.e., the people in charge of making the decisions). In a country that has recently lost over a million people to Covid, you might think that people would be open to adding more immigrants. But it doesn't work like that.
Susan
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04-08-2022, 09:20 PM
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deleted, November 2
Last edited by Jack Land; 11-02-2022 at 06:20 AM.
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04-09-2022, 11:06 AM
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Location: UK
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I'm so glad that you wrote this. It's something that needs saying, I think, and applies (imo) equally well to the UK, which David has already mentioned.
What's so good for me is that I can share the link. As a poem that is out there, and accessible, it's a conversation to be had - and a conversation that's a great deal easier to start with 'have you seen this poem - it really made me think' than 'do you think we're racist when it comes to refugees?'
Thank you for writing socially engaged poetry.
Sarah-Jane
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04-10-2022, 08:33 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Boston, MA
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.
As is often the case and the reason why I always look forward to reading your poetry and prose (comments & critiques), is that you carve a poem out of a truth that's hard to swallow. We who see beyond the cultural differences and political/economic circumstances that the lottery of life doles out, know that the truth is often shunned in favor of prejudice. [edit]
We must learn to juggle. The world feels (is it?) overwhelmed with refugees and we — the most fortunate, the ones born and raised in affluent, capitalist, materialistic-centric societies — have a tendency to be selective in our good intentions and deeds; then the trouble starts. We all must learn to see beyond our blind spots.
There was a refuge poem written by Brian Bilston that I think hits the spot, too. (As I recall it was written in response to the rise of "T" and his wrathful policies at the southern border and around the world.)
Yours, though, hits the nail on the head. Uncomfortable is a place to start.
.
Last edited by Jim Moonan; 04-10-2022 at 11:27 AM.
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04-13-2022, 09:46 AM
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What others have said, Julie. Well put and necessarily uncomfortable.
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