Japanese-Americans Speak Up for Muslim-Americans

You can also read the article here.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - “A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore lost years or erase painful memories. Neither can they fully convey our nation’s resolve to rectify injustice and to uphold the rights of individuals.” Tom Oshidari, co-president of the Japanese-American Citizens League, San Jose Chapter, was reading from the letter he had received from President George Bush in October 1990. “We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese Americans during World War II.”

His parents – American Citizens – were shipped off from California to the Jerome internment camp in rural Arkansas in 1942 under President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Tom was born in the camp. His parents died several years ago. An estimated 60,000 of the 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry interned during WWII are still alive and received redress payments of $20,000 and letters of apology from the 41st president.

About 200 of us gathered last weekend in front of City Hall for the solidarity day organized by the Nihonmachi Outreach Committee and the South Bay Islamic Association, with participation from Evergreen Islamic Center. Masao Suzuki, the architect of the rally, explained: “In the lessons learned from 75 years of resistance from 1942-2017, we say No to Concentration Camps and Islamophobia. President Trump’s Executive Order 13769, banning travel from 7 Muslim-majority countries, has brought back painful memories of internment, among the darkest chapters in American history. We will not let Muslim-Americans stand alone. We will stand by them. We will not allow history to repeat. Never again!”

City Hall is about a mile away from San Jose’s Japan Town but when we walked the distance on solidarity day, the weight of history was heavy upon us. The minutes spanned a lifetime of grief and sorrow.

Naoko Fujii, a lawyer in Silicon Valley, never misses such rallies. “It’s a matter of principle,” she said. Her father, only a high-school student in 1942, was moved between Internment camps in Arkansas, Utah and Wyoming, along with his three siblings and parents. To this day she has difficulty imagining the physical and the emotional trauma they suffered in the bitterly cold and unbearably hot camps.

Fumi Tosu, affiliated with Casa De Clara Catholic Worker of San Jose, exhorted the gathering not to repeat the mistakes of the past. “When Nazi Germany was sending Jews to the gas chamber, the supposedly ‘Good Germans’ looked the other way. When Japanese-Americans were being hustled off to camps, ‘good Americans’ looked the other way too. Americans right here in San Jose looked the other way. But not all Americans. Quakers protested the internment and helped the interned. Let’s be the Quakers of 2017. Let’s make sure Muslim-Americans don’t suffer the same injustice that our parents and grandparents suffered. Let’s fight for radical equality.”

I looked around: a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon, a perfect spring day for the outdoors, for picnic, for hiking, for taking in the beauty of wildflowers after the profusion of rain in the valley. Yet here they were, my fellow-Americans, sacrificing their time for a cause they believed in, whites, blacks, Latinos, African-Americans, families with infants in strollers, the kaleidoscope that’s America. An elderly white man next to me held up a poster that read “No to Religious or National Exclusion.” Another read “Steve Jobs Was Syrian.” The man in front of me wore a white T-shirt that listed all the 10 internment camps in America under bold red letters: “Never Again.”

But something was troubling me, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

The event was being co-emceed by Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), San Francisco Bay Area, and Lisa Washio-Collette, whose father, Kintaro Washio, and brother Zentaro, both spent years in internment camps at Tule Lake and Gila River. Zahra and Lisa reinforced the message of the solidarity day, that every act of injustice must be fought in the court of law as well as in the court of public opinion. A Civil Rights attorney, Zahra was among the first to sue Donald Trump over the “Muslim Exclusion Order” in January, following Trump’s infamous Executive Order 13769.

It was only when Billoo was thanking the rally on behalf of Muslims that I suddenly realized what was troubling me: There were a disappointingly few Muslims!

At a mosque later in the day, I lamented to a few of my fellow-Muslims how disappointed I was. So few of us showed up when other Americans had come together to voice their unconditional support for us. There were the usual excuses of “didn’t know about it,” “very busy” and “family obligations." But then one Muslim said: “Do you really think this rally changed anything?”

I could not let this go unanswered. “I don’t know whether this rally by itself changed anything or will change anything. But I know one thing for sure: It changed me. I met Japanese-Americans whose parents and grandparents were sent to Internment camps, concentration camps, really, even though they were loyal citizens. I no longer think of injustice and racism as abstract ideas. I see them with human faces, and I know that I am of them, and they are of me. If we can change this way, we are compelled to act. And when enough of us change and act, mountains move and tyrants fall.” 

Jewish and Muslim Children Unite for a Common Cause

You can also read the article here.

An interfaith meeting of young people may not strike anyone as headline news. But for those of us at the event, it was a moment to cherish and draw inspiration from, particularly in these dark and difficult times.

Accompanied by a few mothers and mentors, about 40 kids – ages 9 to 22 – arrived at the Evergreen Islamic Center (EIC), in the foothills above San Jose, California. The group, from a progressive Jewish summer camp in the Southern California city of Big Bear Lake, were greeted by an equal number of Muslim youth and parents.

Their visit was prompted by a hate letter sent to Evergreen just before last year’s Thanksgiving holiday. 

“We will not tolerate or accept racism, sexism, climate denial, homophobia, xenophobia or Islamophobia in any form,” wrote Shira Menter, a Camp Gilboa staff member and mentor, in a letter to Evergreen after she learned of the incident. “We want you to feel safe, accepted, and free to practice your religion wherever you choose to live.”

“My heart ached when I read the hateful letter you received from people calling themselves ‘Americans for a Better Way.’ We are part of a Jewish youth movement and we are part of the Jewish resistance. We will do whatever we can to protect you. The beauty of this country is that we celebrate diversity. Much love.”

Shira suggested that “it would be a good idea to have our kids interact with yours” as a
way to “build relationships between Jews and Muslims in the United States.”

To which I could only say, ‘Amen.’ About three weeks later, the meeting materialized.

One of the leaders of the Gilboa group, Yasho, defined the goals of the meeting: a) build relationships between American Jewish and Muslim youth b) gain some understanding of each other’s religion and culture c) improve the world by partnering with one another.

As the adults in the room watched in wonder, the youth, under Yasho’s confident guidance, arranged themselves in circles and over the next several hours played games, asked and answered questions (sample: “What’s the best thing you have done for your community,” “What’s your family like, your brothers, sisters, pets? Tell a funny story about them,” “What’s your favorite class, your hobby?”, “If you could change something about the world, what would it be and how?”), pondered the dangers of labeling and judging others, and identified practical steps to making the world a better place through personal acts of courage and kindness.

They were shy at first but within minutes, our prayer hall was resonant with the kids opening up to one another as if they had known each other for years. They shared ideas and challenged their feasibility, came up with ways to improve bad situations at home and school, discussed the cruelty of bullying and the importance of befriending bullied students, expressed what social justice meant to them, and listed steps to organize themselves to achieve a goal - all with humor and grace.

When Sid, a computer science major at Berkeley, suggested that everyone should follow the Golden Rule – treat others as you would like to be treated – Elliot, a precocious 6th-grader, wasn’t convinced. “What if they don’t want to be treated like the way you want to be treated?”

There was silence, followed by some giggles. It’s probably fair to say that no one in recorded history had ever questioned the logic of the Golden Rule, but then no one had to contend with an irrepressible 12-year-old genius.

“Well, just treat him well, then!” said Sid.

“How?” persisted Elliot.

Ronnie came to the rescue: “Just ask!”

Elliot seemed doubtful but decided to let it pass!

“Ignore all the hate mail you get because these people are mean and cruel. Remember that these people don’t know who you are.”

A bond has been forged. On their own, without any parental interference, Jewish and Muslim children had broken through a barrier that previously made them strangers to one another.

What about the other hundreds of thousands of Jewish and Muslim children?

“Take one step at a time,” said Ephraim. “I have made Muslim friends. I now know I can make a difference.”

Zaid echoed the feeling. “Change one person at a time and you will change the world.”

“I am Andrea and a middle-schooler from Silicon Valley. You are not alone. There are people like us fighting for you and we won’t stop.”

Yasho had distributed a special type of paper to the youth that contained seeds. “Write on your seed paper how you will make the world grow better. Take it home and plant it and whatever grows will be a reminder to you to try to change the world.” The paper itself contained this instruction: “Plant this in your garden. Keep it moist. Watch it grow!”

What did some of the youth write in their seed paper?

“Lead by example.” “Become a doctor and provide healthcare to the poor.” “Let this be the first meeting of many more meetings between us in the future.”

The laughter on the surface was tempered by concern about the country’s current direction. Mosques have been burned to the ground and Muslims have been attacked. Many Jewish Centers have been threatened and Jewish homes spray-painted with swastikas while several Jewish graveyards have been desecrated.

“Overlook the hate letter because hate cannot be fought with hate. Darkness can only disappear in the presence of light. We must defeat hate and discrimination in Trump’s America with love, unity and faith in one another.”

But witnessing this kind of Jewish-Muslim bonding in just a few hours gives hope that hate and bigotry will never be the last words that define our nation but that love and fighting for justice will.

“Don’t let Trump and his supporters bring you down. There are many people who don’t share their views. We are a Jewish Youth Movement and we will be there for you.”

“We read the hate letter that you received a couple of months ago from ‘Americans for a Better Way.’ We just wanted to say that nothing in that letter is true and if the people who wrote the letter take further action, we will support you. At our Jewish Summer Camp we talk about the importance of treating everyone fairly. Everyone is different and valued. If everyone was the same, it would be boring!"

“I am writing this letter to send my support to you and all those affected by the hateful letter you received. I am from a Jewish youth movement that is a liberal movement that fights for equality in the world. Overlook the hate letter because hate cannot be fought with hate. Darkness can only disappear in the presence of light. We must defeat hate and discrimination in Trump’s America.” 

Being Civil with Trump Supporters

(You can also read the article here.)

Like millions of Americans, I was devastated when Hillary Clinton lost the presidential race despite winning the popular vote by 2.8 million. But as days went by and reckless words from President Trump’s uncensored mind began rattling the world, I longed to engage with one or two Trump supporters to see if there was any common ground from which to look at our country as Americans and not as partisans.

The fact that I was a Muslim-American complicated the matter, given the hate-filled rhetoric from the White House. Still, I kept hoping.

The opportunity came during a gathering of a group of amateur photographers in the foothills of San Jose, California. While discussing finer points of the decisive moment, my curiosity was piqued by a fellow-American whom I will call John. John is white, in his mid-sixties and retired. He made his money in real-estate and now spends much of his time playing golf and pursuing his passion for photography. He is also a vigorous Trump supporter.

Although nervous to discuss politics, I told myself that the worst that could happen would be for John to ask me to get lost. I could live with that.

Here is a summary of our conversation.

“Do you think Trump’s policies of deporting immigrants, banning Muslims, and calling media the enemy of the people is good for our country?”

“Well,” he said, looking at me curiously, “Trump is just keeping his word. I admire him for that, don’t you? How many politicians do you know who keep their promises? And what’s wrong with deporting illegals? Isn’t it wrong for them take up jobs meant for the legals?”

Statistics prove otherwise, I told him. Besides, many immigrants do menial jobs that make life easier for Americans like him. “Look at who are serving us here! Hispanics.”

“I am sure they are legal. I have no problem with them,” John replied.

“Do you know any illegals?” I asked.

“I personally don’t know any,” allowed John, “but trust me, they are around.”

It went back and forth like this. John did not budge and neither did I. I raised the Muslim ban issue, reminding him that no one from the banned Islamic countries had committed terrorist acts in America. John was unimpressed.

“We can never be too safe,” he said. “It is right to err on the side of caution.”

“Even if it goes against our values?”

“I don’t think it does. In any case, the president is responsible for keeping us safe by any means necessary.” As he said this, I became aware that John was looking at me with more interest. Next instant, I knew why.

“Are you a Muslim?”

Here it comes, I thought, the moment of truth! For a fleeting second, I recalled what Patrick Stein, one of the conspirators said about the Muslims he was planning to massacre in Garden City, Kansas, in July 2016, fortunately foiled by the FBI: “The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim.”

“Yes,” I replied.

A pause. Then: “Well, you seem like a decent fella!” said John with a smile.

I cringed inside but outwardly I matched his grin. “Thank you,” I said with relief. I told John that most Americans who hold negative views of Muslims have never met a Muslim in their life. “You are the first Muslim I had a conversation with,” agreed John.

While I cannot say with certainty that we parted as friends, I am also certain that John and I did not part as enemies.

What my brief encounter with a Trump supporter taught me was that we should use civility not as a weapon to win arguments but because it is the right thing to do, a tough test for summoning the better angels of our nature.

This in no way diminishes the urgency to save our country from Trump’s disastrous policies, the gerrymandering, the willful policy of suppressing voter rights, banning immigrants by religion, depriving women of their reproductive options, treating media as the enemy of the people, (about which Republican senator John McCain said, “That’s how dictators get started”), rising anti-Semitism and hate crimes, and such. We must sustain the 21st-century version of the movement launched by abolitionist Harriet Tubman, suffragist Susan Anthony and freedom rider John Lewis.

But our fight to win our country back from a would-be dictator will stand a greater chance of success if we use civility for its own sake and as its own reward while interacting with our fellow-Americans who voted Trump to power.

Sustaining Grassroots Activism Against the Trump Presidency

(You can also read the article here.)

We were about a hundred Americans on a rainy winter morning – teachers, engineers, lawyers, accountants, secretaries, entrepreneurs, lifelong activists, many retired, some not – who had gathered in the community room of a public library in East San Jose to “Do Something to Push Back at Trump’s Agenda.”

Rebecca, one of the organizers of the ‘SJ Indivisible Huddle,’ identified a website at the outset called ‘Indivisible Guide’ that contained practical steps we could take to change the status quo.

Breaking up into groups of about ten each, we focused on what we could do to defeat Trump’s un-American policies on immigration, media, environment, women’s rights, and more. The emphasis was on taking action based on sound ideas.

“This can’t go on,” declared Bracy, a retired teacher. “No one could imagine things would go this bad this quickly.” “Agree,” said Stella, “but we have to get rid of our fear if we are to make any progress. Too many Americans are unable to act because they are fearful.”

Maria, a Latina, observed that it was easy to say we should not be afraid but the reality was crueler. “I have friends and relatives who are afraid of being deported. They are afraid to attend meetings like this because they don’t know what will happen.” When told that there are websites that offer tips and hotlines one can access to get help against activities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, Maria replied that such options were not available to those most threatened by ICE. “These immigrants don’t have computers. Most can’t talk in English. They don’t know how to access the Internet. They are just afraid.”

Gustavo signed up to do something about it, starting with a vigorous voter registration and ‘Get to Know Your Rights’ drive in neglected zip codes. He encouraged us to tweet Trump as response to his vindictive tweets, sign petitions on the White House website and raise funds to support candidates in the 2018 mid-term elections who reject Trump’s fear-mongering and destructive agenda. Patrick and Barbara took responsibility for focusing on mid-term elections.

However, Maria’s concerns made it clear that a chasm exists between theory and practice, marginalized or ignored by our society.

When an activist reflected on how lucky we were to be living in a progressive, liberal state like California, another activist reminded the audience that in places like Modesto, Merced and other Central Valley cities, democratic candidates in the last election lost to Republican candidates. “It’s not as rosy as it sounds,” she said. “A recent report had statistics on how hate groups has increased with Trump’s win. Guess which state has the highest number of hate groups in the U.S now? California, with 79!” Tanya and Steve offered to investigate why hate groups were increasing and what we could do about it.

Nella, another retired teacher, emphasized the importance of contacting our representatives. “We should not just criticize. If a congressman, a senator or a council member does something we approve of, we should call to thank them.” It was also necessary to engage in a civil discussion with Trump voters, she said. “Maybe those sitting on the fence – not the die-hard supporters - will be persuaded to change if we present the facts clearly. Not fake news but facts that cannot be disputed.” Rachel, Dave and Kathy took responsibility for contacting moderate representatives and Trump supporters to at least get a dialogue going.

I spoke about the ban on Muslim immigration. “I am a Muslim. Our Islamic Center is just down the road. Statistics show that most Americans who hold negative views about Muslims have never met a Muslim. I invite you to our Center to hold one of these events so you will get to know us and we can work with you on issues that affect us all.” The invitation was immediately accepted by all, to the immense gratification of about a dozen Muslims present.

Allen, a beekeeper, asked us to look around the room and identify the one glaring problem that plague our well-meaning activism. “Most of us are like me, white. Where are people of other skin colors? Where’s the diversity that’s supposed to make San Jose such a special place? Unless we reach out to people who don’t look like me and most of you, our effort to bring about change will probably fail.”

Sharon, founder of a non-profit called ‘Second Chance’ that offers services to at-risk youth, and one of only two women of color in the event, spoke with bracing, almost uncomfortable, honesty. “I don’t fear this administration because I have lived it. I have known what white supremacist ideology can do to us. We have fought many unknown battles that you can never even imagine. But I will say this about Trump: He has brought us together who would otherwise not be together. And with white Americans in the forefront of this movement, the chance of success is much higher than if it were driven by people of color only.” Susan, dean at a local college, had a huddle with Sharon and vowed to make the group more representative and inclusive.

This was one of thousand similar events taking place around America, organized by ordinary Americans with existential concerns about the country and determined to stop the erosion of our values and institutions before it was too late. We have much to learn that we can only learn along the way. Just as there were only a few people of color in the event, there were also only a few millennials. The young are supposed to lead us in the fight for justice but in reality it seems that the momentum so far against Trump is being maintained by the middle-aged and the elderly, a significant number of whom are not well-off and deeply worried about the future of healthcare in America.

What did I take away from the event as we prepare for the next?

That the road ahead is tricky and treacherous. That we have to summon the stamina to sustain a long-term movement, to accept the fact that we have to sacrifice much before seeing the changes we seek. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” said Martin Luther King. We - and that means Americans across all age-groups, colors, faiths and professions – have to band together to fight the good fight by refusing to remain silent about things that matter.

---

Some useful websites:

https://www.indivisibleguide.com/
https://www.resistancecalendar.org/ 
https://dailyaction.org/ 
https://swingleft.org/
https://www.resistancerecess.com/event/resist-recess/
https://www.countable.us/ 
https://www.crowdjustice.org/
http://www.arrived.us/

From Nero to Trump: Evolution of Narcissists

You can also read the article here.

Although meant to convey cruelty, arrogance and a certain level of madness, the image of Nero fiddling with Rome burning (myth or not) is more pathetic than predatory. Surrounded by sycophants, this corrupt, incompetent, power-hungry Caesar ruled by whatever rose to the surface of his mind at any given moment. Congenitally delusional, Nero was the ultimate narcissist. And what’s a narcissist if not pathetic?

First forward a few thousand years.

On January 27, President Trump issued an executive order barring people from seven Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - from entering the United States.

A week later, James L. Robart, a Judge of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, issued a temporary ban on the president’s order.

The President, easily the world’s most powerful 140-character tantrum transmitter, tweeted: “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!”

Intrigued by the callous, caustic use of ‘so-called judge,’ I looked up James Robart on the Web. A Republican, he was nominated for the federal bench by President George Bush in 2003 and unanimously confirmed in a 99-0 vote by the Senate in June 2004. He was a distinguished corporate lawyer prior to his appointment, regarded by those who know him as a ‘judge’s judge,’ one driven by a profound respect for law and the constitution. A colleague’s summation: “The cream rises to the top.”

Judge Robart asked a simple question about the executive order: “How many arrests have been there of foreign nationals from those seven countries since 9/11”?

The answer: “None.”

Anyone crossing the path of America’s volatile president can expect to be predictably ridiculed or demonized. That’s what happened to the judge.

What was common in Nero’s Rome is becoming increasingly common in today’s America.

Omid Kordestani, Twitter’s Executive Chairman, who came to the U.S. in 1978 as an Iranian immigrant and settled in San Jose, responded to Trump with a tweet of his own: “Our democratic institutions will prevail and they are bigger than any one person in position of power, temporarily!”

The bite is in the word “temporarily” that has an echo in history. Returning victorious from a battle, a Roman conqueror would ride in a triumphal chariot through the city while a slave would whisper in the conqueror’s ear a warning: all glory is fleeting.

People like Judge Robart are fulfilling their obligations to uphold the constitution against executive orders that violate it, the first amendment in this case. This is particularly urgent since we are currently witnessing a partisan legislative branch turning into a rubber stamp for Trump’s executive branch. It’s by anticipating this danger that the founding fathers created the judicial branch as a safeguard to presidential excesses.

We haven’t heard the last word on the immigration ban. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco rejected a request by the Justice Department to restore Trump’s targeted travel ban. There will undoubtedly be more back and forth over the travel ban, possibly reaching the Supreme Court even, and ultimately, over the soul of America.

On the same Friday that Judge Robart issued his restraining order, I found about fifty of my fellow-Americans assembled in front of the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose. They had come spontaneously to support us, holding signs that read, “Immigrants are Here to Stay,” “We Are All Americans,” “Stop Separating Families,” and “Japanese Americans Say No Muslim Registry, No Deportations.” Mosque-goers were treated to a rousing rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by San Jose resident Angela.

I asked Peter, who is of the Jewish faith, why he had braved the weather to spend time in front of an Islamic Center on a Friday afternoon. “Because I feel strongly that there is no place for bigotry in our country,” re replied. He read from a flyer he was distributing that contained excerpts from a letter President George Washington had written in 1790 to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, RI: “Government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance … May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of other inhabitants …”

Most Americans are outraged by the president’s overreach and are taking to the streets and sounding out to their representatives their concerns about the erosion of America’s founding values. It is critical that we continue working within the law to change the disastrous direction toward which our country is heading. There is no room for complacency. History may regard Nero as a zero but let’s not forget that he ruled for 14 long and painful years before the Romans finally woke up.

We Must Stop the Assault on Our Fundamental Values

You can also read the article here.

President Trump’s executive order to ban immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries for at least 90 days and to indefinitely ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States is an unprecedented assault on fundamental American values of justice and freedom. It has already set off a chain reaction of broken promises and calamitous uncertainty throughout the world. 

That this most ahistorical of presidents chose to issue his order on Holocaust Remembrance Day makes it all the more tragic and ominous.

Although a federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., has issued an emergency stay of deportations from JFK, San Francisco, Dulles and other airports following a lawsuit by the ACLU, the stay’s consistent enforcement is doubtful given the enormous power the President wields.

What we need is a grassroots movement to stop the president from continuing his single-minded agenda of uprooting what, until now, had made America the humanitarian leader of the world, an achievement far greater than our unmatched entrepreneurial drive and material progress. 

To our credit, this movement has already begun, riding the momentum created by the Women’s March on January 21. On Sunday, January 29, protests against the refugee ban swept across the nation, from New York City and Miami to San Francisco and Los Angeles.

About 100 of us – Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists - gathered in front of San Jose’s City Hall, chanting, “Say it loud, say it clear. Immigrants are welcome here,” and “San Jose stands against hate. Immigrants make America great.”

Laurie, a rabbi in a Los Gatos elementary school, had brought her daughter and held up a sign that read, “Rabbis for Refugees.” 

“I had to be here,” she told me when I expressed my gratitude as a Muslim-American.

Miriam is an active participant with the grassroots movement called "Together We Will" launched from Facebook. “We are a nation of immigrants. Immigrants are welcome here. An insult against anyone is an insult against me,” she said.

Terse but telling signs were all around: “No Wall. We Stand United for All.” “Muslims Make San Jose Better.” “Be Kind to All Refugees.” “Dissent is Patriotic.” “We Are All Immigrants.” “San Jose Christians Love Muslims.” “The Power of the People is Stronger than the People in Power.”

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), a Protestant pastor and outspoken foe of Adolf Hitler, spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. Of that time, he later wrote: “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.”

With the refugee ban, the President has given ISIS a shot in the arm, made Americans more vulnerable to extremists and the world a more dangerous place. 

Here in Silicon Valley, where a global workforce is a given and social media transcend national boundaries, Trump's refugee ban outraged industry titans. Executives at Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, Airbnb, Box, and other companies condemned Trump's unilateral decision to ban immigration into a country built by immigrants and unleashing discrimination based on religion. Many companies advised their traveling Muslim employees to return to the United States to avoid the risk of deportation.

Concerned scientists, meanwhile, have moved the Doomsday Clock ahead by 30 seconds because of the President’s actions in only the first week of his presidency. It is now two-and-a-half minutes to midnight, the closest since 1953 when the clock was set to two minutes to midnight after the United States and the Soviet Union had tested hydrogen bombs.

The US constitution makes it clear that discrimination based on national origin or religion is illegal. No creative interpretation can get past this fundamental fact, something that the president, aided by a spineless, Republican-dominated congress, blithely ignores. To violate it is to violate America. “America First” rings hollow and hypocritical if it comes with the condition that Muslims, or adherents of any other faith, must be last.

In his farewell address in 1988, Ronald Reagan explained his understanding of America as “a city upon a hill,” a phrase he borrowed from John Winthrop (1588-1649) who served as a governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony: “In my mind it’s a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in peace and harmony.”

Compare that with Trump’s dystopian inaugural speech in which he portrayed America as a country of rusted-out factories, crime, gangs and drugs, and this chilling coda: “This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.”

No, the American carnage is about to begin unless we ordinary Americans stop it through legal means and non-violent resistance before it is too late.