They took a father from his child
In the art of writing fiction there's a concept known as the "inciting incident," a moment early in a story when the main character is confronted with a shock or sudden change that then drives the rest of the narrative . It's a useful concept not simply for the writing of fiction, I believe, but also as a way to think about what can help to spark and drive social change.
There are numerous examples of incidents or images that have moved people to take action against injustice. Video of peaceful protesters being doused and injured by high-pressure fire hoses during the Birmingham campaign of the civil rights movement in 1963 sparked outrage and made passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 possible.
Images of Tahlequah, an orca whale who gave birth to a stillborn calf and carried it for more than two weeks, galvanized attention on the plight of the endangered southern resident orca population here in Cascadia and led to legislation and conservation measures, including restrictions on whale watching.
I'm not certain that a July 15 incident in front of a preschool in Beaverton, Oregon will have quite the same impact, but it certainly feels like the kind of inciting incident that could spark discussion or perhaps push people to take action.
An Iranian man was taken from his car by masked ICE agents in Beaverton, Oregon on the way to dropping his child off at preschool.
In the edited video, Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, a chiropractor and immigrant from Iran, is seen stopped by masked immigration agents while driving his child to Guidepost Montessori preschool. Asking for patience as he attempts to call his wife, Khanbabazadeh is then removed from the car after agents smashed the window. The experience was no doubt traumatizing for his child.
According to a report at Newsweek, ICE claims Khanbabazadeh had overstayed a student visa, but the article also notes that he's applied for a green card. Witnesses say he's a good member of the community and a good father. The CEO of the school noted,
"It is not lost on us how frightening and confusing this experience may have been for those involved—especially for the young children who may have witnessed it while arriving at school with their parents."
While ICE continues to claim that these abductions by masked agents refusing to identify themselves are focused on capturing dangerous criminals, recent data show that fewer than half of all ICE arrests in Washington and Oregon involve people with criminal records. It is a cruel campaign of mass deportation.
In the video, a bystander shouts, "This is not OK."
She's right. This is not OK. And legislation prohibiting ICE from wearing non-medical masks and refusing to identify themselves is a start.
But I would argue that the United States has stepped into a new authoritarian reality where former avenues of resistance are now ineffective.
The party in power has quickly moved to slash funding for the social safety net and to consolidate power in a masked police force and a new system of cruel detention centers. It blatantly ignores court orders and the rule of law. It seeks retribution against its opponents and news organizations that criticize it.
A recent essay at The Tyee argues that the US has now become an authoritarian Second American Republic focused on preserving power for a right-wing minority, using ICE – a unprecedented militarized police force whose funding just ballooned from $8 billion to $28 billion – to defend its power. Only a constitutional convention, Crawford Kilian writes, will be able to return the US to a functioning democracy.
Here in the Pacific Northwest we have an powerful alternative: a peaceful, ethically-grounded movement to create a new, independent bioregion with a constitution that protects human rights, guarantees democracy, and puts our local economy and taxes to work for the people who live here – not an empire of terror that steals fathers from their children.
Through protests, general strikes, and creative forms of peaceful confrontation with the new fascist regime, Cascadia will make the case that this is not OK, and that we will build something just and equitable to replace it.
--Andrew Engelson
