Being an Outsider: Language is Power / Church Involvement and Relief Efforts

In Postville this week, I was struck by the ways that language can determine many things about your life especially in the U.S.  Here, people usually do not know more than one language and are not interested in learning other languages.  This means that people who do not speak English often do not have the same resources as English speakers or do not understand how to access them.  It was interesting to think about this when I was surrounded by people who all speak a language that is not my first language.  I am relatively proficient in Spanish, but when I am surrounded by Spanish speakers who are talking to each other, I can get really confused and feel like a vulnerable outsider.  Unlike many of the immigrants in Postville, I have been in school since age five, I know how to learn, and I have taken college-level Spanish.  However, I still feel very vulnerable and stupid at times when I am surrounded by Spanish speakers because I am not fluent.  I think I can understand somewhat what it must be like to come to a new country and not understand what everybody is saying.  This would make the most basic things very difficult.  I think it would also negatively affect your self-esteem because you would be unsure about things much of the time.  

Another thing that struck me was that the women were getting gallons of milk from the church to bring home with them, whereas I  have to pour out part of a gallon of milk that the girls I live with and I could not finish before it expired.  The contrast between life in Postville and life half an hour away at Luther is stark.  All of the people in Postville are so dependent on the church for basic necessities.  I was told that after the raid the government's strategy was to rely on "local N.G.O's" for support for the people who's lives were torn apart.  However, in rural areas there are no N.G.O.'s.  There are only churches, and churches have born a huge burden responding to this situation.  The problem with this, however, is that pastors, priests and other lay-workers are not always trained to respond to the needs of the people.  There is only one lawyer who works on the Postville cases pro bono once a month, so church workers have had to navigate the legal system, which they are not trained in in order to help people.  They are also usually not trained in mental health care and treatment, which is a very great need for the people of Postville, especially the women and children.  The other problem is that they are so overwhelmed by trying to respond to issues surrounding the raid, that they are unable to effectively address other issues that are pressing.  They are not at all to blame for this.  Rather, they have been overwhelmed by a situation much larger than they are equipped to address, and this is harmful to the victims of the raid.  Therefore, ICE enforced the law in a way that left the community in pieces and then did not make any effort to follow up on the needs of the people that it left behind.