Here are two probably unrelated events, which I have decided to link together. On Sunday morning, around 8 a.m., there was a very large groundhog deep in our backyard, near our shed, gnawing on the grass.About an hour later, the Capital Region Sanctuary Coalition noted online that there were “confirmed ICE vehicles in the neighborhood of Pine Hills. Jay Street & North Allen; also seen at Myrtle & South Allen, and circling the area.
There was a gray Subaru Ascent, a black Ford Expedition (maybe two of them), a gray Ford Explorer, and a black Dodge Durango.
How did I know this? Because there was a chorus of very loud whistles out on the street, with people scurrying to one of those intersections. At least some of the whistles looked like the one pictured above. (That’s actually TWO whistles, shown at different angles.) Did I mention that they are piercingly loud? I don’t know who made them.
Unfortunately, my wife and I were heading to church. But we were heartened to see about two dozen folks converge at the intersection nearest my house.
I later read, “All hands call ended at 10:50 am.”
This follows federal agents detaining a man and a young child near Western Avenue and North Lake Avenue in Albany on Friday morning.
The too-usual response
More than one person on the Facebook chain wrote, “ICE OUT OF ALBANY, NOW!” One person replied, “Why…… are you ILLEGAL?”
That latter person obviously had not listened to the sermon I heard that day. It specifically mentioned white people needing to call out racism against black people and other targets of racial bigotry. Likewise, when LGBTQ+ folks are vilified, it is incumbent on the broader community to push back.
Note how the Department of Justice has muddled the notion of legal. So, to the inquirer, one does not need to be “illegal” to protest injustice. In fact, it is necessary for people who are not targeted by various dubious policies to rise up against them.
So my groundhog – it was a BIG one – showed up to say, ICE OUT.