Facts Matter

 

(Editor's Note:  Yesterday I tried to publish a guest post in this space, and, due to formatting issues, failed spectacularly.    Today, I am trying again - and will not relent until the deed is done!  

Mike Box, the author of "Facts Matter" is an old friend from college in the 1960's who has a sharp legal mind, a keen understanding of geo-politics, and personal knowledge of the inner-workings of the Episcopal Church.  A few days ago I wrote to him and asked if he would submit something to "The Ramble" dealing with the Episcopal Church's determination not to enable Donald Trump in his racist refugee relocation policies, and he shot back a lengthy submission in less than an hour.  Needless to say, I must have touched a nerve!

What follows is Mike's appraisal of the situation of the Trump administration moving a group of white South Afrikaners to the head of the refugee resettlement line, along with some relevant history on the subject.  Please enjoy and share.  Thanks, Mike, for providing us with your unique perspective on the matter. ~ Pa Rock)

Facts Matter

    by Mike Box

    A Christ-Follower

The President was inaugurated to a second term of office on January 20th, and within hours he enacted an indefinite pause on the admissions of refugees, who are identified as people fleeing war and violence overseas and who undergo a years-long vetting process before being admitted into the U.S. legally.  On January 21st the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (D.C.) said to President Trump  "In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared."  Budde continued, "There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent. families, some who fear for their lives."   The day before Trump has issued an Executive Order "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid."  On January 31st, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Right Reverend Sean Rowe, announced the effective closing of Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) with the layoff of 22 employees.  Only a skeletal staff remained under the leadership of Reverend Sarah Shipman to wind down.

On February 7th Mr. Trump signed another Executive Order, this one "Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa."   The major grievance of the white South Afrikaners is the passage of the "Republic of South Africa Expropriation Act of 2024."   This bill was deliberated in the South African Parliament with months of debate.   It is essentially an Eminent Domain law that allows private property to be taken for public purposes, and contains language for both fair compensation and for taking without compensation.  South Africa is struggling with issues of wealth inequality after years of white South Afrikaners ruling the nation under apartheid.  South Africa's President Ramaphosa admits the new law is aimed in part at redistribution of South African wealth.

In the February 7th Executive Order Mr. Trump, in Section 4 of that Order, lifted the ban on immigration which opened the door for these white South Afrikaners to board a State Department chartered plane to bring them to the United States.  Trump advisor Elon Musk, also from South Africa, claims the government there discriminates against whites.  The government of South Africa vociferously denies that claim.  Also, in a letter to President Bishop Rowe, the Most Reverend Thabo Makgoba, archbishop of the Anglican Church of South Africa (ACSA) wrote:

Dear Presiding Bishop Sean,

I write to thank you for your call on Sunday, and to assure you of our gratitude for the stand you have taken in support of ACSA and South Africa in regard to the group of South Africans being resettled by your Administration.  

What the Administration refers to as anti-white racial discrimination is nothing of the kind.  Our government implements affirmative action on the lines of that of the United States, designed not to discriminate against whites, but to overcome the historic disadvantages black South Africans have suffered.

By every measure of economic and social privilege, white South. Africans as a whole remain the beneficiaries of apartheid.  Measured by the Gini coefficient, which measures income disparity, we are the most unequal society in the world, with the majority of the poor black, and the majority of the wealthy white.

While U.S. supporters of the South African group will no doubt highlight individual cases of suffering some members might have undergone, and criticize TEC (the Episcopal Church) for its action, we cannot agree that South Africans who have lost the privileges they enjoyed under apartheid should qualify for refugee status ahead of people fleeing war and persecution from countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Afghanistan.

Please feel free to share this letter publicly.

The facts are that white South Afrikaners are beneficiaries of black labor, much like plantation owners and other wealthy institutions in America - including the Episcopal Church.  These South Afrikaners are not marginalized persons.  They have been permitted, because of their wealth and their skin color, to leapfrog over more deserving candidates for immigration, candidates who have been vetted over a lengthy and time-consuming process.  The Episcopal Church will not be compliant in furthering the overt racist policies of Mr. Trump.   On May 12th Presiding Bishop Rowe announced the end of the Episcopal Church's entanglement with the Trump administration in this area.  He said, "In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of South Africa, we are not able to take this step.  Accordingly we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government."    Episcopalians, much like Germany's Confessing Church that stood up in vocal opposition to Adolph Hitler, will not collaborate with the clear and present evil affecting the United States today.