Oklahoma City and the Enduring Challenge of Racist, Domestic Terrorism

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Today’s seventeenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing is a reminder that the cauldron of “domestic terrorism”—a handy euphemism for white “Christian” terrorists—is ever-simmering. As news broke of the Oklahoma City bombing, speculation was rampant that “Middle East terrorists” were … Continued

Give Me Your Wired, Keep Your Poor: The New Welcome Mat for High Tech Immigrants

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Recent bipartisan action by the House Judiciary Committee to approve more high-skilled, high-tech immigrants from China and India into the US reveals, once again, the crass – indeed class – politics of Congressional immigration policy gridlock. The ironically named “Fairness … Continued

Unmasked: Rick Perry, Racism, and the Anti-Immigrant States’ Rights Movement

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

With a single quick-lips shot to his right foot, Rick Perry wounded his presidential ambitions, confounded his conservative base, and – most significantly – unmasked once again the racism of the anti-immigrant, states’ rights movement. Defending his support of in-state … Continued

Muslims, in the Crucible of Race, Religious Bigotry, and New Possibilities

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Minnesota has the largest number of Somali refugees in the U.S., with thousands living in Michele Bachmann’s Sixth Congressional District. African and Muslim, the Somali community is here thrust into the crucible of race and religious bigotry, mirroring daily the … Continued

A Brave New World: President Names Arizona’s Sheriff Arpaio to Head Homeland Security, Plans Mass Deportation Program

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Washington, February 16, 2012—President Perry announced today that controversial Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio will head the Department of Homeland Security in his new Administration.  “Sheriff Joe is one of the finest law enforcement officers in the nation,” the President said, … Continued

Hooded Sweatshirts, Shopping Carts, & Walking to Work: How to Profile an Undocumented Person, via the Ozarks Minutemen

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

In Springfield, Missouri, the Ozarks Minutemen suggest that “illegal aliens” can be identified by their “use of shopping carts to transport goods or carrying groceries long distances, store to home.”  Other identifiers include walking to work, walking with your head … Continued

Government Cleansing: Immigrants Get Hammered

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

In the relatively quiet summer weeks of August, elements of the Obama Administration have hammered immigrants. On August 11 the obscure Board of Immigration Appeals at the Department of Justice ruled that immigrants arrested without warrants no longer have to … Continued

Race and The Race to the Bottom

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

In a restaurant in Kirksville, Missouri, a recently-fired immigrant worker made $400 for seventy-two hours of work per week. Seventy-two hours. $400 per 72-hour week. It took Maria Rivas forty years of hard work to earn her way up to $11.40 an … Continued

Barriers to Ballots: Republicans Brazenly Suppress Voter Rights

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

If you believe folk in your community should have the right to vote without a “photo please” demand at their polling place, read on. In a frenzy of political deconstruction four decades after President