ICE: History repeats itself

History is a mirror that reflects our past, allowing us to learn about ourselves if we are willing. In ancient Rome, people were entertained with bread and circuses to distract them from current social conditions. Anyone who has seen the movie Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe, has seen a reenactment of such affairs. Cicero, who was a philosopher during this time, wrote the following about the spectacle, “The evil was not in the bread and circuses, per se, but in the willingness of the people to sell their rights as free men for full bellies and the excitement of the games which would serve to distract them from the other human hungers which bread and circuses can never appease.”

Other means are used today to convince people to “sell their rights as free men.” Lyndon Johnson, during a discussion with Bill Moyers, opined that the poor black man could be used as a distraction for the poor white man, how the poor white man would accept his plight as long as he could look down upon someone who is suffering more than himself, one who is willing to give up some of their rights as long as another suffers more than they.

Is this phenomenon displayed among us today by the ICE raids? Many of whose victims have only one problem — they have the wrong color of skin. The headlines in our media shift from one outrage to another, never giving us a chance to catch our breath. If we could, perhaps we would recognize that our share of the common good is being diminished, allowing those who already possess much to have even more.

ERNEST WARNER

Coeur d’Alene