A PECULIAR SITUATION

"WHO CAN PERUSE IT WITHOUT A TEARFUL EYE, A HEAVING BREAST, AN AFFLICTED SPIRIT, - WITHOUT BEING FILLED WITH AN UNUTTERABLE ABHORRENCE OF ...?" THE BLANK TO BE COMPLETED DOES NOT REFER TO THE IMMIGRATION REFORM BILL THAT CONGRESS HAS DESIGNED WHICH IS TEARING OUR COUNTRY APART. IT DOES REFER TO ANOTHER 'PECULIAR INSTITUTION' DESCRIBED BY FREDERICK DOUGLAS IN HIS 1845 AUTOBIOGRAPHY, FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE , COMMENTED UPON BY A CONTEMPORARY OF HIS, WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, AN ABOLITIONIST.

DO AMERICANS BORN INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, FACE ANY REPELLENT CONDITION SIMILAR TO THE ONE CONFRONTED BY DOUGLASS AT THE MIDDLE OF THE 19TH? ANY SITUATION THAT COULD TEAR THESE UNITED STATES ASUNDER? YOU BETCHA. IMAGINE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A LION (RATHER THAN ITS VICTIM ) WROTE FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE. IT WOULD COMPEL A CHANGE IN OUTLOOK. DOUGLASS’ NARRATIVE OF 1ST HAND EXPERIENCE WITH SLAVERY, IMMEDIATELY DREW ATTENTION TO HIS CAUSE OF ABOLITION, FASCINATING HIS LISTENERS. EVEN WHEN HE DECLARED THAT "THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS THE SHIP, ALL ELSE IS THE OCEAN," AMERICANS UNDERSTOOD HIM TO MEAN THAT THE PARTY AGAINST SLAVERY WARRANTED ALLEGIANCE.

NO LION ROARS TODAY ABOUT THE STORY OF THE IMMIGRANT. THE IMMIGRANT, NEEDED, WELCOMED AND WILLING TO ASSIMILATE. POWER AND POLITICS ARE ALL WE HEAR SHOUTED FROM PRIVILEGED REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD CHOOSE NOT ABIDE THEIR TYRANNY.