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editorial
continued from page 5
Michigan Can’t Shun Fully Vetted Refugees
I
n the wake of West Bloomfield hav-
ing to defend its vote to remain a
“welcoming community” as more
refugees flee war-ravaged Syria, there’s
wrenching confusion about who’s guard-
ing the entry to America.
Syria is a shell of what it was as a
nation, now barely hanging on as rebel
forces, Al Qaeda, Islamic State and Assad
loyalists (including Iran, Hezbollah and
Russia) wage battle amid ever-rising
starvation.
Nine Syrian refugees living in West
Bloomfield are among the 275 who
arrived in Michigan last year, according
to the U.S. Department of State, as cited
by the Detroit News.
West Bloomfield’s vote to remain part
of Welcoming Cities and Counties, a
national alliance that proactively greets
immigrants and refugees, is contentious
partly because the U.S. Department of
Health & Human Services’ Office of
Refugee Resettlement funds the parent
organization,Welcoming America. Critics
claim the ORR funds that umbrella initia-
tive to promote resettlement and disguise
potential consequences.
In that context, Michigan Gov. Rick
Snyder, who has welcomed a mix of
immigrant groups since taking office
Jan. 1, 2011, is justified in seeking
Washington signoff on the strictness of
federal guidelines for vetting newcom-
ers before he lifts the state’s temporary
suspension of accepting Middle East
refugees seeking political asylum.
In all, at least 30 other governors, most
of them Republican, have suspended
taking in Syrian refugees. While gov-
ernors don’t have the legal authority to
turn away refugees, Washington tries to
coordinate resettlement with state gov-
ernments.
SCENE SETTING
In the late 1880s, America began to
welcome hundreds of thousands of
poor, repressed European Jews. Over the
years, other ethnic groups have followed
a similar path here. The largest Middle
Eastern community in the U.S. resides in
Michigan.
Snyder’s Nov. 15 call for a U.S.
Department of State, U.S. Department
of Homeland Security and FBI review
“of security clearances and procedures”
echoes in the shadows of the Paris terror-
ist attacks on Nov. 13.
President Barack Obama, a Democrat,
hopes to take in 10,000 more Syrians
over the next year, giving urgency to such
a governor-sought review so the vetting
process is as terrorist-proof as possible.
He shouldn’t let political differences
interfere with assuring America’s borders
are as secure as they reasonably can be.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Since late 2011, following the breakout
of Syria’s civil war, the U.S. has resettled
more than 2,260 Syrian refugees.
California, Texas and Michigan have
taken in almost a third.
Fear about Syrian refugees erupted
at a West Bloomfield board meeting on
Jan. 25. Several speakers, including
some Jews, opposed a trustee vote
in favor of the township remaining
part of Welcoming Cities and Counties
alongside 10 other Michigan communi-
ties.
Welcoming America bills itself as an
agent “to change systems and cultures.”
Its website states: “We help communities
create policy, reinforce welcoming prin-
ciples and communicate the socioeco-
nomic benefits of inclusion.”
That could be construed as a desire to
influence local policy in hopes of shaping
“a different kind of community — one
that embraces immigrants and fosters
opportunity for all.” But that intent
clearly would have no bearing on West
Bloomfield unless the township board
buys into changing its policy.
THE WAY FORWARD
Ultimately, Michigan must be wary and
questioning, but also compassionate
in confronting the refugee crisis. For
its part, the Syrian American Rescue
Network, a Bloomfield Hills nonprofit
that assists with resettlement in the state,
must live up to its pledge to help new
arrivals assimilate, acculturate and inte-
grate as Americans.
And we as Jews, who faced high bar-
riers to entering America because of
irrational fears about our religion, our
politics and our “corrupting influences”
— all things that presumably would
“erode” American society — should
be compassionate and express feelings
thoughtfully while also staying
wary.
immigrants.
Welcoming America has spread throughout the U.S.
They are the ultimate “community organizers” with
affiliates in 20-plus states.
As I stated in my two-minute comment at the trust-
ees’ meeting, Welcoming America is the propaganda
division for refugee resettlement. I believe that this
newspaper would well serve its readership by produc-
ing an investigative series on Welcoming America, the
ORR and the Refugee Resettlement program, whose
mission seems to be to replace the American culture
with a global one.
Dorene Weisberg
West Bloomfield
Synagogue Supports
West Bloomfield Role
As a synagogue community rooted in West
Bloomfield, we want to express our support and grati-
tude to the West Bloomfield Township Council for
courageously, in the face of protest, confirming West
Bloomfield’s status as a “welcoming community.”
At the same time, we were dismayed at the fierce
and unruly opposition of some township residents to
this designation. We hope that West Bloomfield will be
as welcoming to new immigrant groups as it has been
to its Jewish residents over the years — and aid them
as they adapt to American society and prepare for the
challenges and responsibilities of life in our country.
Jews understand, perhaps better than most, the pain
inflicted by deed restrictions, discrimination in private
clubs and other tools that stymie the workings of the
“melting pot.” We will actively oppose such actions —
for the good of our township, state and nation.
Frank J. Ellias, president
Mark M. Robbins, rabbi
B’nai Israel Synagogue
West Bloomfield
*
teen guest column
Words Matter
R
etarded. There are so many other
words to choose. Why does a person
ever feel the need to use the word
“retarded?”
In recent years, it has become a term that
is thrown around without a second thought,
without any awareness of what impact using
the word can have.
I hear the word retarded used many times
throughout the day in the halls of my school.
Every time I hear it, it upsets me. I attempt
to explain to the people who used it what
they are really saying. And every time I am
met with a cold shoulder.
This past summer, I went on a program
called Yad b’Yad, a Yachad/National Jewish
Council for Disabilities summer experience
that takes high school students and indi-
viduals with disabilities together to Israel on
a five-week journey. One of the most impor-
tant aspects of Yad b’Yad is that there is no
difference between the “Yachad members”
and the mainstream high schoolers. Instead,
8 February 18 • 2016
each individual is labeled as a
participant.
At first I was confused. Isn’t
there a clear difference between
me and someone with a disabil-
ity? How can we be expected to
do the same things and be treated
in the same way? As the summer
progressed, I learned I was com- Uri Lorkis
pletely wrong — and yet right at
the same time. I had a new perspective. Yes,
there are differences between my friends
and me, but that difference applies to all of
my friends, regardless of their abilities.
A couple months ago, while applying for a
position to be a Yachad fellow, I was asked to
discuss what the world would look like if no
one had special needs.
I sat there staring at my computer screen
for 10 minutes. A world without special
needs? All people following the exact norm
expected by society? What about individual-
ity?
Reading this, you’re probably pretty con-
fused because that sounds ridiculous. Most
people don’t interact with the “special needs”
community and still have a complete sense
of self.
So how does anything I said make
sense?
Well, to me, there is no special
needs community. What is a special
need? It means someone who has a
“special need” they need attended to.
Try to think of one person you know
who does not have special needs?
Special needs are what give people
their sense of self and make us different
from one another. True, some people’s needs
may be more intense and need more atten-
tion but, at the end of the day, we all have
our special needs.
Everybody has certain abilities and dis-
abilities but that is not who we are. What if
I had a freak accident and was confined to
a wheelchair for the rest of my life? Would I
still be the same Uri Lorkis? Of course! Who
I am would not be the wheelchair, but the
person sitting in it.
While our special needs define us, they
should not label us. My experiences with
Yachad have taught me that no matter who
you are or what your abilities, we all belong.
Every single person has something to offer
the world given the opportunity.
Every time you use the “R word,” you are
telling my friends they are not like you; they
are different.
I have a friend named Sam, who has
Down syndrome, autism and is unable to
communicate verbally; yet he is one of my
closest friends. Sam might not be able to
talk, but he can tell me that he loves me and
that he’s happy. He is a fantastic listener and
is always there for me. Recently in Miami,
Sam ran the Miami Half-Marathon with
Team Yachad. He ran 13.1 miles for inclu-
sion.
Every time you use the word “retarded,”
a person is hurt; and every time you use
that word, you hurt me, Sam and all of my
friends. The use of this terrible word must
stop, and it must stop immediately.
The next time your friend makes a bad
pass in a ball game, stop and think for a sec-
ond before calling him that name. They’re
not retarded — they are whatever and who-
ever they want to be.
*
Uri Lorkis, 16, lives in Oak Park. He serves as chapter
president on the Detroit Yachad High School Board.