Luis Aguilar Leon. The Miami Herald. Published Thursday, August 24, 2000, in the Miami Herald
The story of David and Goliath may be the most popular in the Old Testament. It tells how a young shepherd, armed with only a sling and a pouch of stones, took on a fully armored Philistine giant. The Israelite David slung his weapon and let fly a whistling stone that broke Goliath's head.
The story has been oft told to inspire courage against a superior force, with David as hero and Goliath a despicable bully. Yet in these curious times, there are people who sympathize with Goliath, who support the bully even when his victory is covered in shame.
A few days ago, Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner Doris Meissner, a subordinate to Attorney General Janet Reno, felt it was high time to honor the courageous agents who stormed a defenseless little house in Miami, waving assault rifles in the face of a terrified little boy.
Their imposing opposition: one of the fishermen who saved him from death at sea and the relatives honoring his mother's last wish -- that the boy be kept from the father who sought his return to a state where parents have no control over their children's future.
I am not now revisiting the right and wrong of that volatile case, but I must decry Meissner's tribute. Celebrating an illegal forced entry and its executors is distasteful in a land where even criminals have legal rights. Who cheers for Goliath? Meissner does, with the support of the police,
the military, Janet Reno, President Clinton and Fidel Castro.INS raiders should know that Meissner's toast excuses racism, class warfare and the abuse of power.
The raid was condemned as illegitimate by such disparate luminaries as Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Jeanne Kirpatrick and economist Milton Friedman. By her action, Meissner shows contempt for the Cuban-American community that avoided
violence.
The INS raiders could have obeyed orders without offending their Cuban neighbors. They should know that their accepting Meissner's toast excuses racism, class warfare and the abuse of power.
The lowered bar can be seen on television, in scenes of mounted Los Angeles police bashing protesters while convention-high politicians call for ethnic diversity. U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., was particularly eloquent when he said, ``Florida is today what America will be tomorrow.''
Before throwing her next party, Meissner should heed his words.
Luis Aguilar León is an historian who has taught at Georgetown, Columbia and Cornell universities.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald | 