The following narrative was written for my Literature of Displacement course.  It is an unpolished critical reflection piece on Mary Pipher’s book The Middle of Everywhere.  Pipher shares her experiences and relationship with refugee families that she has assisted as part of her work as a cultural broker.

Pipher’s biggest contribution to the advocacy of refugees is that she is able to humanize refugees, by crafting a narrative that provides a personal glimpse into their personalities and everyday lives. Her first-hand stories draw on themes that most can relate to: feelings of insecurity, struggles with finances, family issues etc.  Then, she extends the narrative to show how the barriers of language, unfamiliarity of the culture, post-traumatic stress of escaping war and lack of resources of a refugee complicates these relatable issues.

The fact that this humanization is required in this discussion is troublesome, considering one should not have to humanize those who are obviously human beings.  In American media and on the global political stage refugees are often presented as non-humans.  They are presented as a political situation, as mere statistics or as a collective entity that threatens American ideologies. “It is only when we strip the humanity from people – when we stop imagining them as being quite human like us – that our empathetic nature is eroded” (Owen Jones).  Our empathic nature is being intentionally numbed. This allows the powers that be to further their wars and unethical behaviors with less public opposition.

How does the empathy and compassion she evokes lead to action?  And, as privileged Americans do we have an ethic responsibility to assist in the success of refugees?  There is an enormous gap between the ideals expressed in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the actual achievement of what those rights allow.  Without guidance a non-English speaking refugee may not have knowledge, communication skills and transportation to seek out and fight for what these rights allow.   In most situations human rights are not attainable or applied fairly. Is it our ethic responsibility as fellow humans to bridge the gap between declared rights and attainment of what those rights offer?  I believe that we do have an ethical and social responsibility to our fellow human beings, but I understand that I am not the majority.  And making that argument to the masses proves to be difficult.

I believe that service to others, especially to those of diverse cultures, helps you to cultivate and solidify your beliefs and ethics.  It is achieved through comparison, through respect and removal of your comfort.  Your service to others shapes your inner self.   It is deeper than Karma and consequences. It is about expanding your knowledge of both yourself and others.  Pipher praises the resilience of successful refugees: what they had to endure to get to America and what they have to do to adapt to America. Their experiences shaped their inner selves.  And there is a lot we can learn from their journey by being a positive part of it.