American Children

As far as I can recall, no one has said to my literal or virtual face, “You care more about immigrant children than you care about American children.”

They may have thought it, though.

I have seen some of my Facebook friends say that about “liberals,” and since most of them probably put me in that category (and if my choice is between being liberal and what passes for “conservative” in the age of Trump, I’ll gladly accept the liberal tag), I reckon they include me in such statements.

I’ll admit to having difficulty in separating children according to their nationality. I tend to think that children are children, no matter where they’re from, what language they speak, or what color their skin is. I blame it on the Children’s Sunday School Assembly at Midway Baptist Church (located outside of Barnesville, Georgia on City Pond Road) in which, back in the 1960s, we sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children” every Sunday morning:

Jesus loves the little children,

all the children of the world.

Red and yellow, black and white,

they are precious in his sight.

Jesus loves the little children of the world.

All these years later, I still believe that Jesus loves all children the same. I have come to understand that, if I am a follower of Jesus, I must love them all the same too. 

The statements by some folks that liberals care more about immigrant children than they do American children have been made in the context of the current immigration crisis precipitated by Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy and the subsequent separation of children from their parents. (Some will nitpick at the way I put that, but I don’t have time to argue that point right now.)

I must challenge the assertion that people who think more or less like I do don’t care as much about American children as we should. Let me name a few of the ways I care about them. I’m speaking personally, but I can safely say that I’m speaking for most “liberals.”

      1.     I care enough to want every American child to have access to affordable quality healthcare.

      2.     I care enough to want every American child to attend a good school in a safe environment.

      3.     I care enough to want every American child to have clean water to drink and clean air to breathe.

      4.     I care enough to want every American child to live without fear of a nuclear, chemical, or biological holocaust or of having to fight in unnecessary wars.

      5.     I care enough to want every American child to have enough nutritious food to eat.

So yes, I care about migrant children. But I also care about American children.

Let me hasten to add that I know that most “conservatives” care about American children too. And recent events have shown that many of them don’t want migrant children separated from their parents. But I believe that more progressive or “liberal” policies reflect more care and concern for the children of America and of the world. Still, I hold out hope that people of different philosophical and political persuasions will join together out of concern for children (and for adults, for that matter) to work toward real solutions to our very real problems.

I'll confess that I'd like for all children everywhere to have the same benefits that I want American children to have. 

After all, Jesus loves all the children of the world.

So must I.