By Dr. Andria Porter

Aristotle wrote that true courage exists somewhere between fear and recklessness. True courage is a reasoned response to a dire situation. I have never thought of myself as brave. I always saw myself as someone who would shield myself and my family from whatever evil comes to our door, while ignoring all of the other doors around me.

Seven years ago, I learned that my perception of myself was wrong. I started doing human rights accompaniment in Honduras. Someone from the States and white, like me, can literally shield another person from assassination just by walking beside them. Our country is so feared that most of the time no one would dare attack someone in our presence. So, I felt relatively safe in my white American shield. I did … until one night in a remote village in the mountains of Honduras, I was able to see a rare glimpse of the person that I am. We were there to protect a priest from both the government and private threats. Our group had traveled all day by van, avoiding police checkpoints. Our group was walking into someone’s home and I saw a flicker of light, reflecting off the window in front of me. I turned and glanced behind me and to my absolute terror, the priest was standing in the shadows with two armed men. I glanced toward the house as the last person in our delegation walked into the home and closed the door. So, it was all on me. I took a deep breath and walked over to stand beside the priest. One of the men caught sight of me and shined his flashlight onto me, revealing that I looked like an American tourist. His expression changed, but he continued his rapid fire questioning of the priest. Well, I was not killed or imprisoned, but I did not know the outcome when I turned and walked back toward the priest and the armed men. I learned something about myself that night — I will not charge recklessly into danger, but it does not take me long to decide which hill I am willing to die on. 

Recently, in the United States of America, a busload of people were rounded up by armed men, dressed in black, wearing masks. They looked so similar to those men that I saw on that dark night in Honduras. My blood ran cold when I saw this on the news. These people were shackled, forced to their knees, their heads were shaved, they were packed up and sent to a prison in El Salvador, with no due process, no trial, no jury and no human rights. I had seen this before in my work in Central America, but this was in the United States of America, where things like this are not supposed to happen. One of these people was reported to be an American citizen. I am not going to debate why these people were rounded up. That is a moot point now because this administration made the statement that “home-grown” criminals were next. I cannot and I will not watch my government act as though we are no longer a constitutional republic. We have a right to a trial by jury. This is a right that we all once considered sacred. Now, I am asking my fellow citizens. Which hill are you willing to die on?

“Dear Neighbor” authors are united in a belief that civility and passion can coexist. We believe curiosity and conversation make us a better community.