| By Ellis Hinnant on Tuesday, July 30, 2002 - 5:11 pm: Edit Post |
As a veteran of the early Peace Corps paranoia about CIA affiliation (Brasil 1969, I was deselected in country, but remained in Brasil) and as a relatively recently Returned PC Volunteer (Cape Verde 94-95)I'm appalled that Peace Corps would even be considered in the TIPs legislation.
I'm a former Va Beach Va Human Rights Commissioner, National Issues Forums Convenor, currently a Portuguese interpretor for the Tidewater Red Cross Language Bank (Volunteer for more than 20 years) etc, State Certified Mediator and professionally a mixed media artist. I've always been proud of my PC affiliation and used it as an example of what Americans are capable of when talking about understanding diversity, etc et al.
What is going on ? The invasions into privacy, legal rights and what it means to be a responsible citizen seem to be eroding without much out cry from people who know better. Those of us who remember Water Gate, El Salvador, where is the intelligent commentary? Why aren't PC volunteers in the forefront drawing analogies, pointing to the historical frames of reference in the Middle East, latin America ? This isn't a partisan situation, this is the basis of our difference from other governments.
Peace Corps volunteers never seem called upon to speak out or for things as specialists with very deep knowledge of cultures and places. In my area at least they seem limited to the occasional school project on diversity or recruitment at Colleges. We're much more valuable than that.
um grande abraço, Ellis