Citizen’s taxes go to public education, highway construction and public transportation among others. But taxpayers also — unknowingly — provide funds for a school kept secret from most.
Labeled as the “School of the Americas,” this school’s mission is to teach “democracy” to Latin American countries. However, the SOA is known by another name from those on the school’s receiving end — the School of the Assassins.
29 years ago, four religious women working to help Bishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador were raped and murdered by graduates from the SOA. With so much political unrest and turmoil, the United States never shows the truth behind Latin American relations. It wasn’t until nine years later that someone — Father Roy Bourgeois — brought attention to the SOA,
With two fellow priests by his side, Father Bourgeois dressed like a decorated military officer and snuck into the SOA’s gates. Once in the barracks, Bourgeois said he and his partners scaled a tree in the yard and then, with a large boom box, blasted Bishop Oscar Romero’s last sermon throughout the camp.
“We waited until about 11 at night when the lights went out,” he said. “And we said, ‘Bishop Romero, this is for you, brother.’ And his words just boomed into the barracks.”
Once being caught up in the pine tree, Bourgeois said he and his group were threatened by officers to come down.
“They were pretty upset with us,” he said. “We saw this as a very sacred moment, and they didn’t see it that way. We were arrested. They came out with their M16s and their guns and dogs and lights and they said they would shoot us down if we didn’t come down.”
Once the three priests reached the ground, they were arrested. But Bourgeois said this only inspired the men to do more for their cause.
“We wanted to put our foreign policy on trial that day,” he said. “They sent us to prison for a year and a half. And I must say, we didn’t have any regrets. We wrote hundreds of letters from our prison cells.”
The Washington Post, the New York Times and Newsweek published Father Bourgeois’ letters, exposing how little citizens know about the United States’ foreign policy. After being released from jail, Bourgeois took a group down to the SOA in Fort Benning, Ga., and started the SOA Watch — a group that yearly protests against the school.
“We were getting the word out,” he said, “As we gathered at the main gate in November, the weekend before Thanksgiving, to call for the closing of this school. There is a movement bearing the names of the victims and their ages — many of them children. As we process to the gate of Fort Benning the names are called out individually and in unison the masses say, ‘¡Presente!’ This person is present with us.”
Every year a few people cross the trespassing line outside of the gate and get arrested. Bourgeois said this always reenergizes the movement.
Father Bourgeois spoke at Ithaca College Thursday, encouraging students and faculty members to join him on the SOA Watch this upcoming November. The Ithaca College Catholic Community hosts a trip to Fort Benning every year, but this time around Ithaca College is teaming up with Cornell University to rent a charter bus for a larger trip.
After inviting everyone down to the SOA Watch, Bourgeois told those present that his social work aside from the SOA has gotten him into trouble with the Catholic Church.
“I’ve been a Catholic priest for 37 years now and for the last 20 I’ve been focusing on this injustice of the School of the Americas,” he said. “In my travels, I have met many women in the Catholic Church who expressed their call to the priesthood, to ministry as equals. And our Catholic tradition for many, many years have been the tradition that only men can be ordained and in other traditions it’s not like that. What I had to do is look at this injustice and what I discovered of course was an injustice closer to home in my church, in my faith community.”
Bourgeois said the Catholic Church’s teaching is rooted in sexism, and sexism is a sin. The Vatican sent Bourgeois a letter, telling him he had 30 days to recant. If he did not, the letter said he would be excommunicated automatically.
“My time ran up months ago,” Bourgeois said. “I wrote back to the Vatican. It simply said, ‘In conscience, I cannot recant and will not recant.’ I simply ended, ‘There will never be justice in the Catholic Church until women are ordained.’ Like any other movement, it’s time has come.”
In essence, Father Roy Bourgeois sent a message that the government continues to hide things from citizens. But citizens’ ignorance is only an enemy — not an excuse. Bourgeois said the SOA is just a cover-up for the United States’ dirty ties with Latin American militaries.
“You don’t teach democracy behind the barrel of a gun,” he said. “You don’t teach democracy behind a chain linked fence that says ‘No Trespassing.’”
No comments:
Post a Comment