I went to the River Talk on Feb. 21, and while many of the stories were fine, there was one that I thought crossed the line. He was the last speaker, and he somewhat resembled Donald Sutherland. The subject line was, “Dreams do come true.” “Donald” went on to tell a story of an arrested illegal immigrant, who spoke no English, and who the court was wrongly accusing of sexual assault. All he could say was, “mi no Rodriguez.” The story teller would say this in a high pitched voice mimicking old Speedy Gonzalez cartoons. At one point in the story the prisoner was so scared for his future he tried to escape and jumped into the icy cold waters of the Lynn Canal. In the end he was not Rodriguez but a man named Hernandez who ICE promptly deported to Mexico. “Donald” laughed and so did some of the audience.

What this story has to do with dreams coming true is beyond me. This is not a story not to be made into an euphemism. The political undertone of “Dreamers” made it that much more vulgar and indicative of the lack of compassion mankind seems to have for one another at present. I had always felt Haines was a bit removed from such behavior because the reality of how we affect one another is absolutely real in this smaller setting.

Anthony Travis Kukull

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