WE are America - some of my remarks at the NAACP Dona Ana County branch Martin Luther King, Jr. march in Las Cruces on January 20, 2019

I shared spontaneous comments and a benediction at the NAACP Dona Ana County Branch Martin Luther King, Jr. March on January 10, 2019 (I knew in advance I was going to be asked).
When I speak “unscripted,” I am never able to reproduce exactly what I said, but I know it came from the heart. Here is my best summary: 

I started my brief remarks by noting that today is the 77th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, the meeting at which leaders of the Third Reich planned their “final solution to the Jewish problem,” vowing to put to death not only Jews in lands already under control of the Nazi regime, but Jews living in the Soviet Union all the way to Siberia (if the Nazi armies made it that far).
Fast forward to October 27, 2018, when a man who shares the hatred of the Nazis sought to do the same thing to Jews worshipping at Tree of Life synagogue because he thought they were helping to bring “invaders” into this country in the form of people seeking freedom here, hoping for a welcome from a free country.
Both the Nazis and this shooter were acting primarily out of fear. But we have the opportunity to overcome fear by working together, sharing our stories, learning about each other, and acting out of fellowship and love.
During our march, we sang “God Bless America,” written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant to the United States. While some people have a very narrow view of what America should be and what it should look like, we need to realize and declare that WE are America, we from all of our various backgrounds, and through our work, through our coordinated action, we won’t let anyone forget that.