A Twenty-year Lesson: the Role of Civil Rights in Securing Our Nation

A Twenty-Year Lesson: The Role of Civil Rights in

Securing Our Nation

Kareem W. Shora*

INTRODUCTION: THE FAILURE OF TRUST AND IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES. . . . . . . 187

A. Lesson One: Do Not Conf‌late Immigration Enforcement with

Violence Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

I. DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION PROVIDE COLLECTIVE SECURITY . . . . 189

A. Lesson Two: Avoid the ideological litmus test . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

B. Lesson Three: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Should Not Be

Limited to Oversight; They Are Core Foundations of the Policy

Development Process and the Operational Implementation

Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

C. Lesson Four: Avoid Comparing and Contrasting with Other

Nations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

II. PROMOTING IDEALS: A PATH FORWARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

“We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries

that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the

globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down,

when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great

force for change they have always been.”

1

- the late U.S. Senator John McCain, August 27, 2018

INTRODUCTION: THE FAILURE OF TRUST AND IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES

“Communities are not the problem. Communities are an essential part of the

solution.” This is a mantra I repeated over the past twenty years. I mistakenly

believed this approach was a constructive and effective formula for protecting

* A graduate of Marshall University, he earned his law degree at the West Virginia University

College of Law and his LL.M. in International Human Rights from the American University

Washington College of Law. He has 21 years of experience in civil rights advocacy and US Government

civil rights oversight, violence prevention, and management. He spent a decade in the civil rights

advocacy f‌ield prior to joining the US Government and is currently with the US Department of

Homeland Security (DHS), Off‌ice for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) while serving in an

acting capacity as the Deputy Director for Policy and Programs with the DHS Center for Prevention

Programs and Partnerships (CP3). He is the incoming Executive Vice President for Programs and Policy

at Human Rights First. This article is a personal endeavor and should not be attributed to or aff‌iliated

with DHS or the US Government. © 2021, Kareem W. Shora.

1. Katie Reilly, ’Do Not Despair of Our Present Diff‌iculties.’ Read John McCain’s Powerful

Farewell Letter, TIME (Aug. 27, 2018 4:17 PM), https://perma.cc/PB3E-2E2L.

187