We can look forward to the day... when all borders become what the U.S.- Canadian border so long has been: a meeting place, rather than a dividing line.
--President Ronald Reagan, address to Parliament, April 6, 1987
The Peace Arch monument at the I-5/Hwy 99 border crossing between Washington and British Columbia has been a persistent backdrop to many chapters of our lives. Passing it always occasions a moment of pause to contemplate, at least briefly, the significance of the imaginary line at 49° north latitude that demarcates the boundary between two sovereign nations of people. Family vacations, enlivening friendships, epic road trips to Alaska and the Rocky Mountain national parks, the commute to work at the Whatcom County Parks on Point Roberts, and especially since our move to Birch Bay, date nights for fish & chips and a movie in White Rock all begin with a pause in the queue passing by the Peace Arch.
On Memorial Day weekend, we visited Peace Arch State Park to witness a phenomenon unique to this precarious moment in history. Washington's state parks had been open less than three weeks after the 6-week closure during the heaviest part (to date) of the COVID-19 pandemic. BC's Peace Arch Provincial Park had been open only 9 days after the 5-week closure of most BC parks. We arrived to find the last available spot in the parking lot, under the watchful eyes of Border Patrol. We strolled past numerous but well-spaced groups of picnickers on the lawns and picnic tables to a bench overlooking the Peace Arch. The expansive lawn was filled on both sides of the boundary line with many more spread blankets and circles of lawn chairs. Hundreds of people from both sides of the border were coming together to visit family and friends, celebrate birthdays and graduations, and enjoy a picnic in the only place that American and Canadian citizens are currently allowed to legally mingle, since the closure of the border to non-essential travel on March 21, 2020. Designated as an international park, Peace Arch is open to citizens and residents of either country to wander anywhere within the 20 acres of the Washington State Park and the 23 acres of the BC Provincial Park without having to report to the Customs of either country. As we sat, marveling at the spectacle, a woman came and sat on the lawn near us, texting. Soon, her face lit with a smile as she jumped up and bounded across the lawn to jump into the arms of her lover in absolute ecstatic joy, reunited at last.
The Peace Arch was the passionate project of Sam Hill, the early 20th century proponent of modern paved roads in Washington. Displaced in childhood by the Civil War, he grew up in Minneapolis and ultimately graduated from Harvard University in 1879. I will delve into greater detail about his interesting life when we visit Maryhill State Park at some future date.
Suffice to say that his childhood experience of the inhumanity of the Civil War and his devout Quaker beliefs profoundly shaped his philosophy of life. He devoted considerable wealth to various philanthropy projects advocating an end to war. Work on the Peace Arch began 100 years ago in the summer of 1920, framing with 50 tons of steel and 800 cubic yards of concrete. A year later it was completed, and dedicated by Sam Hill and other dignitaries with great fanfare including a congratulatory message from President Warren G Harding. Hill read the following statement about his hope that the monument would inspire a vision of perfect world peace:
War satisfies neither the victors nor the vanquished. Perfect peace alone satisfies. The instincts of humankind have not been changed by education and only slightly modified by religion. When war holds sway there are no religions. The dominant, though not the most widely accepted religion, made its way by non-violent resistance. All great movements must so proceed if they are destined to prevail...
Perfect peace will remain a distant goal as long as disparities and inequality exist between people. The universal revulsion at the fatal injustice served on George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department is a catalyst than can propel our society toward a deep re-examination.
Who are we as a society? What values do we hold in common? What really needs to change? What should an updated version of the American Dream look like? What steps do we take now? Tomorrow?
Perhaps we can look to a model that has served other nations attempting to address injustice and move beyond it.
In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission attempted to unpack the dark years of apartheid by interviewing thousands of victims and amnestied perpetrators, including regularly televised testimony.
In Rwanda, communities torn by the genocide established two traditions: Ingando, a guided retreat for community members to reflect on issues, and Umuganda, volunteer work days bringing together former opponents to work on constructive tasks to build community (tree planting, school maintenance, low-income housing construction) on the last Saturday of each month.
In Chile, nearly 30,000 cases of political imprisonment and torture by the government of General Augusto Pinochet were certified by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission, providing victims and their heirs with lifelong monetary compensation, health care and education.
Just on the other side of the Peace Arch, Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigating the abuses of Indian Residential Schools took heartbreaking testimony from 7,000 people, facilitated a government Settlement Agreement, and issued 94 "calls to action," monitored publicly by the CBC at its Beyond 94 website.
The long story of slavery and racism in the USA is at least as devastating a failure of human culture as apartheid, genocide, political torture, and indigenous oppression.
Somehow, our divided nation needs a "meeting place" to begin a process of reconciliation. We are crying out for a leader with the vision to unite and inspire us toward such an end, combined with the administrative ability to foster the infrastructure of such a giant national undertaking. It will include acknowledging the daily lived experiences of people affected by racism, structural changes in our economic system, consensus on actions, transparency, and accountability.
Millions of Americans are yearning for and working toward solutions that will carry our nation forward. My wish is to one day see the racial divisions that have been fostered and festered by hate, symbolically reunited with as much joy and delight in one another's lives and dreams as the couple we watched reconnected under the Peace Arch.
--David
Construction photo courtesy UW Libraries