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Arielle Hostetler
ACLU of Georgia Intern
On Monday, September 16th, Father Roy Bourgeois, recipient of Georgia's Civil Liberties Award and Noble Peace Prize nominee, addressed a full chapel at Emory University, where he was invited to speak by the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition. After a brief introduction by the host, Father Roy took to the podium as the crowd welcomed him with a standing ovation.
Father Roy spoke of his experiences as a Vietnam War veteran, priest, and peace activist and the wisdom he gained from his mistakes, regrets, and triumphs. He began with an apology for his 35 years of silence regarding discrimination. Silence was a constant theme throughout the night. Father Roy has turned his years of silence into inspiration for fighting the injustices he has witnessed in society today, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia.
The majority of Father Roy's discussion was dedicated to the School of America's Watch (SOAW), an organization he founded that educates people about the harmful and deadly repercussions of the School of Americas or WHINSEC (renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in 2001). WHINSEC, located at Fort Benning in Georgia, is a combat training school where Latin American soldiers receive military style training which they take back to their native countries. These graduates of WHINSEC have been known to target, torture, and murder educators, union workers, religious workers, student leaders, and many more who take a stand with the poor and repressed in their country. The training school is fully funded by American tax dollars (over thirty thousand dollars last year alone).
After his service in the Vietnam War while on a missionary trip in Bolivia (a country that participates in the WHINSEC training), Father Roy became aware that the "United State's foreign policy was on the wrong side". Throughout the next five years he witnessed an increase in the repression of Bolivian civilians, with people being killed, kidnapped, and tortured by the government. The poor became his teachers and it was through them that he discovered a liberation theology, which he described as not just submissively looking forward to the "next life", but working for and empowering the poor in this life. His service in Bolivia ended when he was arrested by the Bolivian government and forced to return to America.
It was shortly thereafter that the infamous break-in occurred at WHINSEC. Father Roy and three colleagues snuck into Fort Benning's training barracks dressed as high ranking army officials and broadcasted the sermon Salvadorian Monsignor Oscar Romero gave on the eve of his assassination by El Salvadorian military members. In Romero's sermon he begs the military to stop murdering the poor and repressed of El Salvador (a country which also takes part in WHINSEC). Father Roy, ultimately sent to prison for his role in the break-in, states, "They can send us to prison but the truth cannot be silenced."
School of America's Watch officially began in 1990 with less than ten people. Now it has expanded to two offices, one in D.C. and one in Columbus, Georgia and thousands of supporters. The organization works to educate congress and the public about the "School of Assassins" as well as works to have all Latin American countries pull out their military members from WHINSEC. Progress has been made and is continuing. Six countries, including Bolivia, have removed their military members from the school and meetings with United State's government officials, as high up as President Barack Obama, are in the works. Father Roy also invited the audience to participate in 'The Celebration of Hope,' the annual non-violent protest of WHINSEC, taking place before the gates of Fort Benning, the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.
After speaking on WHINSEC, Father Roy addressed his dismissal from the Catholic priesthood by the Vatican in 2012 because he spoke while live on the Vatican radio in favor of ordaining women. Catholic priesthood had been part of his identity for 40 years, but his experiences have shown him that "where there is an injustice, silence is compliancy," and he is no longer willing to be compliant. Father Roy described the last nine months as a struggle; he said he has dealt with anger and depression, but that his dismissal provided him a glimpse of what so many people have experienced everyday throughout the centuries, "rejection" because they are minorities. Father Roy stated he is also filled with hope and believes that, "any movement rooted in love, justice, and equality is unstoppable....but change will not come from the top down, it will come from us."
For more information about the School of America's Watch or the protest in November visit: SOAW.org |
