The Waldensian symbol :“Light glows in darkness”
I’m horrified by what’s happening in this country. Desperate refugees being denied asylum, a basic human right. Children in cages, separated likely permanently from their parents. Apathy and abuse on the part of enforcers. Why are we letting this happen? Why are our memories so short? Why are we letting people be demonized and deemed irrelevant? Why do some hide behind so-called legalities? Why do others turn away out of overwhelm? We can’t do this anymore.
Average white Americans probably don’t have to look very far into their own genealogy to find family circumstances that mirror those of people currently seeking help at our Mexican border. A quick glance at my own family tree reveals the following stories.
On October 30, 1838, the Livingston County, Missouri militia, led by Colonel Thomas Jennings and Sheriff William Jennings, attacked the settlement around Haun’s Mill, killing 17, wounding and raping dozens, and forcing the survivors to sign over their homes and property to pay for the attack.
My great-great-great-great grandfather, Jacob Foutz, wounded and left for dead, heard members of the mob shooting young children, saying “nits will make lice.” The next morning, Jacob’s wife, Margaret, found Jacob and nursed him back to health even as they fled the state in harsh winter conditions.
The massacre was legal. Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs had issued Executive Order 44 on October 27, 1838, which states in part, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace — their outrages are beyond all description.”
Why the opposition to the Mormons? What were these “outrages?” A manifesto signed by hundreds of Missourians demonized Mormons as “deluded fanatics” who opposed slavery (legal at the time) and were “lazy, idle, and vicious.” Governor Boggs’s order wasn’t formally rescinded until 1976.
Another set of my 4th great grandparents — Louis Philippe Cardon and his wife Susette Stale, were Waldensians. Branded as heretics from the third century onward (and later joined by other religious dissenters like Peter Waldo), the Waldensians lived high in the Alps to escape persecution from Rome. They were not always successful. In the late 15th century, Pope Innocent VII issued an extermination order against them, declaring that “whoever kills a Waldensian will have pardon for his sins and the right to keep any property taken from his victim.” For the next 300 years, the Waldensians defended themselves against 33 separate attacks sanctioned by local governments.
In 1650, the Duke of Savoy formally ordered the “reduction of [the Waldensians’] numbers.” On April 24th, 1655, the Savoyard army killed over 5,000 Waldensians, inspiring John Milton to write this sonnet. Why the massacre? Though they were peaceful farmers, the Waldensians were demonized as “dangerous heretics” who refused to attend Catholic mass.
About two hundred years later, having found a new faith, my ancestors Louis and Susette left Italy for Utah. It wasn’t more than a couple of decades, however, that the Cardon family moved again — to Mexico — to escape government-sanctioned persecution. What was the exact problem? Right or wrong, my ancestors defined marriage differently did than the laws of the United States.
As I look through my pedigree chart, I could go on and on with stories about immigrants and refugees. The McMullens, who left Ireland during the Great Famine. The Barges, who left Prussia in the 1870s. The Levis, who moved to the United States from Germany via Canada.
On the other hand, it shouldn’t take average white Americans long to find ugly stories contributing to their heritage (and privilege) as well. Most of my relatives from the South appear to have been Quakers, but it’s likely some were slaveholders. The Bellegardes left France’s Loire Valley in the 17th century and got rich trading furs on First Nation lands in what is now Quebec. The Tanners and the Lambs and the Howlands carved farms out of New England forests that rightfully belonged to the Iroquois, Algonquin, Lenape, and many other tribes. White supremacy is evil, unquestionably. Equally unquestionable is the fact that I, as a white American, have benefited from it, however much I deplore it.
The stories of my persecuted ancestors give me empathy for those suffering today. The stories of my oppressive ancestors give me resolve to not contribute to any further oppression and indifference. If history teaches us anything, it should be that we must do better than our forbears. My faith mandates taking care of the poor, the needy, the stranger, and I can’t think of any other belief system that doesn’t.
Another thing my faith teaches is that small things bring great things to pass. That’s true of evil as well as good. When your descendants think of their family tree, will the sum of your daily actions add up to empathy, or oppression? Here are ways to help refugees in general and families now at the border. Please do something.