PHOTO OF THE WEEK: May 2-9, 2008
The bridge that divides, El Paso to Juarez, Jan. 2008
The Paso del Norte bridge between Juarez and El Paso. This is a bridge in hell. Endless waits, choking fumes, the verbal back of the hand by bored and seemingly mean ICE border guards, always probing, especially sharply at those who look like they defy, or are born brown or defiant. A bridge is supposed to connect but this bridge divides. This is a city of oneness, culturally, sentimentally, but this iron and concrete jack hammer divides, separates, pulls apart, agitates. It smells and each crossing is a test, una prueba.
If you ask the government of the U.S. about this, I suspect they would say that, yes, this bridge divides, as it was intended to do. If you ask most fronterizos that live in this border valley, they would ask, Why can’t this bridge unite, as bridges are meant to do? This bridge is supposed to be a link but each crossing is a reminder that it is an instrument of power and dominance.
I guess there are governments and there are people and they are two different things. Not as they say it is…but as they do it.
This day, on the bridge that divides, was a rare rainy one. A miracle in the desert. On this day, if one imagined, one could believe that this bridge could be just a bridge, not an instrument and symbol of power. Just a bridge between two sister cities, a link between people who are one.
Rain evaporates quickly in the desert as do dreams.
2 Comments
Extraordinary commentary, Bruce. You journalists out there.
Pay attention. This is how it is done. WHO was that women?
WHAT was in that bag? Those of us who live here know the WHERE. The WHEN? All the time, or never? It’s just a bridge.
Nothing is just what it is…particularly in la frontera. The wealthy west side of El Paso with all those huge new mansions and Hummers?Wha-a-a-a-a-a-a? Corporate wealth? Strange…those license plates from Chihuahua. Strange, those people are really young and that bling doesn’t look too corporate to me. Hmmm….
Nothing is as it seems in the land of espejos. Where does the cartel live?