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You Are Becoming the Oppressor

Silence in light of Trump's human rights violations is clear complicity.

By Stephen WaldenPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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Photo by Tanner Van Dera via Unsplash

History provides countless examples of genocide rising while citizens allowed it to do so by their silence and inaction. Germany, Rwanda, and the Native Americans come to mind. I, for one, will not be counted in the history books as an American who sat idly by while watching my own country commit egregious human rights violations within our own borders. Now is the time for all decent, patriotic Americans who believe in the values espoused by our founders to speak out against the migrant detention policy decisions of the Trump administration.

Otherwise, we are becoming the oppressors, and evil has won the day.

Yesterday, the salt was carefully and deliberately sprinkled onto the wounded American psyche as we learned that infants and toddlers were being isolated from their families in "tinder age" facilities in which their literal, natural cries for consolation cannot legally be heeded. Detention center employees are prevented by policy from attending to the natural response to such traumatic conditions, and visiting media representatives are not allowed to speak directly to these children. Any images captured by the media are subjected to government approval before release.

On the very same day, Trump surrogate Corey Lewandowski brazenly mocked a situation involving a migrant child with Down syndrome, the Trump administration continued touting the lie that Democrats were the ones responsible for this new policy, and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the United States is leaving the group's Human Rights Council.

Welcome to the United States of America in 2018.

As these revelations continue to paint a horrific, inhumane picture of border security enforcement by this administration, even the President's own party is breaking with him on such cruel policies. When Ted Cruz speaks out against a policy, we're not exactly dealing with a progressive threshold.

Still, despite their best intentions, a fair amount of hand-wringing in Washington, D.C. is allowing these authoritarian policies to remain in place. This moment in time is a prime example of why citizens are given the Constitutional right to involve ourselves and push to get something done in government when our politicians seem incapable or unwilling to do so. As poet June Jordan wrote in 1978, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

A careful reading of the 1997 Flores district court ruling (AILA) should dispel any myths that this is a Democratic policy that has been in place for over two decades. If anything, the very law that President Trump is using to blame-shift was meant to make the immigration process less prone to childhood psychosis and trauma. These children are crying from their cages along our southern border, waiting for a hero to rescue them from their abject terror.

Donald Trump has attempted time and time again to make his opponents feel small. If he has succeeded to make you feel insignificant and ineffective against these policies, let me take a moment to give you some hope. Your path to hero status begins with a phone call. Find a call script or write your own, call your elected representatives (GovTrack), and demand that they take action to end the policy of separating families. Congressional staffers have gone on record saying that phone calls are the most effective method of communication, as they keep a tally of how many they receive for a particular position on a topic.

Keep a close eye on which legislation they choose to endorse. A bill that would be extremely harmful to immigrants under the auspices of helping them is currently making its way through the House of Representatives. Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are creating an Executive Order for Donald Trump to sign which could result in the indefinite detention of minors at the border. Make sure your elected representatives are supporting quality legislation that does not further harm these innocent young people.

On June 30, various activist groups such as MoveOn.org and Indivisible are organizing mass demonstrations nationwide to protest this injustice. Find one near you and show up (Families Belong Together). But more than this, stay in constant contact with your federal legislators, calling daily to reiterate your position and asking for updates on their positions and what is being done to change things. Indivisible (Indivisible) has an excellent call script and demonstration locator, so get two for one from this grassroots organization.

Various groups are collecting monetary and physical donations to provide for these migrant children and their families. The Texas Tribune has compiled an excellent list of organizations who are taking on this important task. Donate what you can and share this list with others.

Take everything you've learned throughout this time to the voting booth in November. The prospective "blue wave" can serve as a clear repudiation of our nation's current human rights violations. If such atrocities are inconsistent with your values, then they should not be supported by your elected representatives.

Finally, if you are financially and physically able, make a trip down to our southern border and put your body on the line. This may seem like a daunting proposition, but consider this: If America's rejection of the U.N.'s Human Rights Council and President Trump's recent praise of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un are any indication, your body might not be free for too much longer. Our silence will no doubt move our status from complicit oppressor to victims of oppression, at which point that sense of powerlessness will be incurable.

This moment in our nation's history is a prime example of what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Don't give up hope. There are children depending on you and I to do the right thing. This is our collective legacy on the line. Get loud and stay loud.

activism
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About the Creator

Stephen Walden

Stephen Walden is an 11th grade US History Teacher from Oklahoma.

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