A Current day American Issue: Our Esteemed Guests from the South
For the issue I want to discuss, it seemed almost inappropriate for me to plug another episode of Arthur, but I coincidentally came across a fitting episode titled Muffy's House Guests in which Muffy (the rich brat girl) despises the endangered Peregrin Falcons who have made a home in front of her house. I don't want to compare immigrants to animals like certain bad people do, but somehow Muffy came to appreciate the birds and treat them with diplomacy by the end of the episode while in America, fully grown adults in real life have come to building a large wall so that rich drug cartel members from our neighboring countries, which they so often complain about, can... continue to fly on private jets over the wall? (yes I know there are other reasons this one is funny)
The wall is something I don't know the most about but I try to stay informed on this one controversial American topic that keeps me up at night: detention of immigrants who cross the border without documents, aka our esteemed guests from the south. Debating the issue is not what keeps me up however, it is the condition in which our country chooses to keep our guests in. *if you haven't noticed I didn't use the term "illegal immigrants" because many of them come here to claim asylum (obviously without documents, which is legal), and some of them probably even have documents (How do I know what ICE does behind our backs).
I find it outrageous that when some migrants come looking for a higher standard of living in what could have been the Land of Opportunity, the government finds it justifiable to hold them in terrible conditions when they don't have documents. In a slightly different context, Henry David Thoreau stated: "a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison" implying that when a law is unfair, those who rebel are fair individuals. However, for our issue of undocumented people today, they usually have no choice whether it is to come to the States or no choice but to be held by our government. The aspect of this that horrifies me most is one that I truly think can be disagreed upon in a nonpartisan way and that is putting the children who legally, mentally, emotionally, and physically cannot fend for themselves in cages and sometimes depriving them of regular things like toothpaste, doctors and other necessities that our government is more than capable of funding.
Because of how I see activism in the media and the number of issues that plague people similar to myself, I always have a fear that I care the most about issues only affecting me and my people directly. That is unavoidable sometimes because why would one not have their "family's" back , but this issue keeps telling me that we are all the same. When a guest comes to my house they are respected. When an uninvited guest comes to my house, we might be surprised, but still, they are our esteemed guests and we take our time and give it to them. We share our food, shelter, and kindness.
All in all, me explaining this circumstance and how I personally feel does not do it justice. I called it an American issue at the beginning of this blog but it is truly an American crisis and self-made disaster. (some of the words have links embeded^ and there are more below)
Because of how I see activism in the media and the number of issues that plague people similar to myself, I always have a fear that I care the most about issues only affecting me and my people directly. That is unavoidable sometimes because why would one not have their "family's" back , but this issue keeps telling me that we are all the same. When a guest comes to my house they are respected. When an uninvited guest comes to my house, we might be surprised, but still, they are our esteemed guests and we take our time and give it to them. We share our food, shelter, and kindness.
All in all, me explaining this circumstance and how I personally feel does not do it justice. I called it an American issue at the beginning of this blog but it is truly an American crisis and self-made disaster. (some of the words have links embeded^ and there are more below)
RIDAA IM SCREAMING! THIS POST. okay wow. First of all I love the Muffy plug, but I'm so glad you're bringing more awareness to this issue! To me, the horrible detention centers are a moral stain on our country. What is a government without ethics and morals? Simply a hollow institution that seeks to punish. I completely agree with you on this issue - it's not right or left, this is just a basic human rights tragedy. I find it so sad that while the problem is obvious, those in Washington still feel the need to turn it into a political issue, as if our humanity can be subject to the bureaucracy of politics.
ReplyDeleteyes allison, I especially liked the way you put this, it is a moral issue overtaken by crude politics
DeleteThis post is very true which is a depressing thing to say. Seeing administrations (cough, cough, Trump administration, cough, cough) put children in cages is a literal concept to me that I cannot rap my head around. It's kinda funny to see conservatives claim they are devout Christians but proceed to do inhumane things like separate children from their grandmother and place them in cages (https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-five-year-old-who-was-detained-at-the-border-and-convinced-to-sign-away-her-rights). This adds more blood to America's hands. From slavery, to the atomic bombs dropped, to the evil foreign policies, to the greedy companies inside of America, it is evident that Trump speaks to a huge majority of the American population through racism and sinful beliefs. The world's """"greatest"""" country is run like a company that cares about it's profits.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, if at all politicians use their religion to justify their stance or support their character, they should not be at the same time staining the name of their religion by committing things like this.
Deletei totally dig how you referred to america as "the land of opportunity". it seems like a lot of the great nicknames attributed to our wonderful 50 states of colonization really lose their meaning day after day. sometimes i like to think that Everything Is Fine (insert gif of meme reference) but to ignore the issues of the world for ones own mental comfort is horrible!!!
ReplyDeletehaha that gif is too true and yeah I agree it can be hard, especially living in the privileged place we do, to continuously pay attention to very real issues around us.
Deletedang u spitting straight facts. It really dehumanizing what the ahem TrUmP aDmiNsTrAtiOn is doing. I cannot even fathom the pain and suffering these immigrants must go through. They see America as a place where their dreams for a better life for their children can finally come to fruition and then they are placed into a cage with inhuman conditions for days. IT is simply not acceptable what is going on down there, and while I haven't been paying too much attention to life down there, I definitely will keep this on my radar now. They are people too, and no human being should ever be subjected to this.
ReplyDeleteyes, this dehumanization is such a big theme in America its crazy that its still being supported by the aDmiNiStrAtIon
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