Growing up as a kid, I used to listen stories of what a great country the U.S. is. I heard how the U.S. had jumped in the middle of wars to end and save the world. How mighty and strong the country was. But, when I moved to the U.S., I learned that almost everything I've heard were just lies told by the white men.
To reiterate, I'm from a small country in Central America -- Honduras. The school I attended was bilingual, but most of my classes were in English. Even my history class was in English. And since there were no history of my country in English, we learned American history. We learned of the country that offered freedom and equality, the country many people escaped to for a better life.
I learned about its presidents, it's tribulations and how it overcame them; I learned about its wars; its "fight for justice and equality."
But when I moved to the U.S., many of the things that I was taught turned out to be a lie. This country was not the mighty country that I had learned about in my history class. There was no freedom. No equality.
The oppressed have been fighting for years, and the U.S. only gives in small portions to try to appease the masses for short periods of time. Instead of actually dealing with its issues, it only makes them worse.
The U.S. is a country full of prejudices and imbalances. Nobody is equally equal. We're all "equal" to a certain extent. Those with power are the ones who dictate how we are equal and how we aren't. Today, the U.S. has stressed that the importance of an undeveloped ball of mass is more important than its carrier.
Women have been stripped of their rights with the intention of "saving future doctors and engineers." This new abortion laws show the lack of balance of power, and it shows who is the one that truly controls the country.
Trans people have been stripped their right to serve their natal country.
Stereotypes still haunt many communities that aren't purely white, villainizing them. Making people believe that they don't belong here unless their skin is white like snow, and eyes blue like the sky.
And now, a new bill has been proposed that will offer "merits-based visas" to immigrants where their English proficiency and certain skills of them will be tested to see if they are "eligible" to reside in the U.S. But the underlying purpose of this is to kill the flame of people immigrating to the U.S. This new immigration policy was meant to foster fear and insecurities among the immigrant community.
The rules are blind to the actual problems we face in the country, but instead, they only try to focus on what will benefit them.
As sad as this may sound, sometimes I wish I hadn't moved to the U.S. because many of my dreams and expectations have been broken to really small pieces, and I won't try to piece them back because it would only result in me turning my head away.
And that is not what we need to do during this time.