America's Bitter History With Refugees

I have to admit that it's embarassing to be an American, particularly now. Our election is basically a competition between Gilderoy Lockhart and Professor Umbridge, and half of our country seems to have lost its' mind. They've invented a white nationalist history of America being "great" when it was filled with white property owners, they ignore the fact that this country was built on slavery, that it was actually inhabited by Native Americans--who are right now and have consistently been one of the worst treated groups in America-- and they are unwilling to admit that "minorities" have historically been the backbone of our country.

If anything, you'd think America would try to atone for its' past by being more open and welcoming. Instead, we're seeing a repeat of history, where a country of people who consider themselves 'blessed with freedom and liberty' are determined to not allow others to infringe on their jobs and living space.

This week, a school in Syria was bombed, killing 20 children and injuring many others. Yet, many Americans just regard refugees as unworthy to come into the country and say that they have to deal with the situation themselves. It's pathetic that so many racists let an invented nationalist history get in the way of helping people and saving lives, but it's certainly not the first time Americans have done so.

Perhaps the most infamous case of Americans not letting in refugees was during World War II, when a boat of 900 German Jews were rejected from the United States in 1939. Later, the ship was forced to return to Europe, and more than a quarter of the refugees on board died in the holocaust. The justification for turning away 937 innocents was that one of them could be a German spy--sound familiar?

Americans don't learn from their mistakes. Even in 1946, after the atrocities of the Holocaust had been committed, 60 percent of Americans disapproved of taking in Jewish refugees. In 1972, 62 percent of Americans disapproved of allowing Vietnamese refugees into the country with the fear that they would take jobs (of course, without the Americans, there wouldn't have been Vietnamese refugees, but apparently that wasn't considered)

In 1985, 46 percent of Americans said that refugees take more than they contribute, and in 1993, 63 percent of Americans disapproved of giving Haitian refugees asylum. The irony of the situation is that "great powers" such as America are unwilling to take in refugees who are in ways a result of American interference and foreign policy meddling.

The situation is frustrating, to say the least. And while I don't have much faith that Clinton is going to accept large numbers of refugees, it's sure she'll accept more than Trump, so if you're as frustrated as I am, make sure you vote.