The Syrian Refugee Crisis
Nearly half of Syria's 23 million people have been displaced. After the Paris terrorist attacks, there has been debate on whether to accept Syrian refugees or not.
The question being asked is: Should the United States accept refugees? The answer?
More than half of the nation (31 states, to be exact) gave a big resounding NO.
This occurred days after the Paris attacks when a Syrian passport (which in itself raised many questions and for which no answers were given) was found near one of the successful bombers. The rest of the bombers were European. As stated by Faedah Totah, a VCU professor of political science in the College of Humanities and Sciences, "If anything, the fear should be of Europeans coming to the United States."
There are cause and effect factors involved in the Syrian refugee crisis according to Totah. “There is...a huge displaced population within Syria...the United States and several European countries, including France, are heavily involved in this war...especially with the airstrikes conducted by the U.S. and its allies on ISIS/Daesh targets. Therefore, the Syrian refugees coming to Europe are best described as the result of the war in Syria, and in which the U.S. and European countries, including Russia, are involved."
American history of Refugees/Immigration Intolerance
So why the bigotry when it comes to accepting Syrian refugees?
It’s certainly not the first time that such intolerant hysteria has swept over the United States. It’s happened before, and each time the response has been fear and bigotry.
It's evident looking back into history of immigration in the United States. Americans of Italian, German, and Japanese descent faced such intolerance while African Americans, Jews, Asians, and Latinos were persecuted in the peacetime during the World Wars.
According to Nicholas D. Kristof, a New York Times writer, bigotry is not the only reason, but fear as well; fear that the newcomers don't share our values, don’t believe in democracy, and may harm innocent Americans. Followers of movements against the Irish, Germans, Italians, Chinese, and other immigrants were trying to protect their country but unfortunately, manipulated by demagogues, were played by their fears — the 19th and 20th century equivalents of Glenn Beck.
Furthermore, he points out that "...historically this distrust has led us to burn witches, intern Japanese-Americans, and turn away Jewish refugees from the Holocaust."
Politicians today are doing the same; Republican candidates are calling for the closing of mosques, keeping out all Muslim immigrants, and creating special IDs for immigrants who are in the country.
Important Role of Immigrants/ Refugees in Shaping America
America is a nation of immigrants and they have played a significant role in making America great. They have enriched our culture and added to our productive capacity as a nation, enhancing our influence in the world.
They have brought in engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts, inventors, entrepreneurs, etc.
Immigration gives the United States an economic edge on the world economy by bringing innovative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the U.S. economy. They enhance America’s trade and investment profitably in the global economy as well as keeping the economy flexible.
Here are a list of immigrants that you might know who have contributed to America.
1. Steve Jobs (whose father was Syrian)- Apple Inc.
2. Sergey Brin- Google
3. Alexander Graham Bell- AT&T
4. Pierre Omidyar- Ebay
5. Theodore and Milton Deutschmann- RadioShack
6. Daniel Aaron- Comcast
7. Jerry Yang- Yahoo!
8. John W. Nordstrom- Nordstrom
And the list goes on...
Our Sad Silence On The Syria Crisis
We should remember the history of the 20th century, of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and refuseniks from the Soviet Union who were largely ignored by the world.
Whether Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, each one of us has the right to live a life free of war, terror, and hunger. Turning a blind eye to the Syrian Refugees is turning a blind eye on humanity. Thousands of dead bodies of Syrian children have washed ashore. When will it be enough to show human compassion to our brothers and sisters?
How many more dead children, women, and men will it take to break the silence?
It's easy to wag your fingers at others and blame. It's easy to utter, "Your problem, take responsibility." But we should all be looking in the mirror and hanging our heads in shame.
There is no mistake that the U.S. played a role and is responsible for the situation in Syria and Iraq, which has killed thousands and displaced millions.
Americans act as though this crisis is our allies' problem and that whatever aid we offer should be seen as an act of kindness.
And it's sad and despicable when we have people like Ben Carson dehumanizing the Syrian refugees and comparing them to rabid dogs. And Donald Trump on the other hand calling for the keeping of all immigrants out of the country while forgetting he himself is an immigrant. But we are better than this. We should do our part in helping the Syrian refugees since we also played a role in their displacement.
Instead of talking about tightening our borders, we should figure out ways to provide homes for these displaced victims of war who are being directly affected by the United States's foreign policy.
