The US is engaged in ethnic cleansing

[bronxiteforever]

I listened to a lecture last night given by an immigrant rights worker. Basically the upshot was that fear now dominates the lives of both the legal and illegal immigrant families. The federal immigration judges are deporting people at a high speed quota driven rate. Children are being separated from parents and allowed only a 4 hour a week visit in the detention facility (prison). Old people who have lived in the country for in excess of 20 years and in their 80s and 90s now suffering with dementia are being targeted for deportation.

He told us that the only difference that can be made is a change in government policies through elections. The immigrant support networks have collapsed under the massive influx of people trying to stay here. Families are suffering major separation and crisis events daily.

After this, I thought about a few things.
One, a poster recently wrote an post describing a talk he had with a Midwest political operative of the Democratic Party. The operative was telling the poster that the focus of the midterms should be on jobs and it was a “fun fact” (his quote) that nobody cares about immigrants and implying we should drop that topic.
My second thought was that despite my anger at that observation, the operative may be right. If he is right, then perhaps the Country is in a death cycle.

We all heard the phrase demographics is destiny. We know how the Country is aging and it is foolish to limit immigrant labor. Yet this isn’t the main concern. What I see is that humanness and empathy are no longer at home in the Country’s soul. The fault lies not only in the trumpian world view but in a deep sickness of the citizenry that revels in creating this fear. We are ethnically cleansing the weakest and most vulnerable and of course they are people who do not look like us. But really when did immigrants ever “look like us”?

What is chilling to me is that I live in a land that would deport an 80 year old woman with dementia. Is this the echo of history, arrogant and bloody, from Munich in the 30s. No we don’t have concentration camps but for the first time I really get how Germany got to that place. And I understand how a people would allow ethnic cleansing.

So I understand some want comfort and do not want to read this because my thoughts are dark but the body politic is suffering from a disorder that is difficult but not impossible to treat. You folks keep the weakened heart still beating.

The 2016 election will always be things we lost in our national fire such as empathy, compassion and belief in the progress of the US. Now in 2018, it would be a victory if we could just stop hurting people.

Peace

[democratisphere]

1. Ethnic cleansing by the drumpf clan.

America is regressing while the rest of the world moves ahead.

[RKP5637]

3. In the 21st century, if this continues, America will be left behind. There are many wonderful places

in the world to live and work. America will be shunned by the world community. Many people often do not understand that many immigrants are what made American great, and today, TPTB want to trash immigrants. In short, the US is really becoming seriously F'ed up under the current regime.

[democratisphere]

5. drumpf has made the rest of the world realize they don't need America anymore.

[RKP5637]

9. I think America is about 4% or 5% of the worlds' population. There are many brilliant people

across the world and many beautiful places to live and work. As time moves on, America will not be needed if we continue this course. America had a good run of it after WWII and after the Sputnik panic and our move into space under JFK ... but those days are long gone. I'll stop here, we all know how America is fading away if the present course is continued. Hopefully in the coming elections we will get more responsible individuals into office that give a damn about the country, encompassing everyone and our future.

[bronxiteforever]

15. [phone]

[bronxiteforever]

6. Agree. We are regressing and forgetting at the same time.

[DemocracyMouse]

20. We don't have to choose between issues! They are LINKED!

It certainly IS ethnic "cleansing" (we should stop using that awful term people), but we can link it directly to the economy by stating "While citizens and people of the world clash, the 1% takes the cash."

[RKP5637]

2. Well said! Each day the US goes further downhill. Eventually those ignoring it will eventually find

it hits them as the US plunges into an authoritarian society and for some a living dystopia. I still think a significant number of Americans still don't get what's going on, because a lot of it flies under the radar screen. ... for one example, RW judges being moved into the courts.

[bronxiteforever]

7. Great point. This type of government will hit everyone

Even though they don’t believe it.

[appalachiablue]

14. All of it, esp. the decline & amorality is shocking. So many Americans

know nothing about what awful polices and actions are taking place now daily in the US. Excess distractions and amusement everywhere to obscure.

When I mention SOME of this, the main issues, some people become uncomfortable so I lay off. Even though I use a light touch and they are not well off, and insulated...

What the immigrant families are experiencing is a appalling, this nation is changing so much and fast.

[TheMastersNemesis]

4. Republicans Are "Good Americans" They Are Our Version Of Nazis.

The real brutal truth is that if you are a GOP voter today or a Trump supporter you are just like the Nazies really. GOP voters make excuses for their racism and bigotry. The fact that they vote for any GOP candidate makes them complicit because there is NO moderation in the GOP. It is all very extreme and religiously radical deep down. They want and thirst for total tyrannical power. Just look at what we have with ANY Republican in office.

We have our own gulag detention centers now. They are growing.

[CrispyQ]

8. "If this is who we are, we are a bad people."

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210589923

[bronxiteforever]

10. Succinctly said and true

[LuvLoogie]

11. "One, a poster recently wrote an post describing a talk he had with a Midwest political operative "

"...of the Democratic Party."

That's a very general description. No specifics on who this operative or how much influence he has on anything at all.

Our reaction/resistance to trump is occurring on many fronts and needs to be sustained beyond the anger he stirs. Some Democrats are dismissive of certain issues, but they don't get very far in leadership.

It will take a sustained effort against the opposition. To say that the U.S. is engaged in ethnic cleansing negates the efforts of our allies in this government who continue to run for office and serve democratic values.

We need our people to vote. They often don't, and in huge numbers.

[sharedvalues]

12. Ethnic cleansing to get votes for Republicans

The ethnic cleansing is because the GOP fears that immigrants will vote Democratic.


The Republican Party is ripping apart families and lives, and damaging our economy, in pursuit of political power for billionaires.


It is a travesty and a sin against American values.

[bronxiteforever]

13. Agree. Yes this is part of the GOP political calculation.

Like gerrymandering and unlimited dark money. It is all about maintaining power and control.Great point.

[appalachiablue]

25. +1

[sharedvalues]

43. Here's a way to help: wear this t-shirt "We are all immigrants"

https://shop.turnoutpac.org/products/no-ban-no-wall-ptp-t-shirt

?v=1522961649

[appalachiablue]

45. Thanks, so true and I like good swag. :)

[RandomAccess]

42. THIS

And of course to try to preserve the WHITEness of America, at all costs.

[dlk]

16. Unfortunately, This Overt Racism is Caused, in Part, from Years of Poor Education

The decades-long assault on our public schools, by Republicans, has much to do with racism and misogyny, and is a much larger, long-term threat to our democracy than any terrorist group. Poorly educated people are much more easily duped and manipulated by cynical politicians (at the behest of their oligarch overlords who have made tremendous inroads into shifting us all into their service). Strong public schools are the foundation of our democracy. There's absolutely no reason we shouldn't have the best schools and best-educated population in the world. If we did, this would be a much different and better country.

[bronxiteforever]

17. Great point. The GOP birthed charter schools

To destroy teachers unions and to bleed taxpayer funds into private corporations.

Education is the foundation of liberal humanism with an emphasis on facts, history, the scientific method- all of which the founders had in their lives at the culmination of the enlightenment. An educated public is more likely to understand in the words of JFK, that we are all mortal. These ideals are despised by the GOP.

[appalachiablue]

27. Take a away education, critical thinking, the humanities, history

& more. Keep the population dumbed down & distracted with entertainment, propaganda, hate, bigotry, division, extremist religion, spectacle, celebrity and money $$ worship. Same old plan.

[loyalsister]

38. Especially the founding fathers

Racism is our original sin among educated and not educated. Little has changed since the earliest settlers defined whiteness as superior, even supreme to native Americans and dark skinned people presumed to be from Africa.
The signors to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were slave owners. Whiteness, English speaking, and European descent was Teddy Roosevelt's idea of a real American. The mainstream US citizenry still believes it and politicians continue to exploit it.

From the earliest settlers to now, white supremacy has always been codified in US laws, policies, and education.
Not everyone is crass about it, but white supremacy is a feature of US policy and culture.
It's our legacy and the beneficiaries have never mounted a serious organized challenge to it.

[Merlot]

18. Imigrant Detention Centers. Built for profit. That's how we get "there."

[bronxiteforever]

19. Certainly it is part of it.

“Incentivizing “ communities with federal funds and jobs to “house” the families.

[ancianita]

21. Ethnic cleansing since"rangers, rovers and militias"drove Indians west after the Louisiana Purchase.

That makes ethnic cleansing pretty much the cornerstone of America's official policy of "manifest destiny" Indian Wars in the 18th/19th Centuries, and then domestic terrorism "cleansing" of its redlined properties, along with police terrorism toward its black and brown citizens since the Civil War.

[bronxiteforever]

22. I had hoped we learned something.

Love your signature line!

[ancianita]

26. The profiteers in government learned that racial violence without consequences is white power.

Thanks!

[appalachiablue]

29. The "Indian Removal Act" (1830) genocide and land confiscation/theft.

Centuries of mass wealth created by slavery & Jim Crow, slavery by another name enforced by terrorist militias & white citizen councils.

https://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears

[ancianita]

30. Yep. Every president except John Adams, right on up to Wilson.

[procon]

23. I agree, but its not limited to just the draconian cruelty heaped on immigrants,

our whole society is under attack. We are a nation of immigrants and no one in this country (except the Native American peoples) does not trace their roots back to an immigrant. We need each other. Businesses depend on cheap immigrant labor and the economies whole communities rely on the money they spend. Our kids go to school together, we go to church together and know one another as neighbors. We support sanctuary cities and the majority of Americans want to see a comprehensive immigration plan that would include a ways for them to become citizens, regardless of how they arrived here.

The single driving force behind this concerted effort to portray immigrants as some evil force is the Republican Party and it's chief spokesman, Donald Trump, but his destructive policies aren't confined to just attacks on immigrants. Republicans are attacking Americans as well, taking food away from hungry children, denying medical treatments to the poor, and raising the rents on people with no ability to afford any added expense. Trump's policies are filtering down to the states, and thousands of elderly and disabled folks face eviction from Louisiana nursing homes over Medicaid cuts.

This barrage of savage cruelty is eroding our common norms and undermining our society, and whatever remains after Trump won't even be recognizable as the country we knew.

[bronxiteforever]

28. I agree. The thought of an 85 year old dementia

Patient being deported after living here for over 20 years tore a whole through my soul last night. That is where my head was at. I have followed the Jindal disaster in La. nursing homes on the boards here.I can imagine the fear the old folks will suffer from that. And I imagine the fear of the young man shot to death in the backyard of his own home.

In Trump world the pain is everywhere. It was not my intention to devalue the national awfulness.

Maybe all politics is now not only local but personal. It is the thoughtless nature of the cruelty of millions of fellow citizens who support Cheeto that causes me to lose sleep and to wonder what happens next.

[whathehell]

24. "Ethnic cleansing" has been defined as murder/gernocide -- What is

being done is cruel and immoral, but it's not murder..Please don't make it worse than it is.

[bronxiteforever]

34. I disagree. The scope is not even close to the

the genocide of the Yugoslav Wars but ethnic cleansing is not only murder and rape. Ethnic cleansing certainly includes the deportations of large amounts of people. I see that happening here.


Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic or racial groups from a given territory by a more powerful ethnic group, often with the intent of making it ethnically homogeneous. The forces applied may be various forms of forced migration (deportation, population transfer), intimidation, as well as genocide and genocidal rape.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_cleansing

And isn’t the intent of trumpites to make the country ethnically homogeneous. No shithole nations. No TPS. Also from an educated guess, deportation of aged dementia patients is murder.

[OneGrassRoot]

31. Well said. K&R n/t

[askyagerz]

32. Its more rhetoric gone awry

Republicans start scare tactics to get votes from the ignorant and suppress vote from minorities. They start saying it over and over and year after year and the next thing you know its truth to a lot of people and sometimes even them.

Back home in southern illinois they hate immigrants even though they rarely have interacted with any their entire lives. Here on the west coast where there are actual immigrants no one has a problem because they can see the rhetoric is lies.

I honestly think Trump got into politics because he believed years of hype. He really thought the government was raking it in through illegal activities and he wanted his share. Come to find out the fbi doesnt just give a wink to crooked politicians and let them pass through.

[bronxiteforever]

39. I agree with your point on Cheetos money motive

But I also think he really believes in genetic superiority, just like his father did. His was father was arrested in NYC at a Klan rally in the 1920s when immigration was a hot button issue for the racists.

[askyagerz]

41. Yep nuts don't fall far from the tree

Getting to be the nations top raging racist and elitist is a bonus.

[c-rational]

33. I sympathize with your pain. As the husband of an immigrant and a POC as well as a fellow New

Yorker (my Dad was born in the Bronx at home with a midwife) I am begining to feel/recognize that many of our problems are driven by economics. Last year on the subway with maintenance down and delays up I heard two passengers arguing about recent fare increases which would go to workers health care. Exploding economic inequality has most common folk arguing against one another. The ruling class argues for greater free markets, and no free market without regulation actually accounts for all costs. Our arguments should not be among each other but against unfair economic policies which tear society apart. An interesting article/book review I read recently "Merchants of Doom" Is capitalism a threat to democracy. It's summarizing thought is that Social Security and Medicare instituted when a communitarian ethic was still strong in America politics remain popular. Basic goodness and fairness translate into a more humane society.

[bronxiteforever]

36. Thank you that looks like a good read.

[beachbum bob]

37. Not the US, but the batshit crazy bigots and racists of conservative land

We must take our country back

Elections have consequences..and we are living them. Makes that "not voting for the lesser of 2 evils" the real fucking evil....

[bronxiteforever]

40. I admit it was my naivete

To not think that there were millions of people in the country that would support this hatred.
And yeah, the whole not voting thing. I never got that. It is an essential part of a liberal democracy to vote but maybe we no longer want to be a liberal democracy. That thought does keep me up at nights.

[Bluesaph]

44. I know someone who was deported

He was taken to the border in Tijuana with no water and no food and no clothing. He knew no one. He’s in his 60’s and was forced to walk across the bridge and stay there. Now imagine an old woman with dementia.

Isn’t this similar to what Castro did with his own undesireables? Put them on boats and shipped them off to our shores? How are we any different?

I’ve always believed the killing of Blacks for no reason was a form of ethnic cleansing.

I have zero doubt we are in an ethnic cleansing program in this country now.

[oberliner]

46. This is definitely not true