Sabria Chowdhury Baland :
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
-Nelson Mandela
If the principles of the above quote are to be cherished, then what seems evident is that the new overt and blatant wave of actions against religious and ethnic groups in the United States under the Trump administration did not occur in a day.
Trump’s Executive Orders on travel bans to people from majority Muslim countries and Muslim refugees did not happen spontaneously. Trump’s executive order is a pinnacle, an amalgam. He had an audience in order to be elected President. The essential question is: how did he sell his rhetoric to the public? We should not forget that Trump is a salesman who knows what will sell. The hatred of religious and ethnic groups such as Muslims and Mexicans sold because there are customers who buy into that hatred.
The Muslim ban was never called so by the Trump administration. But, we all understood what it means. The original Executive Order saw US citizens and legal residents being harassed and penalized at airports. Therefore, it was intended to not only be against the unknown, large numbers of Muslims who could no longer come to the United States. It was intended to be a full blown denunciation of Muslims who are already in the United States, whether they are legal immigrants, naturalized or born in the US.
The idea was to expel or perhaps more appropriately, snatch their constitutional rights under The Bill of Rights, to turn Muslims into unwelcome outsiders in their own land, even those who are naturalized citizens or born in the United States. It was a flat out slap on the face to convey that Muslims, no matter what their legal immigration status, education, employment or contributions to society maybe, will never be “American”. It is as if the Trump administration is now attempting to re-define what may or may not be considered “American”.
The infamous Executive Order on the travel ban issued on January 27, 2017 (a mere 6 days since Trump took office) may be seen logically as an intent of the Trump administration to depopulate the United States of Muslims. In fact, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s White House Chief Strategist even went so far as to state that Muslims don’t have “the right DNA for democracy.”
Muslims, along with Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos and Asians seem to be an impediment to the apparent “cleansing” of America. The infamous wall which Trump wants to build across the US-Mexico border is an actual physical barrier to this effect. Trump has been known to call Mexicans criminals and rapists just because they are Mexicans just as he has commented on Muslims being terrorists just for being Muslim.
But, it does not just stop at Muslims and Mexicans. Trump and his administration do not want to continue funding public schools. They do not want to see Native Americans oppose his mercenary Dakota Access Pipeline. His supporters desecrate Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques while the White House remains completely silent.
In spite of all this, it is essential to remember that “Trump’s America” is not America. America is the land where there has been an overwhelming opposition to the Muslim travel ban from a wide spectrum of society. It is the land where Federal judges reject such bans on constitutional grounds. It is the land where most people oppose the wall on the southern border. It is the land where Jews and Muslims unite and help each other when one of their houses of worship or graveyards are attacked by right winged, Neo-Nazi Trump supporters. It is the land where most people oppose banning refugees from entering, citing rightfully that such a ban clearly violates the US Constitution and the very fabric on which the foundation of the country was laid.
This is the America we must never lose sight of. Those buyers of Trump’s rhetoric are not the quintessential elements who define the United States. It is not the hatred spewed by the current White House which defines who Americans are, for this too shall pass.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
-Nelson Mandela
If the principles of the above quote are to be cherished, then what seems evident is that the new overt and blatant wave of actions against religious and ethnic groups in the United States under the Trump administration did not occur in a day.
Trump’s Executive Orders on travel bans to people from majority Muslim countries and Muslim refugees did not happen spontaneously. Trump’s executive order is a pinnacle, an amalgam. He had an audience in order to be elected President. The essential question is: how did he sell his rhetoric to the public? We should not forget that Trump is a salesman who knows what will sell. The hatred of religious and ethnic groups such as Muslims and Mexicans sold because there are customers who buy into that hatred.
The Muslim ban was never called so by the Trump administration. But, we all understood what it means. The original Executive Order saw US citizens and legal residents being harassed and penalized at airports. Therefore, it was intended to not only be against the unknown, large numbers of Muslims who could no longer come to the United States. It was intended to be a full blown denunciation of Muslims who are already in the United States, whether they are legal immigrants, naturalized or born in the US.
The idea was to expel or perhaps more appropriately, snatch their constitutional rights under The Bill of Rights, to turn Muslims into unwelcome outsiders in their own land, even those who are naturalized citizens or born in the United States. It was a flat out slap on the face to convey that Muslims, no matter what their legal immigration status, education, employment or contributions to society maybe, will never be “American”. It is as if the Trump administration is now attempting to re-define what may or may not be considered “American”.
The infamous Executive Order on the travel ban issued on January 27, 2017 (a mere 6 days since Trump took office) may be seen logically as an intent of the Trump administration to depopulate the United States of Muslims. In fact, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s White House Chief Strategist even went so far as to state that Muslims don’t have “the right DNA for democracy.”
Muslims, along with Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos and Asians seem to be an impediment to the apparent “cleansing” of America. The infamous wall which Trump wants to build across the US-Mexico border is an actual physical barrier to this effect. Trump has been known to call Mexicans criminals and rapists just because they are Mexicans just as he has commented on Muslims being terrorists just for being Muslim.
But, it does not just stop at Muslims and Mexicans. Trump and his administration do not want to continue funding public schools. They do not want to see Native Americans oppose his mercenary Dakota Access Pipeline. His supporters desecrate Jewish synagogues and Muslim mosques while the White House remains completely silent.
In spite of all this, it is essential to remember that “Trump’s America” is not America. America is the land where there has been an overwhelming opposition to the Muslim travel ban from a wide spectrum of society. It is the land where Federal judges reject such bans on constitutional grounds. It is the land where most people oppose the wall on the southern border. It is the land where Jews and Muslims unite and help each other when one of their houses of worship or graveyards are attacked by right winged, Neo-Nazi Trump supporters. It is the land where most people oppose banning refugees from entering, citing rightfully that such a ban clearly violates the US Constitution and the very fabric on which the foundation of the country was laid.
This is the America we must never lose sight of. Those buyers of Trump’s rhetoric are not the quintessential elements who define the United States. It is not the hatred spewed by the current White House which defines who Americans are, for this too shall pass.
