So if you've been following the news at all, Trump's newest sin is allowing troops to use tear gas on caravan of immigrants at the US/Mexico border. There are images of babies/toddlers in diapers running or being held as people run from the gas. Tell me how that will be internalized by those children? What do I say to my 8-year-old who sees those images and sees one of those babies that looks just like her baby sister? Does my almost 2 year old deserve to be tear gassed?
It makes me mad. I makes me sad. I feel helpless. I honestly don't have any idea what to do to actually help.
I understand the people who are trying to cross into the US are not Mexican but from further south in Central American. They are seeking asylum status. They have walked the miles with their possessions and small children on their backs. From what I've heard from other Central Americans who have made the journey, Mexico and Mexicans aren't exactly welcoming nor nice and helpful as they journey north. They suffer trauma in their homeland. They suffer trauma on their journey. They suffer trauma trying to reach their goal.
We are told that we have to be objective. We don't need their kind here. We have x people out of work. Those people will steal jobs from "Americans." Those people are numbers not actual people. They are objects. I can't see them as objects. Those people have suffered and are doing exactly what most of the people who make "America" have done - pulled themselves up and are ready to work hard to make a home here.
I see reflections of my own family. There but for the grace of God go I. If my parents had been born further south. If my parents hadn't gotten their citizenship when they did. So many wonderful turns of fortune have me here today. Why is my 2 year old worth more than their 2 year old? Just because my baby was born here across a political border to parents who were also born on the correct side of the imaginary line. That imaginary line . . .
It makes me mad. I makes me sad. I feel helpless. I honestly don't have any idea what to do to actually help.
I understand the people who are trying to cross into the US are not Mexican but from further south in Central American. They are seeking asylum status. They have walked the miles with their possessions and small children on their backs. From what I've heard from other Central Americans who have made the journey, Mexico and Mexicans aren't exactly welcoming nor nice and helpful as they journey north. They suffer trauma in their homeland. They suffer trauma on their journey. They suffer trauma trying to reach their goal.
We are told that we have to be objective. We don't need their kind here. We have x people out of work. Those people will steal jobs from "Americans." Those people are numbers not actual people. They are objects. I can't see them as objects. Those people have suffered and are doing exactly what most of the people who make "America" have done - pulled themselves up and are ready to work hard to make a home here.
I see reflections of my own family. There but for the grace of God go I. If my parents had been born further south. If my parents hadn't gotten their citizenship when they did. So many wonderful turns of fortune have me here today. Why is my 2 year old worth more than their 2 year old? Just because my baby was born here across a political border to parents who were also born on the correct side of the imaginary line. That imaginary line . . .
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