Christopher Columbus arrived in what would soon be called America in 1492. Unlike the cheerful images we were taught as children, the reality of who he was as a person was far overshadowed and downplayed. Upon arrival, he disregarded the Native Americans who originally resided there and violently attacked them, seeing them as subordinates and him a superior. Columbus’s goal was to make a beneficial discovery for the Spanish crown and was properly funded. He wanted to bring back riches, spices and, slaves, all to make life “better” at home and expand Spanish power. Similarly, The pilgrims arrived in Plymouth to escape religious persecution with the primary goal of making their lives better. America was literally built on immigration, the white skin that we associate with America today is not truly the native ethnicity that once resided here. America was built on immigrants yet in the recent year, the supporters for white supremacy and the discrimination immigrants are facing have become startlingly large.
President Donald Trump has made it clear that he will do anything in his power to eradicate immigration. One of his most notable claims came from his promise of building a wall around America’s southern border to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico to essentially block them out. America is viewed as one of the most diverse countries in the world, the term “the American dream” common for immigrants who traveled miles from their country in hopes of a better life. Unfortunately, it appears that this dream may be quelled if the Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals program is repealed.
The DACA was a program in which undocumented immigrants under the age of thirty one were allowed to legally immigrate to the country. Most of those people since the five years the DACA program has been put in place were young children who have now lived and grown up in America. These people have become an asset to America’s functioning and its economy, given the opportunity to pursue high class jobs like lawyers, teachers and to ultimately start a family.
Currently, there is a motion to repeal the DACA from a group of Republican attorney generals who threaten Trump with a lawsuit if action is not taken. If it is repealed, all the 800,000 people part of the DACA program would face deportation and the US would suffer with a loss of $460 billion over the next ten years.
The American Dream is being further suppressed since the pardon that Trump gave to a former Arizona Sheriff on August 25. Arpaio was self titled “America’s toughest sheriff” and his primary goal was to hunt down illegal immigrants and imprison them. Arpaio’s past further supports his extreme prejudice towards immigrants as he was one of the most active supporters and participants in revealing Obama’s birth certificate in past years.
Since the election of Donald Trump, those who engage in such discriminatory mindsets have found their voice and their freedom to speak. Already many openly argued against illegal immigration, forgetting that their ancestors were once immigrants as well with the same goal in mind -- to start new and make their lives better. America is the land of opportunity, in fact, the colonies in the Americas showed that they wanted to be independent from their mother country. The Boston Tea Party, “no taxation without representation” are just two examples of how engaged these colonists were to strive for their own independence and create a new society on soil that had been bought or taken from the native Americans. Ethnicity and culture are not as clear cut in the cosmopolitan America but with the rise of white supremacy and action of deportation, it is possible that America may lose its diversity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/us/politics/joe-arpaio-trump-pardon-sheriff-arizona.html?mcubz=3
http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/24/opinions/congress-protect-dreamers-inslee/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/25/us/joe-arpaio-pardon-latinos.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FImmigration%20and%20Emigration&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/donald-trump-s-immigration-plan-1.12972144
I really liked how you connected the pre-American history with what is happening in the current day. By making a link between the groundwork of immigration back in the 16th and 17th century, it really was interesting to see how mindset and time have changed the American Dream. The deportation of 800,000 people- which would result in a loss of $460 billion in the next 10 people- was a great statistic to add. It strengthened your argument about immigration being so integral to society today, just as it did back when the colonies had first formed. While competition for jobs and quality of life have been around for centuries, I loved how you tied in economic goals as a motivating factor behind anti-immigration, along with the comparison of the two time periods.
ReplyDeleteI really like the parallels you drew between the happenings of the past (Christopher Columbus) and recent events (Trump). I found it very insightful that you compared how during Christopher Columbus's era, the colonists were fueled by a sense of white nationalistic pride, causing them to eradicate Native American societies and replacing them with their own, to the current situation. It seems as if that sense of white supremacy is even more prevalent now, which is dangerous.
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