This is Being Recorded.
If you happened to have just recently risen from a coma… do I have some news for you. In the past few years, things have gone absolutely batshit crazy here in the good ol’ U S of A.
The president of the United States is Donald Trump.
And Donald Trump has said and done some truly atrocious things during his time as president. He lies a lot. He’s made many bigoted statements. For many Americans, every day a fresh new Hell is exposed and we’ve perfected internal screaming.
Recently, Trump implemented a policy that forcibly separated families who crossed the border into the U.S. Instead of detaining the families together (like that’s a picnic), the children were detained isolated from their parents or family members. In glorified cages. There also has not and is not a plan to reunite the families.
To those of you who did not recently awake from a years-long coma, you already know all this. But bear with me here — detaining innocent children in cages away from anyone they know and love is objectively bad, right? I mean, if the question, “Hey, what do you think about kids in cages?” came up in the 2016 GOP Presidental Debate, I think even Zodiac killer-looking Ted Cruz would say, “No way. That’s definitely bad.”
But, what you may find even more shocking than the fact that this guy became President of the United States, is that despite the administration indisputably lying and holding children effectively ransom in exchange for a wall Mexico was supposed to pay for anyway — is the horrifying fact that many Americans don’t care.
A disturbing number of Americans believe the lies coming from the Trump administration and have been fooled to distrust the media. Even worse, many have dehumanized migrants, just like Trump, and have shown no empathy for their plight at all. This is not a political issue, it is a moral one.
These times are being documented and recorded not only for the daily news roundups but for history.
At some point, we will all have to answer for this. I just can’t imagine history will be kind to those who have shown such cruelty and openly embraced bigotry. I believe the horrors of this period will be solemnly filed away with the shameful horrors of our past.
I believe the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. However, I don’t believe it happens inherently. We have to work together and do the bending. We have to be better than our past and build a better future for all.
The past doesn’t stay in the past. It will be discussed, studied, and used as a terrifying example of history that must not be repeated. Anyone who lived through a historic moment when morality is tested will be asked what they believed.
Can you imagine having a grandchild or even a great-grandchild asking what you believed? Would you be able to tell them that you believed some children should be locked away in cages because they landed on soil they weren’t fortunate enough to be born onto? Decades from now, could you really dust off your red “Make America Great Again” hat and proudly proclaim you fully supported this administration and their oppressive policies?
This is being recorded. History has its eyes on us — every one of us. Your story will be written and you are ultimately in control of the narrative. Make it one you’ll be proud to tell.
Afterall, you know what the history books call Germans who supported Hitler because they favored his economic policies, but not so much the stuff about exterminating Jews? Nazis.
