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Op-Ed: World War Three

BY: JENNA CALDWELL

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We etched the swastika from our classroom desks, front doors and public spaces. We carved lines, creatings windows, until our fingers were bloody and our hearts weren't so heavy. We bleached the blood drops left behind, painted over the stains, and cried for the last time, to only have the international symbol of hate transcribed into a comforting modernity for many. ‘Make America Great Again,' the red stain that sits upon the heads of the privileged. Comparable to the Nazi soldier in deplorability, despicability and disgrace, they have stopped yelling "Heil Hitler" and begun to hashtag. Boxed into 140 characters, we have allowed internet trolls, the alt-right, and the fake news digester to catapult us into a War World Three.

In preservation of the Aryan race, Adolf Hitler, notorious dictator and celebrated figure, banned Jews from society. Blaming the religious group for Germany's economic crisis and the loss of War World One, he successfully used them as a scapegoat. Hitler was able to effectively use existing anti-semitic ideologies to further his plot in the extermination of 11 million individuals, targeting Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, disabled peoples and Roma.

In preservation of the Cis-White Republican male, Donald J. Trump, notorious president and celebrated figure, is attempting to ban Muslims from society. Blaming the religious group for America's acts of terror (ironically, committed more often by cis-white males), he has successfully used them as a scapegoat. Trump has effectively used existing islamophobic ideologies to further his plot in the extermination of millions of individuals, targeting Muslims, ‘bad hombres', homosexuals, women and immigrants.

Some would say we stopped burning people in ovens long ago, but in reality we just stopped turning them on.

As Syrians, Myanmarese, Iraqis and thousands of others flee their war-torn countries in pursuit of their livelihoods, Donald Trump has barred the entry of seven-muslim majority countries from entering the United States: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. A country that has prided itself on its diversity and the welcoming of immigrants, he has indefinitely suspended the Syrian refugee program. The U.S. only accepted 12,486 Syrians in 2016 compared to the 300,000 received by Germany in the same year. Initially denying entry to legal permanent residents, the Department of Homeland Security announced their cases are now being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, accepting those who pose no "serious threat." Additionally, there is prioritization of refugee claims on the basis of religious persecution. Therefore, with an immigration ban in 7 Muslim majority nations, those who identify as Christian are prioritized over Muslims.

The objective of this program must be taken into serious question. The Trump administration claims the immigration ban is result of terrorism concerns. Yet, countries where terrorism activity has been more prevalent, were not hit by travel restrictions. Why? For one, Trump conducts business in them. Statistically, 0refugees included in the travel ban have killed anyone in terrorist attacks on American soil.

As an American, you have a 0.00003% chance of dying in an attack by a foreign-born terrorist. Since 9/11, only 9 individuals have been killed a year by Muslim extremists in the U.S. Meanwhile, 37,000 Americans  die in every year in traffic accidents in . Perhaps the travel ban should be limited to those operating automobiles within U.S. borders.

There have been many genocides throughout global history and the U.S. is no exception. From transatlantic slavery to the near-eradication of the Native-American, from Japanese internment camps to the Chinese Exclusion Act, who is actually being protected by this executive order? How quick are we to forget that those who landed on plymouth rock, set sail on the Mayflower to escape religious persecution?

We are a country that is no stranger to genocide or ethnic-cleansing. We are a country with a president holding as much influence as Adolf Hitler once did. And we are a country allowing history to repeat itself.


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