White supremacy is on steroids

“Those who fail to learn the lessons (mistakes) of history are condemned to repeat them” is a message attributed to philosopher George Santayana.

The sad and embarrassing truth is we have had a white supremacy streak since the founding of our country and arrival of the first slave ship. For 400 years we experienced slavery followed by segregation, Jim Crow laws, the KKK and lynchings, denial of voting and civil rights, housing discrimination, inferior education and employment opportunities.

As we expanded westward and encroached upon the homes and land of Native Americans, our treatment and accompanying degradation of their humanity has been well-documented. This cruel and inhumane period of our history was followed by discrimination against the Chinese, Poles, Irish and other nationalities reaching an apex with internment of Japanese Americans.

What we are experiencing now, following the Charlottesville pronouncement by our President “that there are fine people on both sides,” is an escalating dive into full-blown white supremacy with increasing cruelty and inhumane treatment of anyone identified by the Trump administration as not pure white.

Peaceful, hardworking, and tax paying Somali immigrants are not “human garbage” as Trump proclaimed in a cabinet meeting on Dec. 2. The same goes for Afghan refugees who are not all ’evil’ because one is accused of committing a heinous crime. Seventy percent of the immigrants being deported are hardworking taxpayers, not criminals as Trump claims. This cruel and inhumane treatment should be unacceptable to true Christians in this season of Advent.

Larry Hodgden

Tipton