History is a Playbook
Stop telling people they are overreacting & start taking action.
Be clear. The President's dehumanization of immigrants and transgender people is extremely serious. If left unchecked, this administration will take it as far as it desires. It is on every single one of us to speak up to our representatives and in our communities and say no. Don’t be complicit.
History is a playbook for those looking to dominate. It is also a tragic catalogue of lessons we don’t necessarily learn or retain generation to generation. Therefore, if we fail to listen to those being persecuted, we are doomed to relive past suffering at the hands of those best positioned to exploit us.
If you are attached to my page in any way, I believe you to be a good person (as often as any person is able to be "good"). We could debate what makes one good. In general, I suspect you don’t want to hurt other people. But, my friends, it is happening before our very eyes.
To speak up against those in power is to risk your anonymity--to potentially place oneself in the radar of those aiming to do harm. Survival instincts preclude us from doing that. Typically, it’s only when our own skin is on the line that we are compelled to fight back. Or the skin of those we care about.
Enter what I call the waiting reflex. Waiting for the good guys to fix this. Waiting for folks crazed by power to come to their senses. Waiting, in disbelief. Waiting to see who will stop it. Americans waited as their Japanese neighbors were hastily swept into internment camps in 1942. Businesses shuttered. Homes abandoned. Practically overnight. Do Not Wait. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation
It's hard to think like a sociopath when you are not a sociopath. A nationalist. A white supremacist. A fascist. An overt racist. A bigot, disgusted by anyone not like oneself. Indeed, you will not be able to, and will be stunned, even disgusted, by every step they take. Because you, dear reader, are not those things. You cannot imagine thinking another human's life is negotiable, for the likes of Donald Trump.
Be clear. The president has written executive orders that explicitly say transgender people do not exist. But they do. Attempting to wipe out the existence of an entire population of humans, on paper and in policy, should be scary to all of us.
They are promising mass deportation of immigrants, explicitly stating immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the US. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/17/1213746885/trump-vermin-hitler-immigration-authoritarian-republican-primary
We literally cannot function without immigrants. We would function better without billionaires.
Many transgender people and immigrants are fearful that this administration will start to "round up" gender diverse people and immigrants and imprison them in internment, concentration, or any other kind of camps.
These fears are being minimized right now, and folks are being accused of hysteria. But friends, it has been intentional and systematic, and it has happened before—genocide is what humans do, again and again. The foundation has been building steadily the last many years.
1) Transgender people have been painted as "not real" and essentially as sick people.
2) Right wing media has overfocused on detransition narratives—which, while individually valid, do not cancel out the experiences of thousands who do not detransition. We are fed CERTAIN narratives to uphold CERTAIN agendas.
3) Right wing media has overfocused on immigrants as criminals, using stories and cases that are valid, that actually happened, and still do not cancel out the countless experiences where immigrants have helped, and even held America together.
4) Transgender people have been branded by this administration (and its voter base) as a threat to American children, and therefore the future of America.
5) Immigrants have been branded as a threat to our moms, our daughters, and our jobs.
Folks are being forced to detransition--via removal of medical care, removal of gender marker changes on documents, removal of psychological and physical safety. And through attacks on providers competent in keeping trans folks healthy and alive. And yes, there is fear transgender folks will be criminalized, placed into camps, and forced to “come to their senses.”
It is now considered fair game, by opportunists, to discriminate against transgender individuals and immigrants. It is not legal, as those executive orders are in fact, illegal. But those emboldened to act, fully aware of the gaping hole Trump has blown through our judicial system, will act. People may or may not have the funds and support to sue those who violated their rights under the guise of illegal executive orders.
Be clear. I am now very aware that to let my transgender spouse out of my eyesight is to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. I am now very aware, that when I do not hear from certain friends, with certain skin colors, I am sweating.
Be clear. There IS ample historical precedent for folks to have these fears. Not only through the Holocaust, but here in the United States of America.
During WWII, Roosevelt succumbed to pressure from his staff and anti-Japanese sentiment from the public and signed Executive Order 9066, "which directed the War Department to create “military areas” that anyone could be excluded from for essentially any reason." The entire west coast was declared a "military area." This happened right here, where many of us are trying to make sense of Trump's actions today. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/japanese-american-incarceration
Japanese Americans, roughly 2/3 of which were American citizens--born and raised here, were forced to leave their homes, businesses, properties, and belongings (their entire lives), and live in camps for the duration of the war. They were given a few days notice. "The government cited national security as justification for this policy although it violated many of the most essential constitutional rights of Japanese Americans." They were housed in horse stalls and eventually barracks style, poorly insulated shelters--some for 3 years or more, until the war ended.
Do you think they got their possessions or homes back? No. They were sold, auctioned off, and essentially stolen. "For decades the losses were estimated to be $400 million, but Densho Content Director Brian Niiya notes that, “though oft repeated, Mike Masaoka later copped to making up the figure on the spot while testifying before Congress during hearings for what would become the Evacuation Claims Act.” Better informed calculations now put the sum at somewhere between $1-3 billion (not adjusted for inflation), but there is no way to be certain of the total figure." https://densho.org/catalyst/sold-damaged-stolen-gone-japanese-american-property-loss-wwii/
How can you help? Find out who your elected officials are. Go to their town halls. Go to their offices, at the Capitol or in your state. Don’t reelect people who look the other way while any of us are being loudly persecuted. Don’t be quiet, and don’t quiet your transgender and immigrant friends. Listen. Elevate the concerns! Raise conversations. Say no. None of this is ok.
