I am very well aware of the fact that it is September 11th. I am of an age that I will always remember where I was (Tarpon Springs, Florida) and who I was with when I heard the news on that morning in 2001. Today’s article is far from a boilerplate 9/11 article but nonetheless it deals with inhumanity and what will doubtless be the loss of innocent lives. For that and a special “twist” at the end please come along.
On its way to Alabama (hey, I couldn’t resist) category 5 Hurricane Dorian stopped in the Bahamas and destroyed much of the country. Needless to say that created a human tragedy including thousands of refugees who have lost everything and have nothing to return to. Fortunately, with the exception of part of North Carolina’s Outer Banks much of the United States was spared. While it is of little consolation to the residents of the Outer Banks, the destruction they experienced pales in comparison to what the Bahamas experienced.
Sunday evening hundreds of Bahamian refugees were on a ferry in Freeport’s harbor awaiting transportation to safety in the United States when an announcement came over the PA, “Please, all passengers that don’t have a U.S. visa, please proceed to disembark.” This is like an aide worker coming up to you as you watch your house burn offering assistance but only if you can immediately produce your birth certificate. How were these people to have procured visas in advance? Did they have a crystal ball telling them exactly where the storm would hit, its severity and its exact devastation? After the storm were they supposed to get a visa using their non-existent resources?
While America is much larger and wealthier than the Bahamas there is something to be said about a moral obligation and practical reason to be a good neighbor because you may need the favor returned someday. One major lesson Trump and his minions have failed to learn is that at the most basic level we are all humans.
It is impossible to ignore that there is a common denominator with this and almost all the global right wing handling of refugees. Most Bahamians are non-white. White supremacist radical right wing fascist leaders worldwide and their bases are desperately trying to keep their countries majority white. While it is those very leaders that account for most of the misery and discontent of the masses they have somehow convinced their followers that the people of color are the sole problem.
When President Trump commented on the situation he spoke of having to keep bad people out of the United States. He talked of gang members and big time drug dealers among the refugees – of course, without any evidence to back up his claim.
So let me get this scenario correct Mr. Trump. MS-13 drug dealing gang members snuck into the Bahamas, probably via a submarine (hey, let’s make it good). They placed themselves in death’s path because they knew exactly where Dorian would hit and just how powerful it would be. Then they got on the ferry with the goal of sneaking into Fort Lauderdale (and it’s not even spring training or spring break). Once in America they will rape some white women, keep the children to give them the further cover of a family, and move to Mississippi where they will work in meat processing plants to establish their deep cover while doing their gangbanger stuff in their otherwise free time.
In Trump’s world we have to guard against fantasy terrorists but it is perfectly fine to commemorate 9/11 by inviting the Taliban’s leadership to Camp David.
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