I was in the USA last week when President Trump announced his 90 day ban for entry into the USA for any citizen from 7 predominantly Muslim countries (those were his company apparently does business conspicuously absent) and 120 day ban on the admission of refugees from those same countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya). I witnessed protests at the airport in Los Angeles as I arrived for my flight home.
A few thoughts.
Resistance is heartening
This ban is, from what I’m reading, supposed to be about anti-terrorism and protecting the country.
I saw signs at the airport saying “welcome to America”, and a large sign that started with “In the name of humanity…”
I’m so glad to see that people are voicing and showing their opposition to a ban that is targeting all people within certain countries simply because of their faith – making it clearly Islamophobic.
Let’s not be too smug
And while we are raising our eyebrows and shaking our heads north of the border, let’s remember that a ban like this is not new – and it has happened in Canada as well.
Here are a few examples.
- The Chinese Head Tax
- The Continuous Journey Rule (1908) which meant that you had to arrive in Canada via a continuous journey
- 1910 Immigration Act Section 38 allowed the government to prohibit immigrants belonging to any race deemed “unsuited to the climate…”
- 1911 No one “from the Negro race” allowed
- 1914 – Komagatu Maru arrived in Canada from China with 376 Indians on board who were refused entry and sent back
- 1930 No immigrants from ”the Asiatic race”
I’ll stop there, but you get the idea. You can find a list here.
And while these are older examples, current immigration fees can make it difficult for some to land (although not applicable to refugee claimants), and we have Bill C-24 (Canadian Citizenship Law Bill) – which can revoke citizenship, and created what has been referred to as two classes of citizenship.
We also have Bill C-51 – the Anti-Terrorism Act.
So…
Covert vs. Overt Racism
Remember, the covertness of something doesn’t make it less wrong – it just makes it less obvious.
What is happening in the USA at the moment is overt.
The result is that there has been swift reaction – both official (judges rulings) and unofficial (citizen protests).
These reactions suggest we may be learning from our past mistakes.
Less obvious means it may not be noticed, and therefore not “called out”.
Covert policies – past and present – are just as damaging but don’t receive the same scrutiny, public attention or public outcry. And therefore can be unknown to those not affected, and therefore can go unchallenged.
Self-Reflection
People, in general, like to wag fingers at others when we see and hear xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism, etc. – because we like to think we are better.
But let’s remember that we do not have a blemish-free track record of welcoming immigrants in this country either, and commit to remaining vigilant to the covert ways xenophobia etc. occurs so we can also rise up and demand change.
See more.
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