Signing Executive Order 13769 Shows the World that America Represents Racism

By Anonymous / Winter 2021

Growing up my parents never really talked to me about politics. I was very unaware of the outside world as a kid and had no problem ignoring any problems that were occurring. Even during the 2008 stock market crash I knew there was a problem and that something was going on in the world including my own. Yet all I cared about was that my dad was looking for a new job since my parents’ business was closed down due to the crash. Up until sophomore year of high school I really was living in pure bliss and not noticing the effects of politics on anyone’s lives. Once Obama finished his last term students at my high school started talking about the upcoming election and that was what had started my descent into finally looking past the bubble that I had created. I started to fight, argue, and defend those I had not even known because of the heated discussions that the students would bring up in class. Due to my high school being about 90% white with a very low population of any person of color there were many Trump supporters. Which surprised me even though I was living in Orange County California. I was shocked because the things that I would hear coming from Trump at the time was “build the wall” or other racist sayings that would go viral. That is when I started to become hyperaware of politics and chose to know more about it. So, that when those heated discussions about the election were to come up again, I would not be blind-sided by any political speech that I had not previously known.

As a kid I was privileged enough to be ignorant on politics. I did not have to know anything about systemic racism, voter suppression, or policies that were being passed. This ignorance that prevented me to see outside of my bubble allowed me to blissfully go through my life. Honestly, I probably believed there was no racism here in America at one point. But that all changed once I popped my bubble and decided that I had to know more.

By being grown up in the American school system I was religiously taught about the promises that America can bring to every individual that walks on its lands. Yet now as I have grown up, I see that its promises do not actually reach everyone. The Trump administration had rejected many people looking for refuge from drug cartels, seeking asylum from wars the U.S. started, and from just seeing their families. America is supposed to be the country you go to seek refuge, start a new life for your children, or to have a better life. Yet many are being rejected or are being forced to live in terrible conditions waiting for their court dates to prove to American judges that they are in danger. This contradicts the promise that America makes by not allowing those who need refuge to come. The Trump administration also created a travel ban that has been dubbed as the “Muslim Ban” that has stopped allowing people from certain countries to come to America. This ban has actually affected my family’s life.

I have a cousin in San Diego who has a two-year-old baby while battling multiple health conditions that prevent her from doing much. One of the health conditions that she has is Multiple Sclerosis which causes her to shake uncontrollably at times, have some hearing problems, cognitive delays, intense stomach pain, and weakness. Before the baby was born she went through multiple complications because of her many health problems. She recently got married and wanted to create a family here in America and to have her child live the American dream. When she gave birth, she was hoping to have her mother come to America with her visa to help her care for her child. However due to the ban her mother cannot come anymore.

I remember the day that my cousin’s family came to America for the first time in probably twenty years. My cousin was not pregnant, but she had just finally settled in San Diego with her husband. Everyone was so happy to be together again. My Grandma cried as she was able to see her sister again after decades and everyone else cried because they were able to see all our faces for the first time. I also remember the day they had to leave. That day was a hard sight to see. You could not look at the family saying their goodbyes without shedding a couple tears. They all knew this was the last time that they were going to be able to see each other for a long time due to the Muslim ban that was just passed during their short stay. The plan originally was to have them stay here during their visa and to apply for a green card. So, that my cousin could get the help she needed as she has been planning for the baby for a while.

Someone else that was affected by the Muslim ban was a four-month-old baby from Iran. Around the same time that my cousin’s parents were leaving we were hearing this story about a baby not able to come into America for a lifesaving surgery. The baby “was a 4-month-old infant from Iran in “immediate need” of open-heart surgery” as she had “two holes in her heart, and she would die unless she received treatment that Iranian hospitals were not equipped to provide” (Wang). Trumps Muslim ban prevented a newborn baby who needed surgery from coming in because of where she was born. Trump’s executive order revoked the visas from Fatemeh’s parents because he wanted “to screen out ‘radical Islamic terrorists”’ (Wang). A baby who needs open heart surgery is not a “radical Islamic terrorist”. By signing this executive order Trump shows the rest of the world that America represents racism. America no longer becomes the land that will help those who need it most.

One might think that it is okay that President Trump banned seven countries from coming into America. That this is temporary and that it will pass once it is safe. Just like he said he is banning “radical Islamic terrorists” from coming into our country. But when you look at the seven countries that were banned they never committed any terrorism against America in decades. Of “the seven countries singled out by Trump [they] have killed zero people in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1975 and 2015” (Friedman). So where is the threat that President Trump was claiming? Trump has been making allies with Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, since he has been president. I remember the pictures of him meeting Saudi Arabian diplomats pretty vividly due to my confusion. The reason why I was so confused was because this meeting was close to the time that Trump signed the executive order for the Muslim Ban. Strangely enough the terrorists from “9/11” were “from Saudi Arabi, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon” (Friedman). The September 11th terrorist attack was extremely influential on how Americans view Muslims. Many in America used them as a scapegoat for years after the attack. With Trump banning primarily Muslim countries he is creating an increase in hate. But none of the countries that had committed what Trump was saying he was trying to avoid were banned. I am not saying that we should be banning the other Muslim countries because they had terrorist ties. Really, I am noting on the hypocrisy of banning specific countries and saying it is because of terrorism when none of those countries has shed U.S. blood in decades.

The Unites States has had a history of banning and excluding people. Before the Muslim Ban there was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. “The first law that prohibited the entry of immigrants on the basis of nationality” in the United States of America (Takaki, pg. 14). This law was the first of many that excluded a race from coming into America. During this time the Chinese were coming into America to help work on the railroads (Takaki, pg. 14). They mostly came into the West Coast as it was easier access from China. But they were newcomers to a new country that has mostly seen European Immigrants and Native Americans. They were considered ‘“strangers’ coming from a ‘different shore,’ they were stereotyped as ‘heathen’ and unassimilable” (Takaki, pg. 14). Being a new group in America automatically classified you as an outsider and savage. The reason why the Act was even put through was because white people believed that the Chinese workers were the reason for their unemployment and taking all their jobs. This wasn’t true the only reason why Chinese workers were getting jobs was because employers were able to exploit them without any consequences. Irish Immigrants were also met with racism, but they were able to quickly change that because of the naturalization laws in America (Takaki, pg.14). The naturalization laws in America allowed white immigrants to easily become citizens giving the Irish an upper hand in assimilating into American land.

After the Chinese exclusion Act was finally repealed from American law after World War Two. During World War Two the United States put Japanese Americans into concentration camps because they deemed them to be a threat. The government put “a hundred twenty thousand Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them citizens by birth” into confinement (Takaki, pg. 14). They had put any Japanese they could find and took them from their homes after Pearl Harbor. None of them probably had any ties to Japan once they left and some of them were just babies. Once survivor of the horrible captivity that the Japanese had to endure said ‘“How could I as a six-month-old child born in this country... be declared by my own Government to be an enemy alien?”’(Takaki, pg. 15). Many who were put in those containment camps were born here making them have no ties to Japan and instead to America. America betrayed many citizens that day. But those who also immigrated most likely had no ties to Japan either. Based on my experiences with immigrants and coming from an immigrant family. When you leave your home country there is a reason and that reason usually means that you are cutting ties with your home.

As Asian-Americans started to become respected among the white population after World War Two. Because Asian-Americans were becoming successful in society their success started to become used as a “racial wedge” (Chow). This caused many to belittle what black Americans had to go through to even be considered human. Putting this wedge between Asian Americans and Black Americans took away the ability for unity to be possible. Solidarity could not be achieved between the two because the white majority made the Asian Americans become the Model Minority. Making it so that everyone completely disregards “the segregation, police brutality and discrimination that African-Americans have endured” (Chow). In all the white majority was treating the Asian Americans with respect and unity that the Asian Americans could not find solidarity with the black Americans. Black Americans were pushed back farther by this wedge that was created.

However, this respect has started to run thin nowadays. Because of the Coronavirus and its alleged origin many have started to go against Asian Americans. This month many Asian Americans have been either murdered or hurt because of who they are. I have friends who are right now fearing for their lives whenever they go into the city. Chinese Americans started to see the racism start in the beginning of the pandemic when terminology like the “China virus” were being said by even the President of the United States (Wu). Because of the fear that people were having due to a pandemic the Asian-American community became a scapegoat for the virus. Scapegoating has been a part of Americans history for many years, maybe even since the beginning. Hate crimes usually come alongside the racism that is brought with the scapegoating of a minority group. Another example in American history where white Americans used to scapegoat out of fear was during the Great Depression. During the Great Depression Mexican workers “became economic scapegoats and characterized as immigrants who were taking jobs away from native-born Americans” (Wu). Scapegoating occurs when there is a common threat that is causing fear and anxiety. In this case during the Great Depression people were unemployed and starving. They saw Mexican workers as the perfect scapegoat for their distresses. Racist notions were even created during this time. “A medical myth that portrayed Mexican workers as more susceptible to diseases like tuberculosis” actually let to many believing that they would “burden the nation’s healthcare system” (Wu). This is a myth but many believed it and internalize this racism towards Mexican workers.

Donald Trump in many ways has shown every single scapegoat moment in history throughout his campaign. For example, his desire to build a wall around Mexico. Also, the Muslim Ban. Muslims have been a scapegoat ever since 9/11. Islamophobia was even introduced after 9/11 in full force, which means to have “a hatred of anything related to Islam and Muslims” (Martin). I was born a year before 9/11 and saw Islamophobia throughout my whole life. When I was in middle school the word terrorist would be brought up multiple times because I was Middle Eastern. Even during high school when Donald Trump’s Campaign was going on, and I was having heated discussions with my peers they would also call me a terrorist as well. Islamophobia has caused racism against Middle Eastern people even though many of them aren’t Muslim. Islam is still a religion of peace and in some ways promotes equality in more ways than Christianity. But people like Osama Bin Laden and Ahmadinejad radicalize the religion towards their own benefit creating a world of hatred.

There are many obstacles in fighting this hatred that has been created in our society. There are people who will not do anything about racism or laws that pass like the Muslim Ban because it does not affect them directly. The Muslim ban might not directly affect everyone, but its existence makes it so that any government believes that they can ban any race or religion based on their own biases. One might not be affected today but tomorrow is never promised. Allowing these racist laws to pass can and do affect everyone.

As humans we like to live comfortably and for us to do so we like to create bubbles. Bubbles contain our livelihood and all we know. When the bubble is popped, we become afraid. We either embrace and learn from the outside or cower away and create another bubble. Just like the Allegory of the Cave from Socrates but we have created our own caves and choose to stay. For many their bubbles are popped involuntarily and others willingly go outside of their bubble. I would say that my bubble was popped involuntarily. Being called a terrorist and trying to be their for my cousin with many health conditions as she tries to care for a newborn all popped my bubble. I am glad my bubble popped as I can now try to help others see the errors of our society.

As a country the United States of America has gone through many obstacles and has pitted many people against each other. The rhetoric that our nation has been using within the Trump administration in terms of minorities has led to more division as well. Islamophobia and xenophobia has all been utilized and even weaponized by the administration. But the administration is not the only one to use racism. Our country is new but has been built by racism. Black slaves created this country and yet the white majority has put a wedge between them and other minority groups. The only way for any of this to be fixed. For racism to be wrong again would be to commit to solidarity.

Division has become apparent in the United States and that division has installed fear and racism into the hearts of the people. But if as a country we begin to unite as a whole. Maybe we can get things done in this country. We could probably even get free health care or get rid of any corruption from the upper class. Essentially the effects of solidarity are endless. Solidarity can help us as a country get back on our feet after a worldwide pandemic. We need to erase any wedges of division between every group and fight for the progress of our country. There is no need for a Muslim Ban or for any ban on any country. As the words on the Statue of Liberty says “’Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"’(Lazarus). If we as a country take these words and utilize it into our everyday lives, we would create a world with no need for fear.

Works Cited

Chow, Kat. “'Model Minority' Myth Again Used As A Racial Wedge Between Asians And Blacks.” NPR, NPR, 19 Apr. 2017.

Friedman, Uri. “Where America's Terrorists Actually Come From.” The Atlantic.

Lazarus, Emma. “The New Colossus.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 14 Aug. 2019.

Martin, Michel. “Muslims Are Just The Latest In History Of Scapegoats.” NPR, NPR, 5 June 2016.

Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror. Little, Brown and Company, 1993.

Wang, Amy B. “'She Is Not a Terrorist': Iranian Baby Caught in Travel Ban Is Granted Entry for Heart Surgery.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 Apr. 2019.

Wu, Tara. “The Long History of Blaming Immigrants in Times of Sickness.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 19 Oct. 2020.