Trump isn’t showing us anything new. His plan to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is 100% the same white supremacist spirit and energy that Native people have seen before. At one time it was called “Removal.” Later, it was called “Manifest Destiny.” In yet another generation, it was called “Assimilation.” It’s also been called “Termination,” “Dawes Allotment,” “Boarding Schools,” and many, many other insidious, sneaky names. But it’s always the same effect: remove brown-skinned Indigenous people from sight. Relegate them to being fearful that they will be picked off and force them into hiding. That was the case when the Eastern Tribes desperately and brilliantly hid in caves, mountains and swamps to avoid being pushed toward Indian Territory. Those resourceful Native knew that if they were caught, they would be deported to a place that they had never seen before, that was not where they grew up. That same evil spirit happened again when the white missionaries and then government officials came to kidnap Native children from their homelands. They would be deported to a place that was dedicated to killing the Indian and saving the man. Those people wanted to wipe the Indigenous stain off of the land and make it more appropriate for the encroaching white people. Different fact patterns, different times, but the same spirit. The same energy. Forceful removal. Racially profile brown-skinned, Indigenous people and push them someplace else. Out of sight.Read More on the Story:
An Indigenous Perspective on Trump’s Cowardly Move to Phase Out DACA: Termination is Back (The Huffington Post September 7, 2017)
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