Screaming, Crying, and the confused fearful chatter of distraught children separated from their parents has been played more than once for the American public in the past few weeks.

Why? You ask. Because as the title says, America hasn’t changed. We are built on a history of bloody painful oppression, ranging from our treatment of Native Americans to Slavery to beyond. We preach freedom on the grounds of depriving others of their freedom.

The “land of freedom” separated thousands of migrant children from their parents at the border under the Trump Administration’s zero tolerance policy.

All across the nation protests have risen with some even resorting to attempting to physically stop the buses carrying migrant children to detention centers.

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Children should never be associated with detention centers. By separating children from their parents there is more at risk than just American morality. At risk lies the psychological health of these children.

The years of one’s childhood is imperative to development. These children face the risk of years and years of psychological damage. Even if they could be reunited with their parents, this can’t be fixed.

Trump recently signed an executive order reversing this zero tolerance policy. The Trump Administration has released their plans of reunification.  According to CNN, there are currently 2,053 children in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. But can the damage done to these families ever be solved.

These children are sleeping in cages. They are being imprisoned in makeshift prisons that are former Walmarts. They have limited interaction with the outside world. They are being allegedly abused (sexually, physically, and mentally). Worst of all they are without their parents.

This damage isn’t even new. We have been separating families since the birth of America. We cannot forget the damage we’ve done to Native Americans. Unfortunately this damage is ongoing. The cases and lives of Native Americans are not taken as seriously as any other American.

In an effort to force Native Americans to assimilate, we took their children away from them. We forced these children into schools where they were taught “American values.” We took their culture away from them because they weren’t “white enough.” We went out of our way to attempt to completely annihilate them.

But it continues. Have we forgotten slavery? It wasn’t as long as go as some may think. The wounds and pain of slavery still negatively impact the lives of Black Americans today.

We took children away from their families to sell them as slaves to wealthy White families. One can recall the scene from 12 Years A Slave depicting the moment a young girl was stolen from her mother and the aftermath thereof.

You say “this isn’t the America I know” because maybe you don’t know America. Maybe you never knew America. The America that has always been around was built on a history of oppression and continues to thrive on oppression.

This cannot continue but when will all of the pain and destruction truly stop in exchange for an actual society of equity?

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