June 25th Connections

Opinion by Joe J Thomas

A great many things happened on this day in history, but these stood out to me:

1798: US passes Alien Act allowing president to deport dangerous aliens
1867: 1st barbed wire patented by Lucien B Smith of Ohio
1943: Crematorium 3 at Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp is finished
1947: 1st version of Anne Frank’s diary “Het Achterhuis” published in The Netherlands

Coincidences? Almost certainly. But we humans assign meaning to many things, coincidental or not.

220 years ago, the USA was worried about “dangerous aliens”.

Now, we worry about “murderers and rapists” crossing our borders.

And want to enact bans against people based on their religion.

Over 150 years after the invention of barbed wire, we’re still locking men, women and children in cages.

Knowingly separating families.

75 years after Crematorium 3 at Auschwitz was finished, innocent men and women are still being killed in the streets.

And teachers and students fear for their lives in our schools.

Over 70 years after the Diary of Anne Frank was published, we still base our policies on a fear of “The Other”.

Anyone who doesn’t look like us, dress like us, speak like we do, or believe the same as us.

America can be “Great” again… But not if we stay on the the path we’re on.

And tolerate these evils… Or worse – support them.

Here’s one final event from 45 years ago that may give us some hope:

45 … History is calling.