Historical Context of Migration
- Columbus and Colonial Legacy
- Columbus’s 1492 arrival in the Bahamas marked the beginning of human migration driven by survival, hope, and dignity. Colonial ideology frames Columbus’s landing as a historic necessity, a great leap for civilization ignoring brutal reality.
- But Columbus invaded, not discovered America; arrival heralded genocide, not the discovery of indigenous populations.
- Destruction of Indigenous Civilisations
- Arawaks, generous, peace-loving people first encountered, denied peaceful existence by European colonization violently.
- Iroquois Confederacy developed sophisticated democratic system inspiring elements of US Constitution though often denied.
- Indigenous societies had libraries, roads, astronomy; were not “primitive” awaiting rescue from Europeans.
- Destruction occurred in name of gold and god erasing vibrant civilizations systematically across Americas.
- Settler Colonialism and Oppression
- European colonization in Americas, Africa involved conquest, expansion, domination through forceful displacement of natives.
- Settler colonial projects thrived through systematic downgrading of native populations perpetuating racial disparity, injustice.
- US forged through expurgation of native peoples and abuse of enslaved labor contradicting refugee ideals.
- Powerful nations deny entry to migrants obscuring complicity in creating conditions forcing people to flee.
Modern Immigration Politics
- Historical Amnesia and Narrative Distortion
- “Geronimo” code word in the 2011 Bin Laden mission highlighted the US military’s historical amnesia about Apache leader. Geronimo was a warrior resisting Mexican, US forces preserving Apache sovereignty; labeling him terrorist overlooks struggle nuances.
- Columbus myth is ideological blueprint for colonial expansion, white supremacy, racial capitalism legitimizing pillaging, enslavement.
- 21st Century Xenophobia
- Trump presidency: zenith of xenophobic fervor pathologizing immigration as existential threat to American identity.
- Border wall, family separations, Muslim bans are ideological manifestos codifying cruelty and exclusion systematically.
- Exclusionary nationalism designates immigrants as economic burden, cultural contagion, national security risk unjustly.
- Moral paradox: nations founded on violent migration/colonization erecting barriers against refugees seeking safety today.
Way Forward
- Future immigration policy requires confronting darkest chapters of past and brutal realities of present.
- Need to excavate buried subtexts of empire, capitalism, racial domination shaping mobility and migration patterns.
- Right to seek safety, move across borders is fundamental human aspiration requiring recognition and protection.
- Historical reckoning and commitment to human dignity essential for justice, accountability preventing past wrongs replication.