Have We Americans Always Been This Cruel?

Image by HANSUAN FABREGAS from Pixabay

But even as I write this, I am reminded that violence and hatred of “others” is part of our country’s history.

State officials in Missouri and Mississippi recently introduced legislation to provide $1,000 to state bounty hunters who assist in the detainment of an undocumented immigrant.  That’s $1,000 per person detained.  Thankfully, the Mississippi legislation has been axed and the Missouri one seems to be on life support.  But just the fact that they were introduced should be concerning enough.

In 2021 the state of Texas passed legislation – which has been upheld by the courts – allowing private citizens to sue anyone who "aids or abets" an abortion  for at least $10,000 in damages.

I find the idea of enticing citizens to turn in their neighbors for a bounty to be morally abhorrent.  I guess that in the minds of these folks, not everyone is equal or equally loved.

When did we become so cruel?  When did we become so frightened by those who don’t look like us that we are willing to hunt them down and kick them out of our community?

But even as I write this, I am reminded that violence and hatred of “others” is part of our country’s history.
We committed genocide against the indigenous people so we could steal the land from them. 

We supported the institution of slavery for hundreds of years.

We supported “Jim Crow” laws to thwart bringing people of color into the mainstream of society after slavery ended.
 
We lynched nearly 4,000 black men and women for a variety of – often – made up violations and we made those lynchings a public spectacle where families brought their children and picnic baskets to watch.

We treated women as property and didn’t allow them to vote, to own property, or to have their own bank account or credit card. 

We interned 120,000 American citizens in camps during WW II because they “looked” like our enemy, the Japanese. 
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Let’s not forget the “Red Scare” of the 1950s when fear and paranoia were widespread and anyone suspected of being a Communist sympathizer was ostracized; where hundreds of Hollywood figures were black listed and nearly 1,500 federal employees (many from the LGBTQ community) were forced out after being accused of being a Communist.

During the Civil Rights era, we tried to put down the march towards freedom and integration using dogs, fire hoses, violence, and murder.

It was Ann Frank who wrote in her diary

“I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”

Ann was right you know, peace and tranquility did briefly return for many.  But it did not return until after Frank and six millions Jews were murdered and up to 85 million people were killed in WW II of which more than half were civilians. 
The evidence may be damning but it is clear.  As a people, we have a propensity for violence, especially towards those whom we see as “other.”  Given that, we should not be surprised over the current efforts to round up and deport millions of immigrant families.

That doesn’t mean we should stop our resistance to these efforts.  It also doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of people of good will and strong values who honor the dignity and worth of others.  It just means we must recognize that we have been at war with each other since the beginning of the American experiment. Sometimes peace and good will reigns but other times violence and animosity win out.

Today, with violence and animosity on the upswing I find myself wishing that the arc of the moral universe was a bit shorter, so that the mayhem being wrought upon us might soon end. Until that long prayed for moment arrives, I believe we are called to offer our hand to help those who are sinking under the waves of these distressing times.