Columnist Anna Ayers discusses past refugee bans in the U.S. that were later viewed as unjustified discrimination.
Some things are written out of the history books. In social studies and history classes throughout grade school, the most common thread is one of nationalism. But at what cost? Are we missing out on lessons that could be so vital to our lives currently? What if the past had the power to show us all we needed to know about the present, and it's at the flip of an honest page — so much closer than “they” would want it to be.
In 1939, the U.S. Congress rejected the Wagner-Rogers Bill, not a particularly uncommon act by any congress. However, what made this particular bill so impactful is the power to save it possessed. The Wagner-Rogers Bill would have saved 20,000 children from the truly evil hands of Adolf Hitler. These children were German-born Jews, and thus, the bill’s opponents cried “America first” and children’s fate was sealed.
Many of the Japanese refugees who came to American in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — many of whom had children in the United States who became citizens of this country — were fleeing an economic depression and the oppressive rule of an ultra-nationalist regime. In 1942, as the blood in the waters of Pearl Harbor still lingered, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans. This act is still apologized for to this day, and rightly so.
Hindsight has shown just how wrong it was to discriminate against a group of people who had a single unfortunate connection to our enemy. In our nation’s collective anger and outcries for justice, the decision made was not the right one. It would be unfortunate to look back and say that, as Americans, our response to the atrocities in Paris and around the world was to punish the innocent and not grant them safe haven.
Terrorists carried out the acts in Paris and Beruit. Terrorists are torturing and decimating the culture and life of Iraq and Syria. Terrorists, who deserve no place to call home on this earth, have no place in this country or any other. Let’s not forget who the enemy is.
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Letting Syrians, or any other refugees fleeing from the likes of terrorists like ISIS, take refuge in the United States is not a political decision; it is a moral decision with so much historic weight that 100 years from now our descendants will look back through one of two lenses at our choice. I want them to look back and be proud of where they came from, because after all we all came from somewhere — we are all immigrants. Dig deep and perhaps you’ll find out that your family was welcomed at one time or another.
Anna Ayers is a freshman studying journalism and finance. Do you think the U.S. should grant asylum to Syrian refugees? Email her at aa183414@ohio.edu.
