(ThyBlackMan.com) Protecting the border to keep “the illegals” out because they will—there’s a number of reasons that the right lists—bring ruin to the fabric of the United States of America. Let’s just file it under that. The belief is that they will gobble up resources and compromise American Values ™ by not dropping their culture and assimilating, to name a few. The reason that just slaps for me is the Criminal Element ™.
The Criminal Element
Crime is definitely an issue to be concerned about. It can escalate into domestic terrorism or support domestic terrorism if unchecked. See, it’s believed that immigrants will bring a criminal element—especially undocumented immigrants. I mean, the act of coming into the country without going through the proper, legal channels is a criminal act itself.
One of things that rub me the wrong way about this is the messenger. I don’t just mean the President but the Republican Party itself. It smacks of “We have enough Black and brown people in America, we don’t need extra who weren’t born here.” Yes, there are Black and brown people in the party but it’s a particular brand of white and male.
You know, that one-two combo that ran roughshod over the globe for centuries wrecking shop from Africa to China to South America to North America—even among themselves. Themselves. Burning each other because they believed them to be witches.
Being so insufferable that a number of them ran away from home, to settle elsewhere in place that was occupied by another group of people. Proceeded to almost die because they didn’t know how to cultivate the land and were helped by the original inhabitants. Then the twist is when they began doing the same thing that drove them from their abusive parents: become oppressive to “lesser” group.
Full circle. Basic history…if you don’t subscribe to the “F*** yeah, America!” version of history many of us were taught in primary education.
This Isn’t New At All
Let’s get back to the Criminal Element ™. Crime isn’t new to America. Territories and colonies established have a war crime and crime against humanity flavor to them. Oppression has always been there, it just changed up its look with the times and oppression breeds crime. Poor people will always find a way—legal or illegal—to make ends meet.
Beyond that, seeing that the daily grind didn’t pay off to where they could live and enjoy life, crime became a venue to achieve that. Highwaymen hit up trade caravans, pirates hung around trade routes, the oldest profession in prostitution made its way to America, and no-frills murder was utilized to achieve a better life.
It wasn’t an honest living at all but for some, walking the straight and narrow didn’t cut it. There was no rub to working one’s self to death besides more work and a sense that hard work was to warm the cockles of your heart.
Oppression Breeds Crime
With WASPs at the top of the pecking order, anyone who wasn’t that were tread on. While the forefathers said that all men have unalienable rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness—because some truly believed it—it ran on life and the pursuit of power and property. I mean, because “all men are created equal” was written with a straight face. It sounds good out loud and reads well in text.
Oppression takes on another look. Racism and poverty breed crime. The Irish and Italians were discriminated in America by other whites and organizations were formed to look out for their own. While viewed as organized crime, they typically policed their own neighborhoods to keep police from coming in and cracking heads or disturbing everything.
Of course, the pursuit of power and property corrupts. Different families, outfits, etc. began beefing with each other. Criminals kill criminals, the neighborhood is concerned, cops come in to regulate now there’s issues all around. This was also the case with Black outfits in Harlem.
It would also become an issue many, many years later down the line with street gangs of the 1960s and 1970s that had similar origins as these groups only to become the target of campaigns after heroin and crack were introduced into the Black community and became big money.
America Isn’t A Special Case
Most countries have their issues with the Criminal Element ™ at home. The yakuza in Japan, the triad is China, the Bratva in Russia and Ukraine, posses in Jamaica, yardies elsewhere, cartels in south of the U.S. border, and firms in the UK to name a few.
It’s expected that some of these groups would have some kind of footing in other countries and several have footing in the U.S. While that is definitely reason to concerned and the right might feel safe and secure with a wall on the southern border, we have issues here and policies that continue to keep people underfoot and turning to crime will look like lucrative to some.
Especially those who are raised in an American nightmare but take a different, frowned upon route to the American dream. Frowned upon routes such as sneaking into the country at the minimum. Because unless, that wall is going to come with guards with shoot on sight orders and miles of obstacles to stop or discourage people from entering the country illegally, folks are going to get in from that border: wall or no wall.
Yes, some degree of a Criminal Element ™ will come with them. But while the right is worried about a foreign threat, that same energy should be focused towards tackling issues that continue breed domestic threats and not just street gangs but domestic terrorist groups.
Of course, that mean looking at leadership in America and realizing that a particular portion of domestic terrorist groups are emboldened by the actions and words of certain leaders. The same as it ever was, actually.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.