I read once that Americans have a bad habit of whitewashing the past to criticize the present. The writer’s alternative was to recognize that the present could be bad without comparing it to a fictional “better” past. I’ll write about that more later.
The way the present administration is treating immigrants is abominable. The previous administration wasn’t great either. The one before that was bad too.
It’s gotten progressively worse, but two things can be true:
- American governments have a centuries-long pattern of treating immigrants terribly.
- The current government is being especially heinous.
I made the comic below to express those two truths simultaneously. Like Clockface, I don’t feel entirely successful.
