If The First Chants Had Taken Hold...

Hi!


"Go back to where you came from."



I wonder what the world would look like if that actually happened.


What North America would look like if it had happened 100 years ago, 150 years ago, 200, 300 years ago...

I wonder what it would have looked like if those who heard it first, listened to those who spewed it first.

If we, the habitual colonizers, would have gone back to whence we came at the first protests of those who were here first.

If none of our Grandparents, Great Grandparents, or Great-Great Grandparents had stuck it out at the first choruses of "Go back to where you came from."

If the first chants had taken hold.

If it had worked, North America, most likely would have experienced a very different, much more peaceful history, one created by a people whose traditions were and are rooted in nature, acceptance, and respect of all living things.

Even if it hadn't worked then, but later, say during the famine in Ireland, the wars and corruption in Italy, the unrest in countless other parts of the world, even then, what would New York look like? What would Saskatchewan look like? What would any of it look like without the ingenuity, the skillset, the work ethic, the sheer desire for a better life that comes from those who leave behind everything they have and everything they have ever known for an unfamiliar land filled with hope.

"Go back to where you came from."

A phrase of fear wrapped in hatred, put forth by those who like to spit poison at anything and anyone who they perceive, no matter how delusional, as a threat to their privilege.

A privilege dictated, molded and nurtured by the darkest parts of history. The history, as humankind, we, in the moment, swear to learn from and never repeat. Yet, here we are.


We watch as a figure of power stands before a crowd that blindly follows him. A crowd that ferociously inhales every lie they are being fed, looking to blame the "they" for everything that is wrong in their lives. If only "they" weren't here, hadn't come, would quit coming...

To pretend it isn't racist is ludicrous.

To pretend it doesn't look horrifically familiar is idiotic.

To pretend it isn't dangerous is naive.

To pretend it isn't contagious is just plain stupid.


"Go back to where you came from."


I can't think of a more hurtful phrase, its sole purpose to make the recipient feel less than, like they somehow, don't belong.


Privilege isn't something that is earned, it's simply a notion that was birthed by bigots, was nurtured by nazis, is fostered through fear, and harvested by hatred.


Fact-check what you are being fed. Poison has a way of sneaking up on you, getting under your skin, eventually changing who you are, warping how you see the world, creating imaginary enemies. How else do you explain innocent brown babies in cages?

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May the chants of hatred cease, for the hurtful choruses echo painfully in your grandparents' ears.
May the poisonous barbs be laid to rest, they have no value, deceptive hate-dipped fears.

May you come to understand the strength found in diversity, for every culture has something to teach.
May you come to understand the power of acceptance, the importance of the freedom of speech.

May you strip the blinders and allow yourself to see what is, believe your ears, believe your eyes.
May you strip the blinders, see the cages, feel the metal, hear the hate, hear the cries.


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