Sometimes, history rhymes: Fort Sill
Something I often like to say is that history doesn’t repeat itself. But sometimes it rhymes. The last few days have been a reminder of that lesson. News recently broke that the Federal government will be detaining migrant children at Fort Sill. These children, fleeing war, poverty, and violence (much of which the U.S. had a hand in causing) will be held at this army base indefinitely.
The onslaught of news of inhumane and cruel dealings of this administration can make a person go numb. There’s so much going on, how could one person possibly manage to keep up with it all? After all, the inhumane treatment of migrant children is becoming systemic, and this is just the most recent incident.
Fort Sill has a long history of containing undesired populations. First, it was built in 1869 for the purpose of fighting Native Americans. Then, it was the site where Geronimo and almost 400 other Apache were imprisoned. It wasn’t until 1914 that they and their children were released. Next it was a prison for Japanese Americans during WWII. There was no reasonable suspicion that they had committed any crimes or that they were allied with Japan in the war. Rather fear and racism combined to create the circumstances where an undesired population could be contained and separated from society. They were forced to leave their homes, their pets, their jobs, their family, and friends to live in a tent prison.
And now the site is being used to hold migrant children.
What this particular incident reminds us is that no matter how difficult it is, however exhausting the news is, we cannot allow abuses to go unchecked.We cannot allow the government to think that they can oppress thousands of people without any repercussions.
White Americans did not bat an eye when Apache were imprisoned at Fort Sill. Few were troubled that Japanese Americans were forced from their homes to live in tents. In fact, many celebrated. And because of this, it has become acceptable to continue using this site, along with many others, to imprison populations that the government deems undesirable.
Please. please. Tell your representatives that you see what’s happening. Tell them that you condemn this history of imprisonment. Make sure they know that this will not fly under the radar or die down within a news cycle or two. Make sure that they know that there are political consequences for their actions. And then vote them out.
