In Defense Of Barring Immigrants And Refugees

Alexandre Bissonnette

In a strange twist of logic, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer referred last Monday to a white supremacist's killing of Muslims at prayer in a Montreal mosque as a "terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant. And why the president is taking steps to be proactive, not reactive." 

Never mind the fact that the killer was not only not from a Muslim country, but was a caucasian university student who was an admirer of President. 

In spite of that irony, Spicer went on to explain, "As I said in the statement, the president is going to be very proactive in protecting this country. ... That's the key point in this — how do we get ahead of threats? How do we keep America ahead of the curve, when it comes to people who want to do us harm?"

How indeed, when most acts of terror in our nation have been by US citizens (of a variety of colors) rather than by foreign agents?

In a similarly outrageous development, columnist Patrick Buchanan recently wrote:

"In 1960, we were a Western Christian country. Ninety percent of our people traced their roots to Europe. Ninety percent bore some connection to the Christian faith. To the tens of millions for whom Trump appeals, what the wall represents is our last chance to preserve that nation and people."

It's hard to read this as anything but saying that brown and black people don't really belong here, in spite of the fact that non-white native Americans were here before we were, and that many people entering this country from south of us also represent a European (Spanish) culture, and are often a part of Christian churches that are among the most vital in our nation. 

As to other people of color, most African Americans are here because of forced subjection and slavery. And Buchanan ignores the fact that the early '60's were a time of Jim Crow racism and the denial of the most basic of civil rights for the large group of African Americans he fails to even reference in his piece. 

So how can going back to the sixties make us great again? By becoming predominantly white again? By having American "Christians" discriminate against people from other continents as having lesser value? 

I don't think so.