Case Study of Separation
I know I posted on this recently, but with Trump back in power and his mass deportations threatening to move ahead, I wanted to ‘kick him in the teeth’ so to speak with a more extensive look into the horrors of child separation. Because you have to know it’s going to happen again. Worse, and definitely not just to children. While he is going on and on about invading Canada, Greenland, and Panama, he sure is batsh*t insane but with all those sycophants follow his every word like gospel no matter what… you can’t trust anything. I tend to expect the worst in this area, not great for mental health, but at least I know, to an extent, what I have to fight against.
History is constantly being repeated, and an act of harm that has long been considered evil is the separation of children from their families. In historic contexts, the taking of children has been a weapon of colonization, fear mongering, and thus holding power over another group of people. When children can be taken early enough from their families they can be raised in a “better environment” and it is believed that they would grow up ashamed of their families’ cultural heritage and adopt the new, spurring the kidnappers ideals and culture forward into the future. While it is not immediately obvious that this is continuing at the Mexican-American border today, the underlying racism and cruelty is still apparent to any person with a working heart who even looks towards that direction. Even the people of who are currently to blame for the effort are supporting the act and downplaying the evil behind it while placing the blame on the previous administration and were constantly lying about how and why it is happening at all. At least the Trump administration was until the next ‘big story’ broke, so they can push it all into the past. But why is this considered evil? Why shouldn’t we believe that this is what is good for children? These questions can be answered by the overall cultural subjugation of which has been recorded all across the world. And most specifically: how is the separation of children from their parents at the Mexican-American border a reflection of the ongoing colonization ideals of the American government?
Historic Context
Looking back at the historic accounts of colonization, whenever European countries attempted to gain land for themselves, i.e. the Americas, Africa, and Australia (to name a few) we can always see examples of the indigenous cultures oppression and the colonizers’ idea to take children away in order to indoctrinate them into the Europeans’ world. Of course, as the victors write history, much of colonization records had been refined to show only the best and most palatable aspects. As one of the earliest European examples, the Spanish conquest through South America was mostly just a blood bath, with the remaining survivors being pushed out of their land and the Spanish missionaries trying to ‘convince’ them and their children to ‘join’ the church, by whatever means necessary (Schneider & Panich, 2014). Starting in eastern North America, by the British colonists, the effects were not much different, and because, over generations, the colonists, and later, Americans believed they could and should expand ever westward they interacted with increasing numbers of Indigenous tribes. At first, after the government decided that that land would be theirs, the colonists would have just attempted to kill anyone standing in the way they also engaged in many other particular activities, which would later produce offspring. The movie Rabbit Proof Fence was a story based upon children from Australian Aboriginal groups who were all taken from their families by white Australians in order to raise them in the mission for a “better life” and the two main characters (a brother and sister) escape their prison and following the fence back to their home.
This trend continued into the growing slave trade and future immigration policies within the United States as well. In this case we have examples of high profile white American, for example, Thomas Jefferson, owning African people as slaves, having relations with more than one the women leading to them having children and continuing to make the parents’ work. Even if the owners had no prior involvement in the children’s’ lives they could still sell the parents or their children, never to see their families again, or, very rarely, educating them later (in the case of Fredrick Douglass) in the European world to possibly give them a chance at a life (Contreras, 2018). For the slave owners this familial separation was a powerful action for breaking the will of the children who were forced to continue to serve. Whatever path an “unattached” slave child’s life could take in the future, they were treated much more like chattel than children, showing them that they were supposedly less human than the white people who owned them (King, 2011: 30-32).
In World War II the United States did not go as far as Hitler and the Third Reich by putting people in concentration camps and gassing innocent people, but they did create internment camps, both in the US and Canada, to hold the Italian and Japanese people of whom were living in North America at the time (Contreras, 2018). Children who lived through this era would sometimes have lost their families in the shuffle of bureaucracy, however more of the time the children had been detained along with their parents (Contreras, 2018). Also, during this antagonistic time countries had children being placed into governmental propaganda positions; such as showing up working in films, “Little Timmy, helping with the war effort” by separating metal. Or being made to join children friendly groups such as the Hitler Youth in Germany, or the older (with values arguably less aggressive and hostile towards others), the ‘troops’ of Boy and Girl Scouts of America founded in 1910 and 1912 respectively. And while this practice is not directly linked to colonization per say it does demonstrate the wantedness of the impressionable youth in these cultures to learn the ‘correct way’ of being a citizen and to teach others to follow the same path. Today the Boy Scouts have a much more co-ed program and inclusive program while still holding onto the ideals of being brave, kind, trustworthy, loyal, helpful, etc., many things that are highly valued values in human cultures.
Even as recent as the 1990s, Canada and the USA continued to have boarding schools built and used as housing and education centers for the children of the Indigenous populations (Dawson, 2012). At the more than 150 schools within the US borders the children were forced to “Americanize” by cutting their hair, speaking only English, and adopting Christianity (Contreras, 2018). The children and others in minority groups were ‘lawfully’ taken to these schools or to orphanages in times when the families were ‘below the poverty line’, but were really being taken because they were people of color. While the book "In the Shadow Of the Poorhouse: A Social History Of Welfare In America" by Michael B. Katz was written between the 1920s and 30s, reasons of wealth and ‘welfare’ were and are continuously common reasons that this still happens today, perpetuating the idea that colonialism has not ended (Contreras, 2018, Dawson, 2012).
What is happening today at the border?
In today’s world, the once and current president ran on a campaign of banning immigrants (of color and/or another religion) from entering the country, kicking everyone who isn’t the same out, locking away anyone who doesn’t agree, and for “making America great again”. That entire premise is moving backwards towards the time of colonization, segregation, and ‘white-power’ (even more so than today when it still exists). Because of the fear surrounding the ‘other’, those who are different from ‘us’ Trump won even though many of the people who voted for may not have agreed with all of his stances, they just wanted to be ‘kept safe’ from, as Trump would put it, “bad hombres”. Yet, so many of the minorities who he constantly talks down and threatens still voted for him! When the threat of losing their livelihood seems like it presents itself to the people who don’t get heard by the government and the mainstream media, they latch onto whatever chance they see to have their say. In itself, having a leader talking directly to them is a comfort, even if their values are skewed and the leader is lying through his teeth.
Currently, more so in May through July than right now, we can observe a clear power dynamic. No matter where the children are from, what language they speak, or how old they are, they are being locked up behind rag-tag fencing. There are mainly two comparisons that this lock down has been applied alongside, a jail or an animal pen, either way, definitely a cage. In the media or the liberal/mainstream media, reporters are using language that correctly described what the situations were like and had the video and photographic evidence to validate their claims. On the more conservative stations, those which back the current administration were using language describing the abandoned warehouse set-ups as “essentially summer camps” (Ingraham in Berkowitz, 2018) or ‘tent cities’, and one reporter called the fencing like ‘chicken coops’, to make it sound much more harmless. Putting people in a chicken coop may not sound too bad, but in this case, the children aren’t humans anymore, they are animals. Another issue with the use of calming language is that it is the same thing that was happening with the Missionary boarding schools and orphanages, which I discussed in the previous section. People who are not aware of the use of language in these terms will not be able to comprehend the truth of what is occurring in these places. They may be provided blankets, but they are made from a foil-like material, the children may be given enough food in a day, but it’s highly processed. There is also the worry from pediatricians that locking the children away will cause ‘irreparable harm’, having the long-term effect of behavioral and medical problems because of the ‘toxic stress’ factors while the brain is still developing, especially those within the ‘tender-age’ range of 5 or less (Rose, 2018, Sacchetti, 2018). Recreating this treatment through multiple generations has been found in the effects of colonization, leading to the returning struggle for the next group of children, leaving the lucky children who did not and will not go through this in better positions to keep the power and without realizing continue the cycle.
Morality Issue?
Trump’s ideas of fairness and what is morally justified in this issue are dubious at best. While he and his underlings are being outright called on their immoral actions by cardinals and even the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church (Long, 2018). This is, supposedly, the basis of the religion that the current government follows, to an unlawful degree, of which they claim their beliefs are built and the law of which must be followed. After hearing the backlash from the leaders of the church, Attorney General Jeff Sessions took to quoting the bible “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13, to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order. Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful” (Sessions quote from Long 2018). And following up on Sessions’ remarks, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters that she hadn’t seen his quotes, “it is very biblical to enforce the law. That is actually repeated a number of times throughout the Bible. It’s a moral policy to follow and enforce the law” (Sanders quote from Long 2018). One major point here is the supposed separation of church and state, by the first amendment of the United States Constitution, which was ratified in 1791, states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (U.S. Const. am.1). This thereby implies that laws should neither emphasize a particular religion, nor the beliefs that it follows because religion can take many forms, and none should have a strong influence in governmental processes.
Even when this can mainly be seen as a morality issue, it sounds as if it is more important to the highest members of the Trump administration to hold on to the power they have and the choices they’ve made based on the ‘laws’ that have been rewritten and reinterpreted over the past 2000 years. These are the same umbrella religions of people who led the Crusades, headed the Spanish Inquisition, hosted many of the witch trials, and expanded around the world in colonization feats which have been previously discussed. While I could not ever concede that all Catholics are evil, that’s ridiculous, the reason of ‘law’ for doing some actions has led to things of an ‘evil’ nature. If going by the Bible, the ‘Golden Rule’ (as it’s known) is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, and I severely doubt as to if the people supporting the separation of these colored and immigrant families would allow their children to be taken away if the roles were reversed.
Even the current governmental leaders are wholly aware that what they are putting these children through is wrong and, therefore, lay blame on the former administration, run by their enemies, the Democrats. Though there is no such law forcing separation, rather than separating families during previous presidential administrations, the whole family was turned away or detained, but the zero-tolerance policies simply did not exist (Timm, 2018). Chipping away at the validity of officials laying blame onto others, in addition to the language that they used in describing the ‘camps’ themselves is the language used to describe the entire situation, showing the side they are actually on. Examining interviews that officials and conservative news organizations had given around the time when the majority of the information was coming to light, this would all be classified as a deterrent to keep people from “unlawfully crossing the border… and smuggling children with you” (Sessions in Domonoshe & Gonzales, 2018). The single word ‘deterrent’ is the qualifier, which Chief of Staff John Kelley used that makes this a warning and a message that by trying to take your child with you (something in which they have no control over) all parties involved will be punished to frighten other people into not doing the same thing. Along with the previous statement when signing the policy’s official executive order, “[i]t is also the policy of this Administration to maintain family unity, including by detaining alien families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available resources", but give the reasoning for the separation as, if litigation could show that retaining the unity of the family was harmful for the child (Domonoshe & Gonzales, 2018). As this seems to be the exception to the norm, rather than the norm itself based on the language used, it is shocking to know that the US detained some 4,000 minors.
Why is this evil (by what social processes)?
Psychological harm to the child is a large aspect as to why this practice, would be considered evil. The most suggested long-term claim with any type of firm backing is that “prolonged separation of a child from his mother (or mother substitute) during the first five years of his life stands foremost among the causes of delinquent character development and persistent misbehavior” (Bowbly in Rutter 1971: 233). Even though Bowbly revisited his statements later and discussed that it was fairer to state that children should be parted from their parents “only in exceptional circumstances” it is still clear that this separation can lead to difficulty later in a child’s life (Bowbly, 1958a & 1958b in Rutter 1971, 233-234). In studies, there appears a pattern between children, who had to cope with parent-child separations, and anti-social behaviors stemming from a measure of dissatisfaction with their home life environments (Rutter, 1971: 239-240). Rutter later argues that this does not work in general terms, because every family situation is entirely different to one another (1971: 245). And though discord and disharmony within families is part of antisocial behaviors and mental issues, this is still contradicted by the more recent studies of mental health disorders show that around 30% of adult issues are related to some sort of trauma or adversity during childhood (Green et al, 2011). Whether or not, these children are taken between the ages from birth to five or ranging to teenagers, the general notion is that support, especially at these developmental stages when ‘parenting’ and nurturing, from the child’s perceived family are of the utmost importance (Green et al, 2011).
This continuing action is tantamount to kidnapping, whether or not the people involved feel that this practice is the best thing for the subjects the children are illegally being taken away from their parents, and it should be seen as such. The current US judicial body was quoted as stating, “[T]he United States Supreme Court has said, ‘In our criminal justice system, the government retains 'broad discretion' as to whom to prosecute.’ To charge or not to charge someone ‘generally rests entirely’ on the prosecutor,” but there is no such law in place, therefore they have broken the laws (Rizzo, 2018). How is this different from a madman driving around in a van, snatching children from school? Especially after the government forces the parents to jail or back to their original country where circumstances can vary wildly, and can possibly never find them again (Rizzo, 2018, Domonoske & Gonzales, 2018). In our culture today there is a tacit agreement that harming children is one of the vilest things that a person can do, even in prisons child molesters are among the most hated inmates and are socially isolated from others (Van De Berg et al, 2017).
Connecting what the US government is doing to the evils of colonization is readily laid out for us; the justification of othering and demonizing and dehumanizing different minority groups of people out of fear and anger in the form of change. The historic patterns that continue to repeat themselves, the language of which is being used to make the actions sound less detrimental to the future, making the children less than human in these cages that they are placed into, and the reoccurring psychological effects and patterns that follow the colonization patterns, all appear in this study of this shameful time period in human history. Luckily, there are now people standing against the choices that the current governmental body is making. It is, however too late to undo the damage that has already been caused to the 4,000+ children that were taken from their parents, and, as of August 31st over 500 of them who had still not been reunited with their families (Sacchetti, 2018).
Work Cited
Berkowitz, Joe. “All the Ways Fox News Is Defending Trump's Child-Separation Policy.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 19 June 2018, www.fastcompany.com/40586942/all-the-ways-fox-news-is-defending-trumps-child-separation-policy.
Bowlby, J., Bowlby, R. (2005). The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds. London: Routledge.
Contreras, Russell. “Other Times in History When the U.S. Separated Families.” Chicagotribune.com, 21 June 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-family-separation-history-20180620-story.html.
Dawson, Alexander S. “Histories and Memories of the Indian Boarding Schools in Mexico, Canada, and the United States.” Latin American Perspectives, vol. 39, no. 5, 2012, pp. 80–99. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41702285.
Domonoske, Camila, and Richard Gonzales. “What We Know: Family Separation And 'Zero Tolerance' At The Border.” NPR, NPR, 19 June 2018, www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621065383/what-we-know-family-separation-and-zero-tolerance-at-the-border.
Green, J G, et al. “Childhood Adversities and Adult Psychiatric Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication I: Associations with First Onset of DSM-IV Disorders.” Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2010, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20124111.
KING, WILMA. “‘You Know I Am One Man That Do Love My Children’: SLAVE CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN THE FAMILY AND COMMUNITY.” Stolen Childhood, Second Edition: Slave Youth in Nineteenth-Century America, 2nd ed., Indiana University Press, 2011, pp. 30–70. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16gzk3n.8.
Long, Colleen. “Sessions Cites Bible to Defend Separating Immigrant Families.” AP News, Associated Press, 15 June 2018, apnews.com/0bcc5d5d077247769da065864d215d1b.
Rizzo, Salvador. “Analysis | The Facts about Trump's Policy of Separating Families at the Border.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 June 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/06/19/the-facts-about-trumps-policy-of-separating-families-at-the-border/?utm_term=.31f0c9d7b046.
Rose, Joel. “Doctors Concerned About 'Irreparable Harm' To Separated Migrant Children.” NPR, NPR, 15 June 2018, www.npr.org/2018/06/15/620254326/doctors-warn-about-dangers-of-child-separations.
Rutter, Michael. “PARENT‐CHILD SEPARATION: PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS ON THE CHILDREN.” The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Wiley-Blackwell, 7 Dec. 2006, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1971.tb01086.x.
Sacchetti, Maria. “Still Separated: Nearly 500 Migrant Children Taken from Their Parents Remain in U.S. Custody.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 31 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/still-separated-nearly-500-separated-migrant-children-remain-in-us-custody/2018/08/30/6dbd8278-aa09-11e8-8a0c-70b618c98d3c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c59ab5ec23df.
Schneider, Tsim D., and Lee M. Panich, editors. “Native Agency at the Margins of Empire: INDIGENOUS LANDSCAPES, SPANISH MISSIONS, AND CONTESTED HISTORIES.” Indigenous Landscapes and Spanish Missions: New Perspectives from Archaeology and Ethnohistory, University of Arizona Press, 2014, pp. 5–22. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt183pbc1.4.
Timm, Jane C. “Fact Check: Did Obama Administration Separate Families?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 20 June 2018, www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/fact-check-did-obama-administration-separate-families-n884856.
Van Den Berg, Chantal, et al. "Sex offenders in prison: are they socially isolated?." Sexual Abuse (2017): 1079063217700884.
"The Constitution of the United States," Amendment 1.
