There are steps that governments can take to tackle threats to their society that may seem reasonable to some but are simply impossible to others. This is not because of legal hurdles, but rather because of the peculiar history of that nation.

This is common in almost every country because of the harsh reality that mankind’s journey on planet Earth has been one long continuous history of cruelty and injustice.

Some governments seem to forget their history and conduct operations that are simply contrary to not just the law, but the sensitivity of the nation. A perfect example of this occurred in July 1999, in Jamaica, when some lunatic in Government came up with a plan to forcibly abduct street people in Montego Bay and relocate them to another parish. The motivation has never officially been declared, but the common belief is that it was an effort to reduce the number of mad people who were having an impact on public safety. This act was horrible enough to have occurred in any society, but was particularly shameful for a country that has a history of slavery that began with abductions of a very similar nature.

The United States of America has launched its most visible attack against the illegal immigration crisis in modern history. America’s history is unique. Unlike other countries, such as Ireland, where immigrant groups ended up by conquest, the USA is built on a principle of immigration. They have also done so whilst not really acknowledging the fact that the true owners of the land are the indigenous people they found there.

So images of them on social media manhandling people whilst trying to determine their immigration status are simply not acceptable. They have, in fact, labelled and launched themselves as a country built by immigrants.

Unlike England, they have apologised for their part in slavery, Jim Crow, and a slew of other injustices that do not allow for the current images of black and brown people being dragged out of cars in pursuit of determining their immigration status.

Can you imagine South Africa reintroducing a pass card system? Or Germany rounding up Jewish citizens under any circumstances whatsoever?

President Barrack Obama deported almost three million people over eight years, and I never saw images like I am seeing now that resemble the rise of the Nazi party, brown shirts and all. Optics matter. History matters, especially when it is written in blood.

Jamaica’s history with the United Kingdom can only be described as horrific: from their entry into the villages in Africa as missionaries, to them leaving as conquerors, to slavery and colonialism. That history and its horror still stand in every squatter settlement and in every illiterate in our prisons. This makes them unsuitable to be standing in judgement of our police officers at the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom) and as our highest court, the Privy Council. As I said, optics matter. History matters.

It is when history no longer matters that it repeats itself. It took decades of tolerance to reduce the antagonism that has justly been levelled at the United States for their part in the oppression of blacks both post- and pre-Emancipation.

It took leaders like Reverend Jesse Jackson to put aside the hate of burying leaders like Dr Martin Luther King Jr, who he stood with and worked for a society without hate. At this point, so much justice has not been realised in an effort to create a better future for that country as a whole. This is because justice in itself furthers antagonism, although unfairly.

Because of this, black leaders in the United States, just like Nelson Mandela in South Africa, allowed justice to be unrealised in an effort to build a more peaceful society. What part of what I am seeing on the news is in any way, shape, or form building a more peaceful society?

This is not to say that I do not understand and appreciate the need to deal with the American immigration crisis. My problem is not so much what they are doing, but the fact that they are propagating it as a good thing. No country with a history like the United States that has been forgiven in the interest of the greater good should want to take pride in the bullying abuse that I am seeing sent to my phone every day. Further to this, it is dividing the country. This division is not only regarding race or nationality. The division is appearing to take the form of those in favour of immigrants versus those who are anti-immigration.

What it is in fact doing is dividing the country between people who support law enforcement versus those who oppose it. The current operational strategies are building the numbers who will oppose law enforcement, and who previously would never have done so. The only advantage of the spectacle is to please some racist who wants a cleansed America by any means necessary.

The United States, like many countries in this region, has experienced a civil war. That war was at a level that none of us can identify with. What you see happening is the cultivation of a divided society, the growth of which will destroy the United States as a country for the world to admire, as we all do now.

This is happening primarily because no one is remembering their history.

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