In the past, there was a movie called “Swordfish,” starring Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, and John Travolta. While it seemed like a heist movie, it actually turned into an espionage movie in favor of the United States. John Travolta’s character said, “We want the idea of attacking an American citizen to be so abhorrent that we end up keeping everyone safe.” Even buying weapons and attacking other countries was deemed acceptable behavior to protect people from the United States. In the end, John Travolta and Halle Berry managed to sustain the funding for a morally questionable program.
After a women lied about Tulsa, Oklahoma, a Black community in Tulsa was burned to the ground. In fact, several other Black communities were burned to the ground based on multiple lies. Because Black people were not considered United States citizens–despite building much of this country and fighting in all of the wars, it was acceptable to kill large quantities of Black people. Regardless of how much commitment Black people demonstrate, people who are mentally calibrated in certain ways continue to think that Black people will never be United States citizens. Despite a Black president and presidential candidate, violence is escalating at the thought of such situations.
Another group of people it was acceptable to attack was Chinese people–leading to the Chinese Exclusion Act which ended in the 1920s. Despite being responsible for the construction of railroads and enduring horrible circumstances, Chinese people were considered acceptable for disposal. The Cold War propaganda never ended, unfortunately for them, so despite multiple cultural enclaves being established across the United States, there has been a rise in anti-Asian violence. People who believe that certain people do not “look” like they come from the United States are facing the consequences for mere existence.
After Pearl Harbor, the United States worked to do two things. First, Japanese people were interned into labor camps–just like the Latinx populations now–and were not allowed to function as “normal human beings.” Second, nuclear weapons were both created and dropped on Japan, and the damage is such that the country is still recovering. Imagine the surprise of everyone else that the United States believes itself to be the voice of morality on nuclear weapons, even after being the nation who deployed such weaponry.
On this day, consider that the Twin Towers fell in New York City. However tragic that situation is–and it is–consider that the United States has been a nation at war for over 20 years. Not only that, but the United States has gotten into wars that almost literally have no relevance to the United States–except curbing the nation’s lifestyle with fossil fuels. Literally, Middle Eastern countries and Venezuela have told the United States, “No,” which is why such rampant hatred has gone unaddressed for decades.
Telling citizens that the United States has to go to war because someone else started something is both irrational and emotionally insecure. How many more people have to die because the United States decided it felt threatened? Like those independent communities of old, at some point, the “real” citizens chose not to evolve and are collectively throwing tantrums. No, tragedy is not a declaration of war, and evil only begets more evil.
**The photo from 9/11 can be found at Reuters.
Chasing A Dying Empire 