If we think back, the immigration issue we are having now did not just happen. In the early 1900s it is estimated that close to 9 million Europeans migrated to the United States. Suprisingly, a vast majority of those Eastern European immigrants where deemed undesirable and inferior by the Anglo-Saxon dominated government of the U.S. of that time.
In an attempt to stave off the mass migration of Eastern Europeans, the United States government did two things. First, they tried to issue a citizenship test to new migrants, asking questions that only a legal citizen of the U.S. would know. Second, because the citizenship test took too long to administer and “illegals” were still getting into the country, the government closed the borders all together.
Now if a government made up of Anglo-Saxons turned their backs on other Europeans who were fleeing war and persecution, how can we expect that same government that’s made up of the progeny of the early Anglo-Saxon demagogues, to be sympathetic to the social and economic plight of black and brown people from non-European countries?
But let us go further back than the 1900s. Waaaaaaay baaaaaaack……
Most archaeologist agree that the cradle of mankind is in Africa. Eastern Africa to more exact, right around modern day Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, and Somalia. Basically, the Nile River Valley. However, the time frame for when our earliest ancestors actually existed is still up for debate. These very distant relatives of ours were given the name Ardipithecus ramidus, or Asu, and is believed to have lived over 4.4 million years ago.
The migration of our ancient ancestors out of Africa did not happen all at once. It is belived to have taken place in 5 successive waves, and over hundreds of thousands of year.
The frst wave of Original People is said to have migrated to southwestern Asia (i.e. the Middle East). The second wave went into northern and eastern Asia. The third wave into southeastern Asia (i.e. the Pacific Islands). The fourth wave of Original People is said to have ventured into Europe. With the fifth and final wave journeying into the Americas.
So we’re taking about millions of years of our ancestors travelling and relocating all over this planet, for whatever reason. And if all of those groups decided not to interact with each other and only bred and married among their own groups, none of us would be here today. What anthropologists have termed “anatomically modern humans” (AMH), which we are, is the result of various types of humans amalgamating with each other all over this planet every since we’ve been here.
Let us now turn to the Volume of Sacred Law (i.e. the Bible) to see what it says about emigrants and immigration. The Hebrew word for “emigrant or immigrant” is “ger,” and it can also be defined as “traveler, refugee, foreigner, stranger, of sojourner.” There are numerous places where Yahweh instructs us on how we should treat the gerim (strangers) among us, but to sum it up, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I, Yahweh, am your God” (Leviticus 19:33-34).
Our place and role on this planet should be understood. We don’t own a damn thing here! “The earth is Yahweh’s and all that is holds; the world and its inhabitants” (Psalm 24:1). We have no right to tell another human being that they can or cannot live on land that was divinely afforded to them by Yahweh.
Have we exalted ourselves above God? Why else would we blatantly disobey His instructions? “Defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3). How can we call ourselves a God fearing nation, and at the same time turn away from assisting the hundreds of thousands of victims of unimaginable violence and political oppression who find their way to our borders?
The immigration issue we have faced, and will continue to deal with, in this country has never been a Republican matter or a Democrat matter. It has always been a humanitarian issue. And until it is viewed as such and met with altruistic resolve, we will continue to be overwhelmed emotionally because we refuse to do what we know is right.
HOTEP (Peace)
DONOVAN DAVID CLARK
DOC #A390726
