It bugs me to see Central American refugees compared to Jews during the Holocaust. I mean, who are the Nazis that Central American migrants are fleeing in this analogy? Other Central Americans? That’s a weird thing to suggest given that Central Americans are often not-white. It’s kind of strange to compare non-white people to Hitler.
Also, there is a lot of bad stuff going on in Central America. The gangs are horrible. But the gangs aren’t sending millions to gas chambers for the purpose of racial cleansing. I do believe that there is an abyss between racially-based extermination of millions and pretty much everything else. There are many very bad things in the world. But racial or ethnic genocide is bad in its own category of badness.
I’m also not sure that “you guys are like the Nazi Germany” is an idea that would appeal to the migrants themselves. They don’t necessarily despise their countries at all. Many are actually proud of their origins. If you see footage of migrant caravans, you’ll notice that the migrants often march with flags of their own countries. Actually, pretty much every single immigrant I’ve ever met will be very unhappy if you say shitty things about the country of origin. Yes, even me.
Yes, I left. But it doesn’t mean that the Ukrainians who stayed behind are Nazis. Even the corrupt oligarchs who make the country unlivable and whom I abhor are not Nazis. I’d be very bothered if somebody called them that.
I understand people say these things with good intentions. But it’s not like these emotional appeals change anybody’s mind or achieve any real purpose. What this kind of analogy does do is cheapen the idea of Nazism.
I just saw somebody on FB claim that this is racist because it “links a person of color to dog-eating:”
And it’s the same thing. If everything is racist, then racism doesn’t exist.
