Hot Afghan Summer

by with No Comment FeaturedGlobalPolitics

Despite current events, I must start with a shameless plug and state, love is in the air! It’s lingering around me like the Delta variant. Recently, I got engaged to my girlfriend, and this has been a very joyous time for us. In addition to my engagement, I’ve been busy writing a full feature film entitled “This Thing of Ours.” It’s a romantic comedy that follows a group of 30ish people dating, marrying, or doing a little bit of everything in between today’s social world of Covid and online dating. 

Given I’ve been surrounded by so many lovey-dovey oriented things, I’ve even thought about current events in relation to dating. Specifically, Afghanistan… and thinking if Afghanistan were a person, she would be Jennifer Lopez. Like J Lo, Afghanistan has had interactions with the greatest and most powerful, yet none have been able to stay. 

And there’s a good reason for this. Afghanistan that is, not the J Lo dating history.   

Back in the summer of 2019, when the world was still innocent and free of being attached to the greatest global health crisis since the 1918 Flu pandemic, Houston-based rapper Megan Thee Stallion released, “Hot Girl Summer.” A catchy little number about… well… being a hot girl in the summer. Meg, (is that what she goes by?), stated the song is simply about “being yourself” and “having a good time.” And like “Hot Girl Summer,” messaging is for people not to follow someone else’s rules for love, but follow your way. A political “Hot Girl Summer” should be applied to Afghanistan. Given the history of the country with constant foreign power intervention, Afghanistan should just be left alone and be single for a while. Let her get a new hairdo, go out for a 60-dollar brunch, even let her post dozens of dog-eared filter pictures, just let Afghanistan be her for a while. 

Dating back to Alexander the Great in 330 BC, nations have tried to either conquer or control the Afghanistan region and people. The latest being the United States, whose involvement with the nation should have only been intelligence and law enforcement… instead, it became another decades-long terrible abusive relationship known far too well to the Afghan people. 

This must end, for there has never been a positive outcome for any nation trying to force their hand with Afghanistan. What should happen is the allowance of an organic government and making it work best for the Afghan people. That outcome might not even be a political science-worthy name for it, but it will be solely for the Afghan people. 

This is true for dating. 

Either a single person themselves or their social networks always will find the need to force a situation on someone, simply to be with someone. Other nations want to force their will on Afghanistan… it’s wrong and should be changed. Some of that “change for democracy” is laced with capitalism and exploitation of resources; however, it doesn’t change the savage nature of the Taliban. The Taliban is one of the most intolerable, hostile, violent, and unproductive governments seen in modern times. With that being said, the nation up until a few weeks ago did experience two decades of some type of freedom and democracy. I just don’t believe a country the size of Texas, with a population bigger than Texas, will simply allow the Taliban to lay rule once again without disruption or outright taking over. 

Love amongst couples is best to be left alone. No matter what you or anyone else thinks, you can’t legislate love. Because one doesn’t like another’s sexual orientation, or the look of their partner, their religion, or whatever, said couple is still going to find a way to be together. No matter how powerful a nation, their people can only be “controlled” or “managed” for so long. They yearn for independence and fate being decided solely by them is the spirit of all people. And if they have to be just “Jenny from the block to do it”, so be it. 

America, What Are You Doing?

by with No Comment FeaturedGlobalPoliticsRace Relations

America abandoned its values over the weekend; however, if I am being honest, it seems as if America began this abandonment long before this past weekend. The images of Haitians being stopped by U.S. Border Patrol with the use of horses and what appears to be a lasso, a lariat, or whip, made me ashamed to be from this country. 

Thousands of Haitians, men, women, and children seeking protection as deportation was not the answer for them. Deportation back to their homeland would not seem to be the right solution at this time. Haitians have been in a state of peril since the July 7th assassination of their president, Jovenel Moïse. In the aftermath of his death, violence and civil unrest became commonplace. A 7.2 earthquake on August 14th, leaving over 2,000 Haitians dead and more than half a million who would need assistance. They have suffered enough. To make the dangerous journey to seek safety in the United States only to be met with border agents telling them, “This is why your country is shit.”?

Where is the compassion? Where is the humanity? What does it say about America?

It says America has no heart and the evidence of that has been displayed throughout this country’s history, particularly against immigrants. It seems contradictory considering that America is made of all immigrants. The images pain me to know that in people’s greatest hour of need, we kick them down. 

While I do understand there are many other factors that go into immigrants seeking asylum, Haitians can still be treated with respect. It upsets me, it angers me to my core. What if the roles were reversed? At any time, disaster could strike us and where would Americans turn to? Who would want to even lend a helping hand considering we have demonstrated that we do not give a damn about others. We have become increasingly so more self-centered. 

Returning thousands of Haitians to their homeland, in the current state it is in, is not the best idea. Their own country is not even prepared to handle the return of those who had already made the dangerous trek to leave. 

I do not know if deportation is the best solution; however, I do know that if it is right now the only solution, then there must be a better way to solve this issue. If sending the Haitians back to their homeland is the best option, in what other capacity is the U.S. doing to provide additional support?

The proper support was given to the Afghan Nationals who were fleeing for their lives after the Taliban had taken over control of Kabul. If I am going to be honest, the statement by the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, stating that, “Those two processes are quite different,”  is the definition of pretense. How? Mayorkas states that the Afghan Nationals were being, “Brought in by air … they have been screened and vetted. That is a safe, orderly, and humane process,” he said. “That is quite different than illegal entry in between ports of entry in a time of pandemic when we have been quite clear, explicit, for months now that that is not the way to reach the United States,” he concluded.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Afghan Nationals were brought in due to the state of their country because it is not safe. Haitians have made the journey because it is not safe. Yet the processes are different, both are not humane? Why is that? Despite the pandemic, Border Patrol has been clear and explicit for months; but still, the Afghan Nationals are safe to start to rebuild their lives and pick up the pieces, yet Haitians are not. The U.S. has been clear, but in those months of making those clear statements; however, it was during those months the journey was being made to the land where people are given a chance. People risked their lives only to be met with disappointment. 

The Biden-Harris Administration has not had much to say about the circulating images and the behavior displayed by Border Patrol and their methods other than Vice President Kamala Harris expressing her outrage for the actions taken against these immigrants. Madam Vice President, your outrage is felt by us all. Madam Vice President, we agree with you when you say, “We’ve got to support some very basic needs that the people of Haiti have.” It is going to take more than just statements about how we must support the basic needs of the people. We need more than statements about how horrific it is to see people treated in such a manner. We need the Biden-Harris administration to do something that would be conducive and beneficial for the people who are simply trying to make a better life after the turmoil they have experienced so far. I know it will not be an easy task, but the United States must do a better job with this challenging situation. If we cannot find another way, or just simply refuse to find another alternative, the only question that remains… America, what are you doing? 

Similar Read: Citizens vs. Government: The Crisis in Haiti