I emailed my Senator to ask that he vote no on Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.  In case you are unaware of her lack of qualifications:  she is not an educator; she spent $5.6 million in attempt to change Michigan’s constitution to allow vouchers; is apparently “confused” about federal law that protects children with disabilities; and in addition, she plagiarized responses to her Senate confirmation inquiry.  You kind of have to pick your battles, and this one was particularly egregious.

I decided today should be a bit about history – mainly of Germany and WWII immigration policy of the United States, However, before we get to that, we can’t ignore that in his comments at a Black History month event, President Trump said that Frederick Douglass, the great black abolitionist, (1818-1895) “is someone who’s done an amazing job.”  I would agree that he must be doing an amazing job if he is still doing it while being dead for 122 years.  President Trump, tenses do make a difference.

OK, now to some history.  Because, unlike Betsy Devos, I’m not into plagiarism, I will refer you to a variety of sources for historical perspective.

You can read that German anti-Semitism, didn’t start with the Nazis – in fact, there was an 1881 petition signed by 200,000 people, urging the government to restrict the immigration of Jews.

Anti-Semitism percolated under the surface until Hitler was firmly in power and then the Alt Right of the time had a field day. Right wing newspapers started urging drastic action against Jews and racial criteria was applied for deporting them.

You will discover the sad facts behind the refusal of the United States to take in more than just a few Jewish immigrants and the fate of the MS St. Louis – the Voyage of the Damned.

Remember, if you don’t know history, you are bound to repeat it.  Yes, history is important, but we must remind Kellyanne Conway that it’s only real history that counts – the Bowling Green massacre???????

References:

www.yadvashem.org   Weimar Republic (1918 – 1933)

J. Llewellyn et al, “Nazi anti-Semitism”, Alpha History, accessed 2-02-17 ], http://alphahistory.com/nazigermany/nazi-anti-semitism/.

www.ushmm.org  Obstacles to Immigration

www.crfimmigrationed.org/index.php/lessons-for-teachers/144-hl5