Selective Justice, Inevitable Consequences

The recent outrage among European Americans over the treatment of white protesters—peaceful individuals pepper-sprayed and shot with rubber bullets—reveals a deep disconnect with the nation’s historical reality. A woman, referencing the 1965 Selma marches, claimed that President Lyndon Johnson only deployed the National Guard to protect demonstrators and that no one was injured. Her comment, though well-intentioned, reflects a sanitized version of history.

In truth, the Selma to Montgomery marches were anything but peaceful in their outcome. These protests, which began in early 1965 and culminated in the infamous “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, saw peaceful demonstrators brutally attacked by state troopers. And there were casualties. Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young activist, was shot and killed by a state trooper. James Reeb, a white Unitarian minister, was beaten to death by segregationists. Viola Liuzzo, a white housewife and civil rights supporter, was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. The cost of progress has never been bloodless, and it has never been evenly borne.

America’s current unrest is not without precedent. This is a nation where political and racial tensions have long simmered beneath the surface, often stoked by those in power who purport to uphold democracy and unity. When a country tolerates injustice, division, and manufactured hatred, it should not be surprised when these forces turn inward. The unrest we are witnessing today is not chaos born of nowhere—it is the result of decades, even centuries, of unresolved moral debts.

Donald Trump’s recent appeals to “law and order” ring hollow. His re-election speeches serve oligarchic interests while distracting from the shadowy organizations working behind the scenes—such as those driving Project 2025, a radical agenda to reshape American governance. Many senators are aware of these groups but remain silent, complicit through their cowardice. Only a few courageous politicians, like Senator Jasmine Crawford, have dared to speak out against powerful conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation (established in 1973) and the America First Policy Institute (founded in 2021).

History also reminds us that injustice is not limited to one group or era. During the Great Depression, the U.S. government orchestrated the mass deportation of people of Mexican descent in what is known as the "Mexican Repatriation Act." Between 1929 and 1936, approximately two million people—including U.S. citizens—were forcibly removed from the country under the pretext of economic necessity. These forgotten chapters of American policy underscore a pattern: when the nation faces internal crisis, it often scapegoats the vulnerable.

Today, we are witnessing the chickens come home to roost. The pain, resistance, and protest we see in the streets are not anomalies—they are historical echoes. What was once ignored when inflicted upon Black, brown, and marginalized bodies now startles the conscience of those unaccustomed to such treatment. But justice, if it is to mean anything, cannot be selective. Until the nation confronts its full history—and the entrenched power structures that benefit from forgetting it—the cycle of outrage and repression will continue.

The road to healing demands more than outrage. It requires truth, courage, and the political will to dismantle the very systems designed to divide and oppress. Only then can America begin to live up to the ideals it so loudly proclaims.