Manifest Nightmare, Manifest Denial: A reflection on border and narrative control

By: ​Seth Martin

​George Washington couldn't tell a lie.
George Washington was the first president of the US.
George Washington was, according to legend, bulletproof.
George Washington was so well-loved and respected by his peers that many openly desired to make him king rather than president of the new empire, and he had to strive with supporters against the idea of him leading indefinitely.
George Washington's face is carved into Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is a sacred site to Indigenous people. It was stolen by the US government. It is known to the Lakota as the Six Grandfathers.
George Washington was known by Indigenous peoples near the 13 colonies as "Town Destroyer".
George Washington made a fortune through real estate on and beyond the frontier, marketing Indigenous land.
George Washington owned over 100 Black human beings.
George Washington's dentures included teeth pulled from the heads of his living slaves.
"Even now the axe is laid at the root of the tree."

*********************

We must ensure our children know the truth about who we are, what we've done, and why it is uniquely America's duty to be freedom's defender... They should learn about great men like George C. Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan.... [It] is the brave men and women of the United States armed forces who defend our freedom and secure it for millions of others as well.... ["America" is] the most powerful, good, and honorable nation in the history of mankind, the exceptional nation.... [We] are, as Lincoln said, 'the last, best hope of earth'.... [The US is not] one more indistinguishable entity on the world stage.... [but has] been essential to the preservation and progress of freedom, and those who lead us in the years ahead must remind us, as Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Reagan did, of the special role we play... we are, in fact, exceptional.

-Dick and Liz Cheney, Exceptional (2015)

******************************

 You disobeyed...
And Uncle Sam's got you up on the top of his list,
Statue of Liberty's shaking her fists...
When you hear Mother Freedom ringing her bell...
We'll stick a boot in your ass it's the American Way...
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.

-Toby Keith, “The Angry American”

************

Last summer The Intercept published a piece exposing the racist, sexist, and often horrifically violent comments and jokes shared by current and former US Border Patrol agents in private social media groups. Emboldened by the presence of others with shared experience, as well as distance and the perceived safety of online discourse in closed groups, members posted  volumes of terrifying content, including but not limited to rape and murder fantasies about migrants and politicians they disliked. 

In fact, the Border Patrol group was a hotbed for the kind of right-wing memes and anti-immigrant hate common in some corners of the internet. The only difference is that the group — which had nearly 10,000 members at the time it was exposed and has since dwindled to a little over 4,000 — was meant to be used by current and former federal law enforcement personnel.

“Where Old Patrol meets New Patrol,” the about section of the group read. “Post your pics. BP and AMO [Air and Marine Operations] related. Funny, serious and just work related. We are family, first and foremost. This is where the Green Line starts, with us. Start a chat or discussion, or use the group as a message board or Q and A session. We are here for each other. Remember you are never alone in this family.”

-Intercept, July 6, 2019.



 *********************************

Here is vile, horrific evidence of the mindsets and behavior of many of the maniacs abusing people at the SW border and in the concentration camps.

Here is a window open to the inner workings and basic reality of American Exceptionalism.
And yet, already the curtains pulled back in recent years by #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo and #NODAPL have shown everyone with eyes to see clearly how the evils of racism, sexism, genocide, and land theft apologetics continue today not only to be embraced with few to no consequences by white nationalist imperialists whenever doing so benefits them, but also that these evils are not aberrations or perversions of the American Exceptionalist Dream. They have and remain central roots from which the past and current US Empire grows. They are watered constantly by collective denial or insistence that this "isn't what America stands for," or "these are bad apples," or "look what we are becoming!" or, "never before this awful president were things so terrible.”

******************************************* 

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

​-Woody Guthrie, 1944

*****************************************

So also the inferno of abuse, hatred, and perverse injustice at the border and in the concentration camps is not a sudden thing. It is not merely a virus or cancer imperiling the Empire. It is the Empire. It is part of the DNA of American Exceptionalism. 

Rage is not enough.

It must be fought boldly. It must be destroyed. And to destroy it, denialism must also be destroyed. Myths must be shattered. Calling out and resisting Trump and all other figures currently promoting and benefiting politically from this abomination is required. As are massive and continual acts of solidarity with those being endangered, imprisoned and tortured. As is civil disobedience. As is breaking laws in less-than-civil ways. The examples and tactics of resisters as diverse as Red Cloud, Harriet Tubman, MLK, Jr., and John Brown must be taken seriously as options, at the individual and collective levels.

Acting as if these evils are new, however, is hypocrisy of the highest order. We cannot stop this cancer without completely ripping down the myths of American Exceptionalism. If we refuse to come to terms with the origins of the US and the way the acceptance of American Exceptionalism necessitates mass-scale mental and physical abuse and constant expansion of military control all over the world—then even the language and narratives we employ to fight the injustice at the border will perpetuate or start similar manifestations of US evil elsewhere.

************************************************ 

The New-Englanders are a People of God settled in those, which were once the Devil's Territories; and it may easily be supposed that the Devil was exceedingly disturbed, when he perceived such a People here accomplishing the Promise of old made unto our Blessed Jesus, That He should have the Utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession.

-Cotton Mather, 1693, The Wonders of the Invisible World

**********************************************

No matter how valiant the fight against the evil at the southern US border, if we don't reject the white supremacist premises of American Exceptionalism as a worldview, as a myth, as a religion, as a justification for US success, as a justification for our lives lived as most of us currently live them, these atrocities not only will but must continue.

****************************************************************

Seething anger at asylum seekers and migrants in general was the common thread in the “I’m 10-15″ group. On May 31, a user shared an image of the U.S. embassy in Honduras on fire. “Easy enough to do the same thing to all their asylum paperwork…” Gamel Lechner commented. When a member of the group later asked where a friend could drop off food and supplies for people in detention in Los Angeles, he was met with dozens of trolling replies.

“They are like wild animals, stop feeding them and they wont hang around and shit on the street,” wrote Richard Tyler Jr. — Tyler’s Facebook profile identified him as a former trainer for the Border Patrol, a former sheriff’s deputy, and a former sergeant in the U.S. Army.

In late May, user Waldemar Ortiz shared a meme that said “HUNGARY LOCKS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN SHIPPING CONTAINERS TO STOP ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS.”

“Can we apply this here?” Ortiz wrote.

-Intercept, “Border Patrol Facebook”, July 6, 2019

*******************************************************

Make no mistake. Many of the people you work with, attend church with, pass the time at the bar with, share these kinds of "jokes" when they feel emboldened and safe from any consequences. Why? Because this awful and horrifying method of dehumanizing others is intrinsically part of the past and present upkeep and justification of the violence that made and continues to make "America"—built on stolen land through genocide and slave-labor, blessed by God. Further, those directly doing the "maintaining" must release this toxic sludge—whether they personally believe what they are saying or not—to both avoid complete mental breakdown, and to make sure all other "maintainers" around them know they aren't in any way second-guessing their allegiance to a sacred nationalist calling.

************************************************************

Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest,
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest.
Sent Lewis and Clark and they did the rest;
Roll on, Columbia, Roll On
 
Year after year we had tedious trials,
Fighting the rapids at Cascades and Dalles.
The Injuns rest peaceful on Memaloose Isle;
Roll on, Columbia, Roll On!
 
It's there on your banks that you fought many a fight,
Sheridan's boys in the block house that night,
They saw us in death, but never in flight;
Roll on, Columbia, Roll On!
 
Our loved ones we lost there at Coe's little store,
By fireball and rifle, a dozen or more,
We won by the Mary and soldiers she bore;
Roll on, Columbia, Roll On!
 
Remember the trial when the battle was won,
The wild Indian warriors to the tall timber run,
We hung every Indian with smoke in his gun;
Roll on, Columbia, Roll on!

-Woody Guthrie, 1941, various original verses from Roll On Columbia, Roll On, the official song for Washington State (some of the above verses included in the official version, others left out)

*******************************************

The abusers at the southern border are paid to abuse, in the name of protecting the myth of American Exceptionalism. And alongside the victims these sick and twisted people are caging, torturing, mocking and killing, the "shock troops" themselves are the most intimately acquainted with the farce of the myth. They embody its contradictions daily.

*******************************************************************

US President Barack Obama paid a visit on Sunday to what he called "freedom's frontier". He flew into a US base on the border between North and South Korea in a show of solidarity with Seoul. Obama told US troops in a dining hall at Camp Bonifas near the border they are part of a "long line" of soldiers who have enabled South Korea to prosper. "You guys are at freedom's frontier," he said. "The contrast between South Korea and North Korea could not be clearer, could not be starker. I could not be prouder of what you do."

Obama talked with US officers before peering through binoculars into North Korea. The two Koreas are technically still at war because no peace treaty was signed at the end of their three-year conflict in 1953. American troops have been based [in] South Korea ever since.

-March 25, 2012. Euronews.


******************************************************************

That mental sickness, increased violence and terror, and a constant outpouring from the "insiders' club" of filth filled with hatred for both those they torture (dehumanization and differentiation) and passionate disgust for all leadership claiming to challenge it—especially in ways that imply the torturers are more evil than the average consumers, whose society and myths the torturers are paid to protect—should not be shocking to us. Unless, that is, we too are unwilling to face and tear down the myths that perpetuate and require the dehumanization and terror these broken humans carry out at the front lines of our Empire.

**************************************

​Oh, had I the ability and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed but fire. It is not the gentle shower but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake, the feeling of the nation must be quickened. The conscience of the nation must be roused. The propriety of the nation must be startled. The hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed, and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.
-Frederick Douglass, 1852, 4th of July Speech

****************************************

The abusers must be stopped. They must be punished. But the terrorists patrolling the southern US border are not the only guilty ones. Until the roots and interwoven myths of the White Nationalist Christian Empire, of American Exceptionalism, of Manifest Destiny, are collectively faced and rejected, these "shock troops" of Empire (and the horrific things they say and do) will always exist. They protect the myths by doing what is necessary behind the curtains to enable millions of others to enjoy the fireworks guilt-free.

************************************************************

Brother, listen to what we say. There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for food. He made the bear and the beaver, and their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over the country, and taught us how to take them. He had caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All this he had done for his red children because he loved them. If we had any disputes about hunting grounds, they were generally settled without the shedding of much blood. But an evil day came upon us; your forefathers crossed the great waters, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small; they found friends, and not enemies; they told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat; we took pity on them, granted their request, and they sat down amongst us; we gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return. The white people had now found our country; tidings were carried back, and more came amongst us; yet we did not fear them, we took them to be friends; they called us brothers; we believed them, and gave them a larger seat. At length, their numbers had greatly increased; they wanted more land; they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place; Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor among us; it was strong and powerful, and has slain thousands.

Brother, our seats were once large, and yours were very small; you have now become a great people, and we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets; you have got our country, but are not satisfied; you want to force your religion upon us.

-Red Jacket, 1805, to visiting missionaries

********************************************************

Beneath the veneer, the bipartisan US Empire is rotten to the core. It has been rotten since the start. But it is not broken. I mean it is not yet broken enough. These evils are not aberrations. They are as American as baseball, apple pie, forced haircuts at Indian Boarding Schools, George Washington's dentures full of teeth pulled from the mouths of his living slaves, and US presidential military parades on July 4th.
The original "America" as a system and uncritically accepted mythology isn't yet broken beyond repair. That is the greatest problem. It is still up and running. And it runs on denial and death.
********************************************
Compared to many others in Korea, I speak English very well. However, this country is Korea. Korean is the language spoken by all people here. When we are in the US Ambassador's office, we speak English because that office is an extension of the US. But outside of your official office, you are in Korea, and the real way to communicate, I hope, is in Korean.
And another thing: when we Koreans meet US government people, and elite, educated Koreans spew out English like it's their mother tongue--when I see this happen, I feel repulsed by these Koreans.
Please understand me. If you understand me, I feel thankful.
Respectfully yours,
리영희 / Ri Young-Hee
June 25, 1988
-The closing lines of a message in a series of back-and-forth letters (originally in English, then published in Korean) between activist and writer Ri Young-Hee and then-US Ambassador James Lilley. Translated from Korean back to English by Lee Nan Young.
************************************* 
But there is hope. The myth-machine is cracking in places. The frantic appeal of Make America Great Again to millions of people unwilling to change is proof enough of this vulnerability. The protective worldview that perpetuates Christian white nationalism, American Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny is breaking down, and with it the justifications for the evils we are seeing at the border. This makes many afraid and defensive. But the remedy is not in building the systems back up.
********************************
Together there is nothing Americans can’t do, absolutely nothing. In recent years, and even decades, too many people have forgotten that truth. They’ve forgotten that our ancestors trounced an empire, tamed a continent, and triumphed over the worst evils in history.
-Donald Trump, May 2018
*********************************
For everyone involved, the only way to heal is to operate. To strike at the roots. To fight now. To tear down the walls and start over. To tell the truth. To stop relying on the comfort granted by false narratives that, in the shadows, require and perpetuate the evils "good Americans" abhor and claim to be un-American.
****************************************
‘Welcome to Injun Country’ was the refrain I heard from troops from Colombia to the Philippines, including Afghanistan and Iraq.... The War on Terrorism was really about taming the frontier.
-Robert Kaplan, 2006, Imperial Grunts
***************************************
There are parallels to what we are seeing and hearing about the border patrol almost anywhere we are willing to look, past and present: with white settler-colonial views about "savages" blocking the frontier, for example, and the settlers being paid by the gov't to collect "redskins" or scalps. And depictions in the US of Koreans for the past 7 decades, including current Democratic presidential hopefuls' outrage over Trump "elevating" a dictator and putting US Military-Industrial profits in South Korea (another American frontier?) in danger and threatening "our values" by talking, rather than starving or bombing. And views of Middle Eastern prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. And media depictions of Black people since before the Civil War until today. And any other (usually not white) group that in some way or another has been seen as a threat to the myths and core values supporting the US white nationalist imperialist exceptionalist project.
***********************************
 I learned to accept it, to accept it with pride...
But you never ask questions with God on your side.
-Bob Dylan
**************************************
These border patrol terrorists must be named, shamed, fired and punished. And if we want to live in a society where such government-sanctioned abuse is gone, we must face the reality that what we are witnessing is not an aberration but a continuation of the terror of the US Frontier. This terrorism is one of the flesh-and-blood manifestations of the White Christian Nationalism and Manifest Destiny myths of Empire and has always—in various ways—been present, to some extent even necessary (along with denial mixed with spurts of sudden shock and outrage) as a force for protecting and an embodiment of American Exceptionalism.
********************************** 
After the alarm caused by Nat Turner’s insurrection had subsided, the slaveholders came to the conclusion that it would be well to give the slaves enough of religious instruction to keep them from murdering their masters.

-Harriet Jacobs, 1858, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

***************************************************

We must protect the innocent. We must bring ICE down. And we must face and destroy the hyper-nationalist myths of the good empire, in all their partisan strands, that demand this kind of violence, this kind of abuse, this kind of dehumanization, and this kind of denialism to continue.

**********************************************

Come on you patriots
and bring all of your flags!
We’re washing feet
and we need more rags.

-psalters, “dumpster divers”

*********************************

​Then from the ice-crusted flames
rose a voice like a bell,
thund’rous flood-songs battered down the dams
and rushed and raged through hell.
The landscape peeled over
and unrolled like a scroll.
And mammoth trees
burst forth from where
the buildings left their holes.
 
The dead were all reborn
and the stars all shot upward.
And the hammerheads all clanged amen
as they crushed each wailing last word.
 
All the children wore
new joyful smiles
uncut by your disasters.
Wealthy slaves burned all
their bloodstained whips
and freed every master.
 
And not one living soul
got from god what they had asked for.
And in floods of unrestrained refrains
we wept in grateful rapture.

****************************************************
 
Originally written July 8th, 2019, with echoes and poems included later

---

Seth Martin

(Seth Mountain, 이산) is an anarchistic poet, essayist, and folksinger. He comes from Irish and Italian immigrant settlers and Cherokee people, among others, and is a tribal member of The Cherokee Nation. He grew up as an immigrant settler on Cowlitz land in the (US) Pacific Northwest, and now lives in Korea with his partner, Lee Nan Young.