Perhaps you are of the mindset that things will change for the better with time. Perhaps you have not paid attention to history. Like many Americans you may not know the name Harlan Carter. If you’re from Texas or you were an adolescent in 1954 you may have heard of Harlan Carter then in relationship to the US Border patrol and border policy. Harlan Carter was by that time the head of the US border patrol.
Harlan’s story however began much earlier than that. Carter was born in Granbury, Texas in 1913. At 17 years of age he killed Mexican teenager Ramon Casiano after Casiano refused to be taken back to Carters home by force. Carter was subsequently tried and found guilty of murder. This was Texas, on review the conviction was overturned and Harlan was freed. This should have been enough to have prevented Harlan from being part of the US border patrol apparatus. It should have but it wasn’t. Harlan joined the Border Patrol and rose to lead that organization.
In 1954 the Mexican repatriation act came into play. Harlan Carter as head of the US Border Patrol led the charge for Operation Wetback rounding up and deporting Mexican families that were targeted for expulsion from American. Good old Harlan did a bang up job. Carter left government service in 1970. In 1975 he went to work for the NRA. Carter helped to reshape the NRA from a hunting focused group into a right wing gun rights organization. Harlan Carter worked for the NRA until 1985.
The Border Patrol policy ushered in under Donald J. Trump was a reconstitution of Operation Wetback. What we can learn from the legacy of Harlan Carter is that things don’t change on their own. Change requires a catalyst , an awareness that a different way of doing things is necessary. Are you ready to stop scapegoating and be the catalyst for a better America??
Think!!
Eyes Wide 👀 Open!!!