#WeNeedToTalk- How Many Warnings Do We Need?
Before History repeats itself completely.
I sit here watching in disgust as history repeats itself and we act as if it’s “different.” Why do we teach about slavery, the Holocaust, and Japanese internment camps if knowing that history doesn’t prevent us from repeating it? Why do we walk through museums and memorials and watch documentaries of what humanity allowed, convinced that we’ve evolved, when it’s so blatantly clear that we haven’t?
The warning signs aren't even subtle anymore. They're loud and blatant. And somehow, still, ignored—and even worse, accepted.
We saw how Hitler came to power step by step, day by day. We learned how his rhetoric normalized hate, how laws slowly took away rights, how the media was manipulated, and how people were pushed into complicity with fear, nationalism, and the need to believe “it’s not that bad.”
We saw how slavery wasn’t just a Southern institution but a foundational American system that was defended by law and religion, while most people looked away or found ways to justify their comfort while other humans suffered.
We saw how Japanese Americans were rounded up and imprisoned in camps during World War II—how they were taken from their homes out of fear disguised as patriotism. And how most people didn’t protest, but actually approved.
America is comically evil, and history has never been shy about telling us what happens when we stop paying attention.
So why are we so comfortable watching it all unfold again?
Evil leaders like Trump gain traction by vilifying “others” and convincing you to buy into it: LGBTQ+ communities, immigrants, the poor, Black and brown people, journalists, teachers—truly anyone who doesn’t conform to this version of power.
We see the book bans and the attacks on education. We see the aggressive efforts to actually rewrite history to protect whiteness from discomfort. We see the dehumanization in real time, the concentration camps being built—and somehow, it still feels like too many people are waiting for a more dramatic line to be crossed, as if that line hasn’t already been crossed a dozen times.
And no, it won’t look exactly like it did last time. The next Holocaust, the next internment camps, the next version of slavery—it will just all feel very familiar, with obvious signs of when and how it could have been prevented. Because when we look back, we will ask yet again: how could people have let this happen?
And it’s not all people. It’s the ones who didn’t want to seem “too political,” the ones who were tired, the ones who didn’t know what to do, the ones who hoped someone else would step in, the ones who said, “It can’t happen here,” and the ones who were in denial.
So I have to ask: How many warnings do we need?
This is the most crucial time, imo to call your representatives. I called mine right after the vote and pointed out several things: the damage won't happen until after the midterms. Make the ads immediately so the Rs own it. Note that only poc immigrants are being taken by ICE, when there's over 300k white immigrants. Zero white people have been detained or deported. Zero. If that's not obvious I don't know what is. Don't stop talking! Ever! Thank you, Malynda for this ❤️ space!
The entire situation is grotesque. The concentration camp they have built in Florida, that flooded already, is appalling. As with everything else being done, the cruelty is the point.