Story, history of refugees repeated?

A somber story of dehumanization

Re “We owe Afghan refugees far better than this” (Editorials, June 27): The sadness and somber gravity of the pictures of “No Safe Place” were terribly touching. I roiled about the impact of such tangible tragedy, the wall that most keep erected to not feel, to not react, to not grasp how to address this situation as we are being saturated with narratives of citizen helplessness, spectacle distractions and the profound sense of distanciation shaped by our managed culture.

And here Steve Magagnini and Renée Byer come with the relentless reminder of such pervasive suffering, despair and tenderness in one of our immigrant communities. The Bee should be congratulated for its courage and the quality of this publication. Especially as the mobilization of a mass constituency radiating contempt, hatred and neofascism is going viral.

Thank you for your singular vision and the beauty captured regardless of public competence or conviction to make the critical identification to address this systemic dehumanization.

A sense of déjà vu with refugees

The headline on the editorial might as well as been the same one snatched from The Sacramento Bee some 40 years ago, except for the nationality. Instead of refugees from Afghanistan, it said Vietnamese.

It’s amazing what wars can do to the people of those nations we want to save by bringing them to our country and having them assimilate into the American way of life.

Most large cities in this country that took in large numbers of Vietnamese, Hmong and Cambodians have seen them settle in their own enclaves, creating difficult bridges to the American dream. Will the past travails of these mostly hardworking peoples be repeated with the flood of Afghans and others fleeing the wars of the Middle East? Only time will tell.

This story was originally published June 29, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Story, history of refugees repeated?."