family values america, really

America has a strange history concerning family values. In recent years, the Republican Party has worn that mantle like a choke chain about their necks. But when one takes a realistic look at what family values has meant in America one has to wonder which America they are talking about. A few historical examples serve to shed light on these dubious proclamations:

1. 400 hundred years ago slavery was introduced to America by kidnapping Africans, selling them into bondage, and parceling out family members to various plantations (selling them, of course). 
2. Coincidentally, Native Americans suffered the same fate enslavement and families broken apart. Along with the ongoing genocide of those same peoples came the forced marches, Trail of Tears, thief of Indian lands, etc. 
3. World War II saw the incarceration of Japanese Americans where families were locked in federally sponsored prisons and their possessions stolen, 
4. Jim Crow laws, many sanctioned by federal, state, and local governments, served to disenfranchise African Americans and other minorities and destroy economic opportunities and family structure.
5. Last but not least, the Trump administration's Muslim Ban has resulted in people stranded in airports, students unable to attend school, and families separated. 

Now we have entered a new phase in which new immigrants and some refugee asylum seekers are having their children stolen from them by ICE agents. This horror is fully sanctioned by the Trump administration's John Kelly, chief of staff, and the Director of Homeland Security. This program is the result of the bigot in the White House statements about Mexican rapists, MS-13 gang, created in America, and racial profiling.
Combining that with Trump and the GOP's goal of denying food stamps to working families, slashing the children' health insurance program (CHIP), and banning funding for women's healthcare one can only conclude that family values don't mean shit in America!