The fingertips woke with fury.

They had been pulsing with the need to write on a topic I would rather keep sweeping under the rug. But there’s no more room under the rug. So the fingertips win.

There is nothing more fascinating to me than human behavior. I’m no expert on its evolution, and I don’t pretend to know where we’re heading, but I’ve always been a faithful spectator. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been a watcher. I knew it even then. Sometimes I watch when I should be reacting.

I’ve always been drawn to the contrast, how we behave when we think no one is looking versus when we’re surrounded by others. At work and at home. With loved ones and with strangers. The way voices shift. How smiles change depending on the audience. The tilt of a head, the pitch of a laugh, all of it adapting to setting, expectation, and power.

In my fascination, I’ve watched documentaries, read books, and followed studies on how we’re influenced, no- shaped, really by forces around us. What compels me most today is not just behavior, but the orchestration behind it. The manipulation. The systems that curate our outrage, that decide what matters, until it doesn’t.

Not too long ago, the most urgent conversation in the United States was about Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police. You couldn’t escape it. It was everywhere. Slogans painted on streets. Hashtags trending nonstop. The opposing side opted for “All Lives Matter”. Protesters flooding cities. Everyone, from Nike to Google, Adidas to Amazon, picked a side. Companies donated millions. An estimated 7,750 protests took place nationwide.

The message was clear and loud: “Black Lives Matter imagines a world where Black people across the diaspora thrive, experience joy, and are not defined by their struggles. In pursuing liberation, we envision a future fully divested from police, prisons, and all punishment paradigms and which invests in justice, joy, and culture.”

Who could argue with that? What politician, if they truly believed in it, wouldn’t fight to right the wrongs?

Political parties, major corporations, celebrities, and influencers all took their stance. The American people were deeply divided. The country flipped from red to blue. I expected the winning party to follow through with legislation, both locally and nationally, to address the systemic issues they had shouted about. That’s how this is supposed to work: we vote, they deliver. Right?

I remember the Democratic presidential debates. Kamala Harris went after Joe Biden for working with segregationist senators. I was familiar with Biden’s support of the 1994 Crime Bill; I heard the racial remarks, the awkward jokes, the “you ain’t Black if you don’t vote for me” moment. Still, we were sold this image of good ol’ ice cream-loving Grandpa Joe- not the man who eulogized Robert Byrd, a former KKK member, as a mentor.

I don’t know anyone who praises a Klansman and isn’t called a racist. But I guess I’m no expert on human behavior.

And so, the performance worked. Joe won. Trump lost. The fires were put out. And then, quiet.

The signs came down. The headlines changed. Now, here we are in June 2025. Nobody’s talking about systemic racism. Not really. Not in a real, urgent way.

Now the spotlight has shifted. It’s no longer about Black lives, women’s rights, the economy, or healthcare. The headline of the moment?

Illegal immigration.

My view: We won your vote. Now here are your crumbs. We politic—not for you, the voter, but for the donors. The lobbyists. The real power behind the curtain.

And the people in power want us fighting over the browns now.

Let’s get honest with the facts. President Obama, our first Black president and one of the most beloved in recent memory, oversaw the deportation of over 5.3 million people during his two terms. That’s not an estimate. That’s history.

I voted for Obama twice. But I don’t remember him campaigning on mass deportation. I do remember “Sí se puede” ringing through rallies like a promise to brown communities. And we showed up for him.

But during his presidency, as millions were deported, I don’t recall Los Angeles burning. No coast to coast outrage. No one calling him “King Obama.” He was gently nicknamed "Deporter-in-Chief". And I certainly don’t remember white allies rising up for the Latino community.

We were content with a symbolic win. America had elected a Black president- that had to mean we were progressing, right?

But what does it mean when a Black president deports millions without protest, while a white one, deporting fewer, is branded a racist?

President Biden deported significantly more Haitians than the last three presidents combined. That was a major blow to our South Florida community. Yet I don’t remember national rage. Who was protesting for our Haitian immigrants, those escaping natural disasters, political instability, and economic collapse?

What does it mean when an actual segregation sympathizer gets rebranded as the gentle grandfather who loves ice cream?

What does it mean when political promises never translate into policy?

Where’s the legislation to codify Roe v. Wade?

Where’s the sweeping reform to dismantle systemic racism?

Where’s the expanded, humane immigration system?

Nowhere. And maybe it’s not an accident. Because solving these problems would take away the fire. The headline. The shiny carrot they dangle every four years. 

But this is just a drop in the bucket, a never-ending cycle of power and manipulation. And I’m afraid immigration will soon be slighted by the next big money maker: World War III. 

I wonder what slogans will rise to defend the dropping of bombs, and which ones will be born in opposition.

It takes only one trained dog to round up sheep.

And so we baa, baa.

We bleep, we bleep.

"Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their corporate sponsors." - Caroline Baum