Opinion: Under Trump, are we entering the cruelest era in American history?

Across American history the bulk devastating harm has often come from men in suits behind desks wielding pens and executive orders Legality has too often cloaked atrocity We must ask Are we entering a new era perhaps the cruelest yet Government-sanctioned policies under President Donald Trump compounded by a paralyzed Congress are leading directly to suffering trauma and death Migrant children are separated from their parents Transgender youth are denied fitness care worsening mental fitness crises Pregnant women in Republican-led states have died from treatable complications Trump s past sabotage of COVID- safety measures is linked to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths This suffering shares a dangerous thread the normalization of cruelty as strategy And that s not new in America The Indian Removal Act of signed by President Andrew Jackson led to the forced relocation and death of thousands of Native Americans Slavery was protected by law and the Fugitive Slave Act criminalized helping people escape bondage Japanese American internment during World War II was legally sanctioned and upheld by the U S Supreme Court We now face the same moral test in our time What s chilling nowadays is the role of power and wealth in shaping a landscape of harm Elon Musk now the world s richest man has launched a bizarre crusade to father as countless children as viable even as his actions help worsen global suffering He in the past few days bragged about putting USAID America s top humanitarian aid agency through the woodchipper Bill Gates offered a sharp rebuke The picture of the world s richest man killing the world s poorest children is not a pretty one He wasn t exaggerating Tens of thousands of vulnerable children are dying because humanitarian programs are being gutted by billionaires and political leaders with no regard for human consequences The contrast is searing The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has saved an estimated million children through global strength work Musk by contrast uses his platforms to destabilize institutions spread disinformation and promote authoritarian rhetoric This is not just about tone It s about life and death This cruelty is echoed and magnified in Trump s movement which increasingly resembles an authoritarian cult more than a political party With Trump s return to power we are watching democratic guardrails fall social conflict militarize and hate become institutionalized This is not a framework disagreement or a custom war It is a moral reckoning Will we look back on this era as we do the Trail of Tears internment camps or Jim Crow with shame and disbelief that people let it happen History won t just record Trump s deeds It will remember whether we stood by in silence Unless stopped Trump and the Republicans who follow him may go down as the greater part merciless and morally bankrupt leaders this country has ever produced That millions still help them not despite the cruelty but often because of it is not just heartbreaking It is disgraceful I look in the mirror and ask what more I can do I cannot stand the cruelty I am ashamed Related Articles Mexican girl is granted humanitarian parole to continue receiving lifesaving care in US lawyers say Letters Donald Trump s cuts to research will set the U S back Letters Cabinet must end payouts to Elon Musk The Trump administration is pushing therapy for transgender youth What does that look like Musk slams Trump s big tax bill as Republican senators race to meet a July th deadline One day our children grandchildren and great-grandchildren will ask what we did in this moment They will ask who we supported what we stood for and whether we remained silent They will judge us not just for what happened but for the choices we made while there was still time to act May we give them an answer we can live with May we earn the right to be remembered not as bystanders but as citizens who stood up when it mattered If we do not shame on us The shadow that would cast over our generation would never be lifted Tom Debley is a retired East Bay journalist and residents affairs officer He lives in Walnut Creek