If you had the feeling this week as you witnessed the 59 white South African farmers enter the United States that you saw this movie before, your memory is intact.

These white South Africans, known as Afrikaners, were but a fraction of the more than 10,000 seeking refuge as of three months ago in response to land seizures conducted by the state without compensation pursuant to a new "land reform" law.

The Trump administration granted them refugee status because they believe, with good reason, that their lives may be in danger due to anger over the perceived slow pace of the land seizures.

For example, South African politician Julius Malema, leader of a communist political party called the Economic Freedom Fighters, has repeatedly called for the genocide of white South Africans, and called anyone denouncing this "crybabies."

Chants of "kill the Boer, the farmer" are repeated to cheering South African audiences numbering in thousands.

But anyone older than the age of 30 may have seen this all before. It took place in Zimbabwe, which shares a border with South Africa.

In 2000 its then-President Robert Mugabe launched his own "land reform" program that seized land from white farmers and redistributed it to Black Zimbabweans.

The land seizures were often violent and accompanied by beatings and even murder. Economically it had a longer lasting impact.

"Instead of a carefully managed initiative, the program was marked by violence, chaos, and the displacement of skilled farmers," reported Economics Online. "The reform led to a sharp decrease in agricultural production resulting in food insecurity as well as forced imports."

The food imports escalated Zimbabwe's international trade deficit, and that, combined with economic mismanagement, led to "one of the worst episodes of hyperinflation in history," and finally led to its economic collapse.

Is that what's in store for South Africa? More violence followed by economic ruin?

Despite the "kill the Boer" chants, and Julius Malema's call to "never be scared to kill," they claim they don't intend to commit violence against the Afrikaners.

Julius Malema even tempered his "never be scared to kill" remark by asserting that "I'm not calling for the killing of white people," but then added, "at least for now."

The African National Congress released a statement Tuesday that was intended to dispel fears that the South African asylum-seekers were in any danger.

They prefaced the statement by criticizing the United States: "The African National Congress registers its firm rejection of the United States government's decision to grant refugee status to 49 individuals self-identifying as Afrikaners."

(The number of refugees has been reported both as 59 and 49.)

The statement began, "Let it be categorically stated: There are no Afrikaner refugees in South Africa. No section of our society is hounded, persecuted or subject to ethnic victimisation."

But if that was intended to calm fears over the fate of the Afrikaners, a subsequent one had the exact opposite effect, much like Malema's assertion that he wasn't "calling for the killing of white people — at least for now."

The African Nation Congress claimed that "What the instigators of this falsehood [the Afrikaners] seek is not safety, but impunity from transformation. They flee not from persecution, but from justice, equality and accountability for historic privilege."

The statement was issued through the ANC's national communications manager, Mangaliso Khonza, who goes by the nickname, "Stalin."

The Babylon Bee, a satirical "news" site with the motto, "Fake News You Can Trust," was once again spot-on with this headline: "South Africa Denounces White Refugees For Leaving Before They Had A Chance To Take All Their Stuff And Kill Them."

Despite the danger the Afrikaners face in their own country, numerous liberal media figures on CNN, MSNBC, and NBC condemned their arrival.

Even the Episcopal Church, which has a decades-old partnership with the United States to resettle refugees, announced that they refuse to assist the Afrikaners.

Everyone both here and in South Africa would do well to remember civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's call 60 years ago for a color-blind society — one in which people are judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

Baseball legend Yogi Berra was known for his "Yogi-isms," such as, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." One of his most memorable "Yogi-isms" was "It's déjà vu all over again," and it is. What we're seeing play out in South Africa today is what we saw unfold in Zimbabwe a quarter-century earlier.

The people of South Africa would do well to learn from Zimbabwe's history, just as the people of our own country should take a lesson from MLK Jr.

We can all do better.

Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and is a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He's also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and a Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.