The Changing Face of America
I’ve been very upset by the recent immigration law passed in Arizona., for many reasons, really. In writing, it doesn’t necessarily seem too troubling. After all, it’s only meant to enforce laws that are already in place. What’s really troubling me is what is not in writing, what not even the proponents of the law seem to be able to articulate, and that is, how will law enforcement be trained to interpret this law, how will it be enforced, where do they draw the line and what will this ultimately lead to? But even beyond that, the most troubling question to me is whether this even has anything to do with undocumented immigrants at all, or is there more at the root of this legislation that maybe the legislators or many other Americans are not willing to admit? Could it be that deep down inside this is really about the changing face of America and how uncomfortable it is making so many across this great country of ours? I’m afraid that the answer may be yes, at least for a good number of people.
The image that is forever engrained in my brain is one that I saw while watching CNN’s Latino in America (As a Latina, I was NOT a big fan of that show, but that’s an entirely different blog!). They were featuring an immigration rally in New Mexico, I believe, and there was a gentleman spraying a can of disinfectant toward the group of Latinos who were marching in favor of the undocumented immigrants. To me, that image spoke volumes. It told me that this anger really didn’t seem to be directed at the fact that immigrants were breaking a law or taking good jobs away from the general population, neither of which I believe, by the way. The anger really seemed to be born out of this belief that these “dirty” undocumented Latinos, that they were forced to share a common space with, were somehow sub-human, and definitely not in any way, shape or form equal to them. This sentiment of superiority over Latinos, be it legal or illegal, was so scary and repulsive to me, and it made me wonder about the direction we were heading in as a country. I get the strong sense that, to this extreme group of anti-illegal immigrants, it doesn’t really matter if we Latinos are here legally or not, either way, we don’t really deserve to be here.
If there’s one thing we can count on, it’s that the debate and the fear is sure to intensify, especially with Hispanics projected to be about 25% of the U.S. population by 2050. It makes me wonder what kind of laws we might expect then? Who knows, maybe speaking Spanish will be punishable by fines and/or jail time too? Let’s hope not.
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Really Arizona!!!
I’m not a politician or claim to know all the laws of our nation but what is going on in Arizona is a disgrace. A disgrace to the foundation that this great country we live in was founded. This is a small part of our Declaration of Independence…
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
So I guess these Right don’t exist anymore, well at least they don’t if you’re brown and look as certain way.
The immigration debate is a complex thing and I don’t have a solution but this is clearly a step in the wrong direction.
Rights for AMERICAN citizen, not illegal immigrants
Bob, thanks for reaching out. I know agree that illegal immigration needs to be addressed, I guess I’m just trying to say I’m not sure the Arizona law is the best way to go about doing that. I believe in rights for American citizens too, and I actually think this SB 1070 law strips away some of the rights and freedoms that we have enjoyed as Americans. When a law threatens to single out a group and make them do something that it’s not requiring another group to do, that starts to become a problem. Either way, I appreciate your feedback.
This law does nada to stop illegal immigration, it does not add a border, nor add more border patrol agents, it simply makes it legal to harass the fastest growing segment in America. I’m glad I don’t reside in AZ because it’s going to get ugly….
It seems that the entire Arizona Legislature and Governor Brewer’s Office all skipped Social Studies class the day they covered a document called the US Constitution–you know, the one that trumps state law, protects civil rights and keeps us from having to live in a police state.
This statute is vague, ambiguous and erratic. It’s a slippery slope. I wonder if French, Russian, or Chinese speakers will be pulled over the road in Arizona just as likely as Spanish speakers. Que locura!
What are Mexico’s immigration laws?
Bob, I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know much about Mexico’s immigration laws, but I don’t think that’s as relevant, to be honest. As am American, born and raised here, I’m concerned with our laws and how that affects us here. Now, don’t get me wrong, I totally think that our immigration system is broken and desperately needs an overhaul. Washington is playing a game of hot potato with this issue and no one wants to take it head on because they know it’s a very heated debate and they might lose a lot of political capital. I bet you we both agree that something must be done, so at least that’s a start to us trying to better understand one another. Bob, thanks for reaching out
By the way, there are some “Boycott Arizona” Facebook groups popping up, for those of you that want to join in. I heard that one of them have over 700,000 members.
Lawsuits beginning: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/29/arizona-immigration-lawsuit_n_557311.html
The “immigration movement” lost all its steam 4 years ago and it’s back. Unfortunately, it takes new battlefronts to restart it, like this bullshit racist law from AZ, but I think that in the end, the movement will stand to gain from battles like these, especially since it’s drafters are already retreating from it and folks from John Q. citizen to the Justice Dept. are gearing up to sue. I hope that this new battle will finally lead to the necessary and humane reforms that we need.
It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out, particularly from a political standpoint as the Dems assess if they have political capital left to make a strong push for reform and the Republicans/Tea Partiers get more and more divided on the issue: See Marco Rubio position – internal conflict on being Latino and Republican – Latino side won.
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If you’re Latino and you’re Republican raise your hand. (Tumbleweeds)
How is it racist. What if a Hispanic is pulled over by a Hispanic police officer or if a Polish immigrant is pulled over by a Irish American police officer.
Immigration is not always about Hispanics.
Update: Rubio changes his mind. Same day, he delivers speech in Spanish to his “base”.
No hay peor astilla que la del mismo palo.
Los americanos que hoy repudian la inmigración mayoritariamente latina o hispanoparlante, para ser más exactos, provienen de aquellos inmigrantes irlandeses, polacos, alemanes, ingleses, judíos, italianos, chinos, japoneses, etc. que llegaron huyendo de la intolerancia, la persecución racial, la guerra, y el hambre en sus respectivos países y que colonizaron e hicieron progresar a este país como un crisol de razas y nacionalidades. Otros vinieron como esclavos y los siguieron siendo, discriminados y con sus derechos limitados hasta después de mediados del siglo XX.
De los verdaderos americanos, los indígenas, solamente queda un puñado diseminado en reservaciones por todo el país, ya que fueron exterminados y sus tierras invadidas y robadas por estos inmigrantes a los cuales se les llamó elegantemente “colonos”.
¡Que egoísmo el de quienes hoy le niegan a otros inmigrantes, que huyen del hambre, el desempleo, la falta de libertad, las catástrofes naturales, la inseguridad o las dictaduras de sus respectivos países, los mismos derechos de los cuales disfrutaron sus padres, abuelos, bisabuelos, etc.!!!
Tienen miedo de que los hispanos les robemos el país, cuando sus antepasados se los robaron a los indios. No aceptan que los hispanos no hablen inglés, cuando muchos de sus padres y abuelos siguieron hablando solamente su lengua original hasta morirse.
Y lo peor es que la mayoría de los americanos no hablan inglés, en el estricto sentido de la palabra, ya que el inglés americano es una lengua bastarda, cúmulo de adaptaciones de vocablos extranjeros, de la cual se mofan los ingleses verdaderos, los que hablan el correcto idioma. Personalmente tuve ocasión de trabajar en una empresa en la cual nadie hablaba español, pero además todos los americanos provenían de diferentes estados y lo cómico del asunto es que entre ellos muchas veces no entendían lo que el otro estaba diciendo, debido a los diferentes acentos y dialectos regionales. Pongan a hablar a un redneck de Fort Lauderdale con un redneck de Arkansas y se morirán de risa.
No es el pueblo americano el más culto ni el más informado del mundo. Por el énfasis que la educación americana hace en las materias prácticas, como las matemáticas y las ciencias, la cultura general, la formación humanística, el aprender que existen otras culturas en el mundo tan respetables todas ellas, el saber cosas elementales a nivel de geografía e historia universal, ellos, pobrecitos, piensan que son el ombligo del mundo, la última Coca-Cola del desierto. Y quizás lo fueron hace años, pero hoy están en decadencia, igual que muchos países europeos y lo único que los podrá salvar será una inyección de sangre nueva, de gente trabajadora, algunos de ellos con una cultura muy superior a la media americana y que pueden aportar mucho, no sólo en aquellos trabajos que los nativos consideran denigrantes o mal pagados, sino a todo nivel:
Ya tenemos dos astronautas hispanos que han surcado el espacio exterior, científicos de las más diversas disciplinas que se destacan a nivel de premios internacionales, el bisturí laser no lo inventó un nativo, sino un latinoamericano, por sólo citar un ejemplo.
Pero por más que se opongan, la realidad es muy tozuda, y lo que ellos tanto temen, que algún día pierdan el control político del que consideran SU PAIS, que es de todos nosotros, inexorablemente ocurrirá y ya veremos a un Pérez o un Gómez en la Casa Blanca. Ese hombre o mujer ya ha nacido y se está preparando para tomar control en unos cuantos años. Y que conste que mi apellido es Jones, pero me eduqué fuera de Estados Unidos y aunque nací en territorio americano mi cultura y formación es básicamente latina. En estos momentos estoy viendo Univisión, que tiene un interesante debate sobre Inmigración, no se lo pierdan.