This is not about immigration, but about racism.

This is not about immigration. It is about racial profiling and racism. I know that many here at DU do not support the plight of undocumented immigrants. Many, perhaps only some, but my perception is many, seem to think that they are burdening the school system, the health care system and whatnot. However, this post is really not an immigration post. It is in fact about rampant racism. The fact is what we have occurring is an orchestrated and state supported attempt to target a certain race for deportation. I work in the school system as an assistant principal and formerly a bilingual education teacher. I have worked with documented and undocumented immigrants for years. For the most part, they are fine individuals struggling to make a living in a new country but it is better than what they left so they will accept slave wages with no benefits. They put their children in our school systems so that they may receive a quality education, learn English and one day be productive citizens. Some of you might ask, why in the world are we teaching immigrant kids especially the undocumented ones? My simple answer is that to not educate them will lead to even greater societal problems plus it is completely legal and schools must accept all children even undocumented ones according to this SCOTUS decision, http://tourolaw.edu/PATCH/Plyler/.

Back to what is occurring currently in the city where I work…The Irving Police Department in conjunction with immigration officials are targeting apartment complexes, setting up road blocks and checking IDs, and at times walking house to house asking for identification of individuals. If the individuals can not produce the documents necessary to prove that they are either citizens or here under the appropriate work, travel or tourist visas, they are arrested, then deported. They care nothing for families. The men usually are rounded up and sent to the border almost immediately. Family members are split apart and whereabouts of family members are not known until the deported family member can find a phone and call home usually from the Mexican border even if the person in question is not from Mexico! Families are so scared that they are pulling their children out of school at alarming rates. Please read this brief article. http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_277112315.html

Being the only administrator that speaks Spanish on campus, I have spoken to at least 10 families that have pulled some 15 children out of school only because of fear and intimidation. This is unacceptable! Are we Nazis? Where are our humanistic values of right and wrong?

I know what some of you are saying. They broke our rules and brought these problems on themselves. I do not deny that they broke rules, but my problem is the way my brainless government is trying to remedy the problem. If this is simply a legal operation rounding up undocumented workers, why are the police and immigration agents only targeting Hispanics? Why do I not hear that the police and immigration agents are also investigating known areas where there are Chinese immigrants, Korean immigrants, Vietnamese immigrants, Pakistani immigrants, Indian immigrants, African immigrants. Heck, we just received a girl two weeks ago from French speaking Canada. Should we have checked to make sure she entered legally? Oh wait, she looks Anglo. No problems exist there.

The police are so bold that they set up a checkpoint in front of my school at drop-off time between 7:00 and 8:00 am several times in the last few weeks. I was caught in the checkpoints and the second time this happened I asked them specifically what they were looking for after I identified myself as the Asst. Principal. The first time I was just waved through the checkpoint. The officer told me that the police were enforcing seat belts and child seat laws. Okay fine, but after talking to one of my parents who has now withdrawn his child, he stated that they were in fact doing the seatbelt and car seat checks and also taking down plate numbers which they used to track people back to their homes. Many of the parents then received visits from immigration and police. He stated they were very nice, but only spoke English to them and handed them a sheet of paper which he thinks was a paper that asked for their signature verifying that only these people live at this residence. His name and his wife’s name were already on the paper. How did they get this info? The plates? The apartment manager? Why these Hispanics? Only Hispanic parents have reported these visits to me. Why wouldn’t they visit others if they are only verifying addresses?

Why am I posting this today? Well, today was the straw the broke the camel’s back. We had a group of young kids come in crying. They were all Hispanic girls and boys. Apparently on the way to school a group of special education children riding a bus and several students riding with parents to school came across a “raid” or some sort of large police car stop. The police were being rather rough with a group of young Hispanic men. They handcuffed all of them and put them on the ground face down. This could be just a stop of hardened criminals, but the bus driver reported to us, when we asked why the children were upset, that the police were doing another “round up.” He saw the immigration van parked on a side street near the stopped car and handcuffed men. The kids were all afraid that this was going to happen to their dads as well. The ironic thing is that all of the children I saw crying or upset, some as old as 4th grade, are all here legally! Our counselors have been quite busy.

Racism is alive and well. What we are seeing is racial profiling at its most obvious and obnoxious, but not many seem to care. In fact, asinine citizens who see issues as black and white have no problem with this. However, if we really want to solve this problem, we, as a country, need to stop attacking the immigrants and start attacking the companies that continue to hire undocumented workers. Building a wall is stupid and will not work plus it is yet another waste of taxpayer’s money. Large scale harassment operations like the one taking place now is not going to work either. The government needs to attack and enforce rules governing the hiring of these individuals. The only reason they come is because there is work. Hypocritically, the government attacks the very immigrants that it wants to exploit as cheap labor. I want to see huge fines imposed on Brinker International, on Pilgrim's Pride or on the multitude of construction and farming agencies that continue to employ undocumented workers. If you want to stem the tide of undocumented workers, stop giving them a reason to return time and time again.

In the meantime I have children to teach. The government is already making this difficult with the incredibly ineffective NCLB and now I have kids that are scared that they won’t see their parents when they get home. Pathetic beyond belief.

For those who do not know to what I am referring. Please see http://cbs11tv.com/local/local_story_316163404.html

are taking it out on those who can't defend themselves.

workers as a threat as do some of our politicians but really the ones hurting labor are the cheap labor conservatives! I am not sure why that is so hard to understand for some. At any rate, what is happening here is really racism to which all should be opposed, period.

But I think the problem is that there are 12 million illegal aliens that came in under the Bush Administration because he did absolutely nothing to try and stop it. I suspect he did this as a favor to his buddy Fox. Of course, once they're here, it's not likely that they'd go back to Mexico to vote for a labor leader who will challenge a conservative in Mexico. That would actually give them a chance to get a piece of the pie in their own country, with proper represenation in their own country.

But now you have this flood of 12 million immigrants that came in during Bush's term. What do you do? Personally, I think they should be processed and those who managed to keep their noses clean, should be given some kind of opportunity to become citizens, but immigrants who were already here and who legally applied for citizenship, should go first. Anyone of the illegal aliens who have a prison record, should be returned to their country.

And, to keep tempers down, I think it would be wise if some guidelines were set and those who support Mexican immigration, should be given advice on how not to hand anti-immigration rednecks a photo opportunity to increase the hatred. i.e., don't fly the Mexican flag over the American flag; or, don't demand eliminating 250 years of American soveriegnity in order to claim this land for Mexico.

Believe me, it doesn't take much to raise their suspicions. My father fought in WWII, a 17 year old enlistee, and when I had that discussion with the son of the confederacy, and told him I was partly Mexican, he recoiled in shock.

As I spoke to one parent who told me he came from Argentina almost ten years on a work visa which later expired told me, he would have probably gone back home but there was much more work here than in Argentina with or without a visa. Again, it all goes back to what the real problem is which is the cheap labor mentality. He says he loves this country and his children only know this country. Yet, now he is afraid that authorities are targeting him because of his darker skin and jet black hair when, except for not renewing his visa, he has done nothing else wrong.

was Argentinian, and not get the reaction I got from the redneck, even though I'm a full citizen of America, because I admitted I was part Mexican-American. I told him I was Panamanian first, and there was no reaction on his face. Then I told him I was part Mexican-American and he raised his brows and took a step back. It's clearly prejudice at play. And if they don't understand who they're hating, it's not likely that legislation will be written properly to address the real problems.

was born in Coahuila, Mexico. Mexican is a bad word. It disgusts me.

They have to hate someone, and Rush Limbaugh, their king, tells them who.

authority does is wrong.

Everybody is afraid to be independent and be their own person, so the grunts will repeat whatever the bossmen want to hear. And if someone dares to contradict them, they get pounded into the ground.

Latinos need to be very selective about who they give their support to. They need to understand the incredible prejudice against them that's coming from the Republican party.

And those Latinos that call themselves repukes really do not act in the slightest like Latinos. Their heritage may be Latino but they act like European whites. I should know. I have worked with Hispanics for years and I'm white as they come.

Yes, we are Nazis.

I wish you'd submit this to OpEdNews. If you take out the refs to DU in the opening, it could go right up.

and that they figure out which AP is spouting off political views. Thanks though. If I can cover my identity more I will.

is the fastest growing form of incarceration in the country, and that about a quarter of them have health conditions. The segment she's doing is aboout people who have died in custody.

Thanks for pointing me to it.

I've witnessed a few raids and every one makes me physically ill.

All I can do is shout "Si, Se puede" and quietly weep for those who just wanted refuge from an economic disaster.

Thanks, K, R, etc.

And laws are already in place for that - check into the I-9s and make sure they're filled out accurately.

They shouldn't be harassing people.

:thumbsup:

The police should be rounding up the employers, instead. That would eliminate racial profiling and quickly put a stop to hiring illegal workers.

If they are ignoring the employers, this is all a tremendous waste of time and resources, not to mention creating ill-will with Hispanic-American citizens.

who have strong roots in Mexico. My grandfather is from Mexico as an American born to first generation Irish parents. I married a beautiful woman is half-Mexican and my kids therefore are a quarter Mexican. Sadly, this is not just an issue that affects me professionally but also personally.

You know where I am with this issue. Like you, I choose to side with my kids at my school. What is happening to them is horrific. Absolutely horrific. And yes, you bet it is racism. As a child of the 60s, I honestly never believed we would see this ugly bigotry rear its head again.

All Americans who condone what the police are doing in your city should be ashamed. All Americans who call these human beings "illegals" should be ashamed. They are contributing to the ugly racism that has penetrated our culture. It will take brave souls like you to fight back, Maestro. Thank you so much for this sad and (unfortunately) accurate description of what our bigotry as a society has brought into the lives of our children.

The situation has gotten so bad that our counselors were called into a meeting at admin today to discuss how to deal with the frayed nerves of our children and parents. Our building engineer(janitor) who is from Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic was pulled over recently. He was asked for id and where he worked. He responded that he worked at my school. The policemen responded "No way." My engineer said something along the lines of "Yes, yes I do." He speaks with a heavy accent but he certainly speaks English and he is one of the absolute nicest people around. The policemen had already asked for his driver's license, but now asked him directly, "Are you a citizen?" To which my engineer responded, "No I am a citizen of (insert his country), but I am a legal resident here." The policemen asked if he had papers to prove it. My engineer said he laughed and had all that documentation at home. The office then took his license, ran it through the computer, and then said he could go after returning his license to him. My question to my engineer was why he was pulled over in the first place. He said he didn't know. Talk about profiling!

citizenship of everyone they pull over. But something tells me they won't be checking mine, as I am an anglo soccer mom.

Also don't know if you have heard about what's happening in Kansas City. I have blogged a bit here about this. The mayor appointed a woman who is a leader for the local minuteman chapter to the city parks board. There is a huge Hispanic community in KC and they were a significant factor in getting this new mayor elected in March. So they immediately asked him to remove this woman from the parks board but he refused. That was in June. A few weeks ago, LaRaza announced that they were canceling their convention scheduled for KC next year. Then NAACP did the same. The mayor continues to refuse to ask this woman to step down. And now the minutemen have announced they will hold their national convention here the first weekend in December. This controversy has really brought out the racists in this area and it is getting uglier and uglier. And the city stands to lose millions of dollars if these conventions are canceled. It's a huge mess.

And we get to host the minutemen. Whoop too doo.

What a racist piece of shit! And it looks like you will be hosting more. Give'em hell!

And the other board members thought I was crazy. I said he just didn't seem very progressive to me. Now 6 months later, they all understand what I was getting at. The upside is I have earned the respect of my fellow board members. LOL

How can the HW patrol do that? I don't carry my passports, birth certificate or even social security number with me. Why would they expect anyone else too?

I can't imagine this new policy will last long.

I wrote Proud3BLib instead of Proud2BLib. :rofl:

:rofl:

I didn't read anything about "checkpoints" where is this suppose to be happening?

"Back to what is occurring currently in the city where I work…The Irving Police Department in conjunction with immigration officials are targeting apartment complexes, setting up road blocks and checking IDs, and at times walking house to house asking for identification of individuals. If the individuals can not produce the documents necessary to prove that they are either citizens or here under the appropriate work, travel or tourist visas, they are arrested, then deported. They care nothing for families. The men usually are rounded up and sent to the border almost immediately. Family members are split apart and whereabouts of family members are not known until the deported family member can find a phone and call home usually from the Mexican border even if the person in question is not from Mexico! Families are so scared that they are pulling their children out of school at alarming rates. Please read this brief article." http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_277112315.htm...

There were two motorcycle police officers in the middle of the street outside of my school where they stopped every car that passed by. And there was another police officer in a squad car just down the street from the school in an apartment complex parking lot. That is what I called the "checkpoint."

:hide:

It's also an opinion piece.

Whatever.

:eyes:

Man, you are tough crowd. I even offered my opinion on how to really fix the perceived problem. What is your solution?

see the need to bother defending it... :banghead:

:sarcasm:

Homeland uber alles!

:puke:

Has he ever been detained by them?

I'll admit ot overstating a tiny bit for effect, but he has been singled out a few times.

Glad things have gotten better. :hi:

I said that what is happening in the city where I work is racist. Sorry for the confusion.

I've been meaning to post this for a while but have just been to exhausted to write it all out.

it just fine. This is heartbreaking, not only for the kids, but the poor immigrants as well. Why do we always beat up on the most vulnerable among us. There was another story on DU about homeless people being harrassed by authorities in San Francisco. Why don't they just go get whips and publically beat up the immigrants and the homeless. They are the most helpless among us with the least rights. Let's just go beat them up and get it over with.

btw that money to build the wall on the border could have been better used by the schools to educate all children not just immigrant children.

Just haul them out and drive to the Rio Grande and chuck them in the water!

And money for education? What are you talking about? * has to pay for the war, a wall, needless intimidation tactics performed by government, state and city officials. Heck he even has to cut SCHIPS for children of the poor to pay for his wet dream fantasies.

Thanks for your support. :hug:

I love my state, but this is just too much. And my SO wonders why I don't want to raise a family here. What's happening to our hispanic population is just one of many issues I have with TX.

That is one area that is difficult to reconcile, but my heart is here as my family has roots here going back generations on both sides of my family. What has happened to Hispanics here in Texas in the past and currently is deplorable. The only Hispanics that seem to go places are the ones that act like Anglos like Gonzo for example. And he turned out to be a lying piece of shit!

Roadblocks are unconstitutional. Did they suspend the fourth amendment in your area? Is the bill of rights no longer valid in "Bush's Amerika"? I hope the ACLU gets involved in this and sues the crap out of the Irving Police Department & immigration officials.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Perhaps because they working in conjunction with the immigration officials they can skirt around the 4th amendment. :shrug: It's beyond me. This seems so obviously illegal, I am not sure how the Dept. has a leg to stand on, but then again, when the federal government doesn't have a problem with it, laws, civil rights, etc...are easily ignored. :eyes:

If it can be proven that they only ask for papers from Hispanic people they are in deep violation of the law. I wonder what happens if someone refuses to produce their papers? Where is the probable cause in skin color?
Are the police wearing their jackboots and deaths head insignia because it sure SOUNDS like Nazi Germany.

happens. However, the police is always working in conjunction with immigration officials. I believe they can ask for the papers but not the police. That is how they are getting around this I think.

I didn't think the police could do that to search for papers. I also don't think they can just knock on your door and ask you for your papers. Or at least you don't have to comply. I am not sure I could prove I was a citizen. I don't have a passport. If I did, it and my birth certificate would probably be in a safe deposit box and not at my home.

papers but it is more likely they are there verifying addressess and occupants in the home/apartment. That is what it sounds like to me based on what this father told me. He really wasn't sure what he was signing but he did understand that they asked to speak to the head of the househeld. His translation to me in Spanish was "amo del hogar" which would roughly translate as what I described. Why they were collecting this info I am not sure.

As for the roadblock, I don't think it would qualify as a roadblock but more like one of those checkpoints like the police do when looking for drunk drivers so I don't think what they did was illegal, but in front of a school that serves a high immigrant population given the cultural and political environment in the city currently is/was initmidating to say the least.

We interfere with Mexico's elections and internal politics, which forces people to come here, where they are exploited.

On the other hand, they are being used against people like me, which makes it REALLY hard to sympathize with them, especially when groups of men are intimidating the women in my area and selling drugs(not that I blame them- wages suck here).

Because there are so many of them here, employers in the area offer you dirt for pay, and when you ask for a "living wage," they show you the door.

People can call me insensitive, but they need to go home and depose the oligarchs that are making their lives impossible for them, while living like gods. We need to do our part by making our gov't stop destroying any left leaning governments that spring up on this continent and elsewhere, and put a leash on the corps that want to steal these countries' natural resources and farmland.

This is not something that can be solved by taking all of them in- we already have poverty problems among 3rd or more generational americans.

...(the first, of course, being sexism, 'cause there's so MANY penisless people in the world.) But it's ALWAYS about discrimination. Us vs. Them. Any time you have a group of people whose "Them"-ness is easy to spot, you get the dynamic.

Skin color is a REALLY easy "Them"-identifier. Brown=Them. Them is not Us, therefore Them is bad, and we don't want Them. Them is DIFFERENT from Us, and therefore threatening. Them is a danger to Us's way of life, share of the economic pie, property values, whatever.

There are only four ways of dealing with Them:

1. Physically exclude Them
If you can afford the cost on this one, it's a quick solution to the problem, an easy one to avoid looking at the downside of, and therefore always the first and most popular choice. The problem is that the cost keeps escalating, and the downsides catch up with you sooner or later.

2. Turn Them into Us
That is, 'assimilate' Them so thoroughly that only vestigial physical characteristics of their "Them"-ness remain. This used to be a good compromise solution, but the problem was that it took a long time, sometimes generations. In recent decades, this solution has been rendered unworkable by an increasing insistence on the part of Them on retaining their "Them"-ness and resisting assimilation. It's still less costly than solution one, and if you're patient enough, it can work out alright.

3. Turn into Them
Never happen. Equivalent to death. Only possibly when you ARE "Them" and "Us" imposes it on you by force.

4. Tolerate Some "Them"-ness, Adopt Some "Them"-ness, and Promote Some Assimilation
Dead cheap, but requires intelligence, open-mindedness, a willingness to take risks, and great patience. None of which remain as major character elements of the American culture.

As you can see, our options are pretty limited. Why does it surprise anyone that #1 is the default (and only) choice?

ironically,
Bright

If so, tell them to leave.

If not, have somebody sit out with a camera and tape them. Go ahead and tell them you think they're being racist, and you're not going to stand for it at your school.

And this is what we are trying to tell the parents...that the school is a safe zone! But the imtimidation tactics are too much for some.

I have to careful the way I deal with the police in my position because quite frankly we need them for the truly serious situations that occurr around here. In fact, I had to remove a student just last week from school and place him in alternative school because he grabbed my throat yelling all sorts of obscenities at me. The police came, filed charges and the kid is gone. My position requires me to walk a very fine line of supporting the police and at the same time calling them out when I believe they are doing something wrong. Taping them might cross that line or at least get me in trouble with my district bosses and I need this job just like anybody else needs a job.

If the police are hurting your students, and it sounds like they are, then you've got an obligation to do something about it. I understand that job security can be an issue. That's why it's hard to take a stand.

a safe environment. Without that, how can I expect them to learn. However since the police are off campus and ironically I work with them at certain times, I can't directly confront them on this, but please know that the next time I run into my police "friends" this will be a topic of conversation.

Your job at protecting the students doesn't end when they step off the campus property line.

"I can't directly confront them on this"

I really think you should try.

I guess I am not going to please you, but believe me I have done much to protect the rights of these kids dating back years. If you do not think I am confrontational enough, I'm sorry. I've already been at it with my upper admin when it comes to teaching children learning English which is a battle I basically won along with the others that waged the same fight with me. Here is just one example of one of the articles I wrote in support of language rights years ago.

An Opinion on Bilingual Education

"Learning another language
will actually bring cultures together"

by Maestro
Irving, Texas

Ron Unz has just eliminated bilingual education in California. In addition, I have just learned that Ron Unz supporters are planning strategy to disrupt bilingual education in Arizona. Just this last Spring Linda Chavez and her Center for Equal Opportunity were soliciting people for a lawsuit against Albuquerque's bilingual program enticing them to join as plaintiffs with a reward of $10,000 in damages. What does this tell me? It tells me that when you cant find anyone to willingly support your ideology, you bribe them or as is the case of Ron Unz, you invest millions in a public opinion campaign against what you dislike. It is this type of false propaganda and desperate actions that we have to counter as supporters of English language learners and bilingual education.

Bilingual educators continue to hear the ineffectiveness argument from the English Only movement. The attacks we suffer are not because the programs are totally ineffective. Some indeed are, I admit. Nothing is perfect. The attacks come from those who can not stand to live in a pluralistic society made up of different languages and ideas. The attacks come from those that see language diversity as somehow a threat to democracy and divisive. Do some have such an inferiority complex to believe that someone is conspiring against them just because they choose to speak another language? By the way, English will and should be the dominant language of the U.S. but at the exclusion of all others?

The ignorance and bias blinds those that oppose bilingual education. Leo Sorensen, the chairman of English Language Advocates, ELA, in a newsletter sent out March 23, 1998 urges all who support English, as if we don't, to write Congress and lobby for the end of "cancerous" bilingual education programs. He uses anecdotal evidence to drive his case home. Then he states that he supports being bilingual, but cautions, "Without a base of knowledge in one language, it is nearly impossible to master others." He just validated why bilingual education exists! Since many children have a base of knowledge in a language other than English, we need to nurture and expand on that knowledge while gradually teaching the academic English skills necessary to be a successful member of American society.

The English Only movement does not care to learn about successful theory and methodology no matter how convincing it is. To the members of this movement, bilingual education is something very sinister and subversive. They spread their fear. The media plays on this fear and the children suffer.

What is it that strikes such fear in the hearts of the English Only movement that it resorts to such irrational and zealous acts in its support of a monolingual society? I have come to understand that some support English Only initiatives because people see bilingual education as a way to "un-Americanize" the United States. Bilingual education leads to the un-Americanization of the United States? This leads me to more questions. Who is American? What does that person look like? Can that person only speak one language? Does that person's heritage have to be Indo-European? If it's not, should we ignore the ancestral culture and language and simply focus on what is perceived to be American, apple pie, the pilgrims, and so forth? Should we remind the students how Hispanic some of the origins of the U.S. are? Do the opponents think that I and all other bilingual educators want to usurp the American democracy and create a new America? Bilingual education simply uses a native language in the service of English...nothing more, nothing less. There are no conspiracies here.

The claim that language is divisive is, too, a misconception. Rarely are wars fought over language. Cultural divisions occur because of misunderstandings between ethnic groups not because they speak a different language. Religious and territorial disputes are much more divisive than language ever will be. Learning another language will actually bring cultures together.

Perhaps the detractors of bilingual education are afraid that they will lose power. Maybe they fear that English will lose its dominance. Probably more than anything I believe they fear they won't fit in with the new face of society. Society just like language is dynamic and ever-changing. We are witnesses to huge demographic shifts and instead of resisting these shifts, I suggest that the opponents of bilingual education work with us to help the diverging cultures come together by supporting a multilingual, multicultural education system.

The time has come for the English Only movement to promote what it stands for, English. To do this, they too must support bilingual education. To do anything else would be to promote only the acquisition of conversational English which does nothing to help the child progress academically. Is that what they want?

Local news reported last night that in Irving, many of the Hispanic families didn't let their children go to school yesterday for fear of running into this stuff. And in a few extreme cases, have pulled thier children out of the Irving ISD and enrolled them elsewhere.

All because imaginary red and blue lines on a map are more important than people...

Very, very sad.

were interviewed by the local Spanish channel perhaps more.

have been there for many generations but the profiling and assumption they are illegals is there.

one of the many documented teachers we have here working with work visas. I assume that if they can not produce the needed documents some will be detained unnecessarily and without cause.

:kick:

but why do people feel the need to label themselves? We have NOW, The NAACP, La Raza, The Congressional Black Caucus, The Moral Majority, The Jewish Defense League, The National Association of Evangelicals, American Atheists, The Muslim American Society, the Rainbow Coalition and on and on it goes. Why do we feel the need to label ourselves with group names like this? All of these groups have one thing in common: looking out for the self interests of the "group" and often times to the detriment of everyone else. Another question: Why is ok for some special interests to form a group like this while if others did that group would be labeled bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, insensitive, small minded etc?
It seems to me like the common good of this country collectively should be the focus of all fair-minded and concerned citizens, not the self promoting interests of small groups of individuals. Too many people are consumed with what is best for their individual group that they overlook the bigger picture. The result in my opinion is that politicians spend so much time pandering to these small groups, making promises they can't or won't keep or working to keep those promises even though they only benefit a small minority of their constituents, that issues that truly need to be addressed aren't because they don't create an emotional response with people. Just my thoughts.

their heritage is because the alternative is to allow yourself to be labeled by someone else or, worse, to see your heritage derided or "disappeared" altogether.

I might point out, there is not the slightest chance that white Christian culture will suffer a similar fate in the United States.

That is the bigger picture.

middle-class, sighted, able to hear and speak, absent of ill health, and on beyond zebra.

Holy crap, guy--READ this board before posting your diatribes--NO ONE in cyberspace is more concerned with the erosion of EVERTONE'S civil rights than this board.

On DU, you're playing with/against a tough crowd. Sharpen your skills if you want to stay, you are going to need it.

Because of racist white people.

That's why you need groups like the NAACP. Thanks to them, we had things like Brown vs. Board of Education. Are you familiar with Brown vs. Board of Education?

"Why is ok for some special interests to form a group like this while if others did that group would be labeled bigoted, racist, sexist, homophobic, insensitive, small minded etc?"

You're asking why people can't form groups like the KKK without being labeled bigots? Can't you guess?

:thumbsup:

And these are the general sentiments. Or "Sorry, you are not white enough."

As the economy continues it's downward spiral it becomes more and more necessary for the ruling class to find scapegoats to divert attention from who the realenemy is. It's a tried and true method. The same people who brought us NAFTA et al are the ones who pull the strings on manufacturing public opinion. The ruinous effects on NAFTA are felt at home and abroad but this fact has been disguised and the real reasons why migrants are flooding across is poorly understood by many folks due to carefully managed propaganda.

Well and the fact that America has a rich tradition of xenophobia.

So we ask ourselves is America a police state? And we ask ourselves who's point of view we take when we consider the answer?

and I welcome you to DU. :hi:

http://notexasborderwall.com/

Yet another boondoggle that solves nothing! And in fact does more harm than good!

:kick:

needs to be put on Mexico for not taking care of its people by promoting a society in which there is so many underprivileged people and then exporting its impoverished. Instead of treating this nation like a 51st state existing for the purpose of housing slaves, we need to exact some measure of fair labor practices so they can retain their workers. And NAFTA ain'it the answer--its the problem.

Fox and company continue with the corruption that has existed in Mexico for decades. Benito Juarez was the last truly great president they had trying to help all and attacking the upper class including the Catholic Church, as greedy, insensitive people that they were. Narcos have bribed a large majority of politicians. I'm not sure what the answer there is, but given the US track record in Mexico and Central America, help there would probably not be appreciated, but yes, Mexico needs to reform itself just like we do.

Thanks for this, my friend.

I feel slightly better now; only slightly though.

until the US is a minority-majority nation, maybe after that.

Kudos, and strength.

i am tired of there always being a boogeyman, and i am tired of the people who always have the least amount of power take the brunt of the blame and anger.

the racism that's come along with all of this is appalling. and when future generations look back on this in years to come it will be looked with as much disgust as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the internment of the Japanese, and other racial blemishes on this country.

i've spent a lot of time over the last 2-3 years traveling out in the west/southwest, traveling what most would call hobo style (hitchhiking, sleeping anywhere i can find a safe spot, etc.). i have come across many hispanic immigrants, both legal and not. and i've come across just as many "native" american citizens. and if i had the power, i'd kick out most of the americans to make room for more of the immigrants - the best, kindest, most generous and giving and hard-working people you will ever meet in your life. i've been taken in by groups of people, 7 or 8 to an apartment and been fed and clothed and cleaned and given a bed, taken miles out of people's way to make sure i was safe and headed in the right direction.

they are trying to live the american dream, and our hysterical and racist population is out to slit their throats. it's disgusting and it goes against everything this country is supposed to stand for.

and because everybody seems to conveniently forget it:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

to distrust and hate than to really empathize with anyone. In California, when enough people became scared of the "wicked" Chinese, they made them out to be all opium smokers and womanizers just like the US did with African Americans in the 20s except it was pot and the "crazed black man" who would rape white women. Pot was legal then but made illegal primarily because of racism. The Chinese Exclusion Act was just horrible. The treatment of primarily Mexicans in Texas has been pathetic as well unless one assimilates. I hate the damn word. What is America, the Borg from Star Trek fame? America is mosaic and we should celebrate the cultures here including the first one, the Native Americans. If we only respected this land, its flora and fauna like they do! Much could be learned from the many different people, but there are too many that are preaching bigotry and ignorance because it is just easy.

round-up.

others can't see how much of an obvious case of racial profiling this is. Do the Chinese not try to come here illegally? Do Pakistanis, Saudis, Kenyans, Koreans or even Canadians not come here on visas then stay when their visa expires? Why are there no sweeps through apartment complexes that have primarily these residents? It boggles my mind.

The law we have makes it illegal to enter this country without a visa or remain here without a work permit but the law also makes it illegal to employ someone who has entered this country without a visa or who has remained without a work permit.

It is a civil violation to enter this country without a visa or to remain here without a work permit. It is a criminal violation to hire someone who has. It is a law Ronald Reagan signed into law and which the Republicans have ignored from the moment he signed it simply because they believe in the right to cheap labor and the right to be exempt from labor law. The Republicans want a new law.

You have to ask why they are not arresting and charging the employers and the answer is they want to force Congress to pass their "immigration reform" legislation which will make it a criminal violation to enter this country without a visa and a civil violation to hire someone who has. And of course employers of illegal immigrants will have a new way to force employees to work for less than minimum wage and to work overtime without being paid for overtime. They can threaten them with prison. That is what "immigration reform" is all about.

The Republican hand is truly quicker than the eye in this case. There is nothing wrong with the law we have. Except that the Republicans don't like it. And Democrats are fooling themselves if they think otherwise.

Barbara Jordan warned Congress several times about what would happen to the American worker and to labor law if the law was not enforced. Democrats for some reason sometimes don't listen to themselves.

"Hypocritically, the government attacks the very immigrants that it wants to exploit as cheap labor."

That includes some Democrats who support "immigration reform."

And racially profile.

"The law we have makes it illegal to enter this country without a visa but the law also makes it illegal to employ someone who has entered this country without a visa or remain without a work permit."

I wish people cared less about that dumb law and more about the important shit, like the ones against racial profiling.

those who help put food on your table.

many years ago. I work with teachers every day, and tell anyone who will listen that these new immigrants, as well as their countrymen who have been in the country for multiple generations (or were here when the southwest WAS Mexico), are the seeds of our future. It is in our national interest to educate every child at the school door.

I love what I do. That is what keeps me there and the children, for the most part, are just precious and they never cease to amaze me!

But my real goal here was not to talk about immigration and undocumented workers but the blatant racism and tactics that this city is using to deal with the situation.

not about predations at the schools. :grr:

I wish you'd find a way to send this to Rick Sanchez if you can anonymize it. He had anonymous people on today as he was focusing on the fear engendered by involved the local police force in a federal matter.