Is it more than coincidence that what sparked a Congressman to yell at a black president were his feelings about brown immigrants?
The evidence is circumstantial, but the same might have once been said about the tip of the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
In the midst of President Obama’s speech to Congress on health care reform, after the president denied that legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) shouted disruptively, “You lie!”
Is it ironic or predictable that such anti-immigrant sentiment would spew forth from a representative of the state boasting the country’s fastest growing Hispanic population? Either way, it speaks volumes about what it’s like to be Latino right now, legal or not.
Funny that Wilson is from the Old South, land of the stereotypical “southern gentleman.” Unfortunately, he chose to embody a less favorable stereotype, one substantiated by his membership in what MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann described as “a radicalized, insurrection-glorifying group, accused of harboring white supremacists, called ‘Sons Of Confederate Veterans.’”
I wonder if he’d rudely heckle a white president? I wonder if he’d be so concerned about immigrants benefiting from health care reform if those immigrants weren’t changing the complexion of South Carolina?
I ask because if the health care debate has become heated to the point of hostility, what lies ahead for the immigration debate, given its obvious racial and ethnic overtones?
Wilson’s explosion foreshadows the combustible nature of our nation’s ongoing culture war. He and his ilk don’t want to pay for health care for those who can’t afford it, nor for illegal immigrants not paying taxes. Really, they just don’t want immigrants, period. They won’t admit the real reasons behind their stance because they know racist sentiment is political suicide. They’ll try to claim justification in the rule of law, but in moments like Wilson’s accusation, their true motivations are revealed.
Veins throbbing, skin flushed red, finger pointed in judgment, Wilson flashed his true colors. Publicly calling our president a liar, his actions exposed the nexus of opposition to both health care and immigration reform as a force motivated by fear, anger and hatred. His finger was really aimed squarely at people of color, who comprise nearly all of the immigrants in question and a disproportionate segment of the uninsured, not to mention those swept up in the current, including our president.
I can speak to this first-hand because when I’ve advocated for immigration reform, I’ve received comments like: “You’re lucky we let you stay in the country.”
Well, I should hope so since I was born and raised here and am an American citizen. However, the feedback illustrates the current I’m talking about. Anti-immigrant fervor fosters a general anti-Latino climate because beneath the surface lurks the same fear of cultural change. Tragically, it all swirls with the potential for a continuing rise in menacing hate crimes.
Wondering how Wilson’s hateful outburst played in South Carolina, I reviewed press coverage in his district, finding a mixture of surprise, disappointment and pride. Most disturbing was the pride.
One Wilson constituent, sitting among patrons at a diner near Columbia, told the Associated Press: “He’s the only one who has guts in that whole place. He’ll get re-elected in a landslide.”
If so, I’ll understand why the Southern Poverty Law Center ranks South Carolina third among the Top 5 Hot Spots for Hate Groups. At least 45 such organizations exist in Wilson’s state.
In his mea culpa, Wilson confessed: “I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill.”
But the apology doesn’t mean that “emotions” like Wilson’s won’t resurface. In fact, if the subsequent increase in contributions to Wilson’s campaign is any indication, the Congressman is backed by many like-minded supporters. We must keep a keen eye on Wilson and his allies, because the waves he has made are a sign of dangerous undercurrents threatening to drown civil, honest and safe discourse in America.
We cannot tolerate rage that threatens civil discourse and public safety over national debate.
We must aggressively ascertain and expose the true motivations of immigration opponents so we can respond with a corresponding moral force that lives up to our ideals as a people.
We should be aware that anti-immigrant sentiment leads to anti-Latino sentiment as many fail to distinguish between Latinos born and raised here, legal immigrants, and those here illegally.
We must stop negative emotions from fanning fires of hate that could unleash more heinous crimes.
While the White House graciously accepted Wilson’s apology, the damage is done with the hate-mongers in our society, who are emboldened by reckless leaders like the Congressman from South Carolina.
I believe in forgiveness, but not in forgetting – or ignoring – what lurks beneath the waters that lie ahead.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rudy Ruiz.
Rudy Ruiz has been hailed as a cultural visionary. A published author and multicultural advocate, Ruiz is an acclaimed multicultural communications entrepreneur. He founded Red, Brown and Blue as well as Interlex, one of the nation’s leading advocacy marketing agencies ranked by Ad Age as one of the Top US Agencies across all disciplines. Prior to that, Ruiz earned his BA in Government at Harvard College and his Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Será algo más que coincidencia que fueran sus sentimientos hacia los inmigrantes de piel morena lo que provocara que un Congresista interrumpiese a gritos a un presidente de raza negra?
La evidencia es circunstancial, pero lo mismo pudo haberse dicho de la punta del témpano que hundió al Titanic.
A mitad del discurso del Presidente Obama sobre la reforma al sistema de salud ante el Congreso, justo después que el presidente negara que la legislación proporcionaría cobertura gratuita a los inmigrantes ilegales, el Congresista Joe Wilson (Republicano de Carolina del Sur) interrumpió gritando, “Miente!”
Será irónico o será predecible que un sentimiento tan fuerte en contra de los inmigrantes brotase de un representante del estado con la población Hispana de más rápido crecimiento en el país? De cualquier forma, dice mucho acerca de lo que significa ser Latino en la actualidad, legal o ilegal.
Es curioso que Wilson provenga del Viejo Sur, tierra del estereotipado “caballero sureño”. Desafortunadamente, él optó por personificar un estereotipo mucho menos favorable, uno que está justificado por su membresía en lo que Keith Olberman, de MSNBC describe como un grupo “radical, que glorifica la insurrección y es acusado de albergar supremacistas blancos, denominado “Hijos de Veteranos Confederados”.
Me pregunto si interrumpiría de la misma y grosera forma a un presidente blanco? Me pregunto si le preocuparía tanto que los inmigrantes se beneficiaran de la reforma al sistema de salud si esos inmigrantes no estuviesen cambiando la tez de Carolina del Sur?
Y me lo pregunto porque si el debate sobre la reforma al sistema de salud se ha calentado al punto del antagonismo, qué podemos esperar del debate acerca de la inmigración, considerando sus matices tan obviamente étnicos y raciales?
El exabrupto de Wilson es señal de la naturaleza explosiva de la continua guerra cultural de nuestro país. El y los de su clase no quieren pagar para que los que no puedan costearla, ni los inmigrantes ilegales que no pagan impuestos tengan acceso a la atención médica. En realidad, ellos no quieren inmigrantes, punto. No admiten las verdaderas razones detrás de su postura porque saben bien que exhibir sentimientos racistas equivale al suicidio político. Ellos tratarán de justificarse en el estado de derecho, pero en momentos como el de la acusación que lanzó Wilson, se pone al descubierto su verdadera motivación.
Con las venas palpitando, el rostro enrojecido y el índice acusando, salió a la luz la verdadera personalidad de Wilson. Al llamar mentiroso al presidente en público, sus acciones pusieron al descubierto que la oposición a la reforma al sistema de salud como a la reforma a la inmigración es una fuerza impulsada por el temor, el coraje y el odio. Su índice apuntaba en realidad directamente hacia la gente de color, que son casi todos los inmigrantes en cuestión y un porcentaje desproporcionado de aquellos que no cuentan con cobertura médica, para no mencionar aquellos que han sido arrastrados por la corriente, incluyendo a nuestro presidente.
Y hablo con conocimiento de causa, porque cada vez que he abogado en pro de la reforma a la inmigración, he recibido comentarios como: “Tienes suerte que te permitimos quedarte en el país.”
Bueno, yo esperaría que me permitieran quedarme en vista de que aquí nací, aquí crecí y soy un ciudadano americano. Sin embargo, esos comentarios sirven para ilustrar la corriente a la que me refiero. El fervor en contra de la inmigración fomenta un clima generalizado de oposición a los Latinos porque justo debajo de la superficie acecha el mismo temor al cambio cultural. Y trágicamente, es un remolino lleno de potencial para un continuado incremento en los crímenes de odio.
Porque me preguntaba que reacción habría despertado el exabrupto de Wilson en Carolina del Sur, revisé la cobertura de la prensa en su distrito y encontré una mezcla de sorpresa, desilusión y orgullo. Lo más perturbador fue el orgullo.
Uno de los constituyentes de Wilson, sentado entre los clientes de un restaurante de baja categoría cerca de Columbia, declaró a la Prensa Asociada: “Es el único en todo ese lugar que tiene agallas. Va a reelegirse en una victoria electoral aplastante.”
Si así sucede, yo entenderé porqué la organización “Centro Legal Pobreza Sureña” coloca a Carolina del Sur en el tercer sitio entre los Cinco Lugares Más Favorables para los Grupos de Odio. Existen al menos 45 organizaciones de ese tipo en el estado de Wilson.
En su disculpa, Wilson confesó: “Al escuchar los comentarios del presidente relativos a la cobertura de inmigrantes ilegales dentro de la reforma al sistema de salud, dejé que mis emociones se apoderasen de mí.”
Pero la disculpa no significa que las “emociones” como las de Wilson no vayan a resurgir. De hecho, si el subsiguiente incremento en las contribuciones a la campaña de Wilson son una señal, el Congresista es apoyado por muchos que comparten su modo de pensar. Debemos vigilar a Wilson y sus aliados, porque el revuelo que han levantado es una señal de que existen peligrosas corrientes subterráneas que amenazan con ahogar la discusión civilizada, honesta y tranquila.
No podemos tolerar una rabia que por un debate nacional amenaza la discusión civilizada y hasta la seguridad pública.
Debemos actuar con decisión para comprobar y desenmascarar los verdaderos motivos de los opositores a la inmigración para poder responder con una fuerza moral adecuada que esté a la altura de nuestros ideales.
Debemos estar concientes que el sentimiento en contra de los inmigrantes lleva al sentimiento en contra de los Latinos, ya que muchos son incapaces de distinguir entre los Latinos nacidos aquí, los inmigrantes legales, y aquellos que están aquí ilegalmente.
Debemos evitar que las emociones negativas echen leña al fuego del odio que pudiese desatar más crímenes nefandos.
Si bien la Casa Blanca ha aceptado con amabilidad e indulgencia la disculpa de Wilson, el daño ya está hecho, porque los traficantes del odio que existen en nuestra sociedad se han envalentonado gracias a líderes imprudentes como el Congresista de Carolina del Sur.
Yo estoy a favor de perdonar, pero no de olvidar – ni de ignorar – lo que acecha bajo las aguas que hemos de navegar en breve.
Rudy Ruiz es conocido como un visionario cultural. Autor y campeón de los derechos de comunidades multiculturales, Ruiz es un destacado empresario de comunicaciones. Fundó Red, Brown and Blue e Interlex, una de las agencias de mercadeo social más reconocidas en la nación, proclamada por Ad Age como una de las agencias de publicidad más importantes en el pais. Anteriormente, Ruiz se graduó de Harvard College y obtuvo su maestría en Administración Pública en el Harvard Kennedy School.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I think the point is that under the surface of the “southern gentleman” stereotype is a southern racist. That “gentleman” was not equally a gentleman to all — indeed his racism was considered part of his gentlemanliness. It’s not a separate stereotype, it is one and the same. Failure to understand that is hardly the mark of a self-professed cultural savant.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
The bombardment of American voters at the doors of Congress must be heard, to make E-Verify a permanent illegal immigrant enforcement tool? It’s incredulous that we are winning small wars against our lawmakers beneficiaries–the special interest lobby. LEGISLATORS ARE FINALLY HEARING OUR ANGRY VOICES. Rep. Joe Wilson C-SC opened the eyes of millions of Americans, who are been left unaware of the cloaked–AMNESTY–committees that is going to rip the fabric of every voters life apart. Any detail in the national media has been subdues or intentionally omitted, as with the crowds of Tea Party opponents. Sen. Harry Reid could be stretching his neck out for the headsman in his re-election campaign, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They both have used their political influence in trying to overturn E-Verify. Pro-Illegal alien lawmakers could table it, under the “Sunset Provision” on September 30?
President Obama’s direction towards an unmentionable path to citizenship for all those who broke our law is abhorrent. After the controversial eruption in the Session of Congress, they surely must be aware that imposing immigration reform on the people could break them? Americans taxpayers are already supporting business welfare? Corporate entities want these destitute people here to exploit, but don’t want to pay for their health care, schooling or towards the massive numbers surviving in prison. They leave that to the fading middle class taxpayers who carry the tax burden? Over a decade has passed since illegal people started coming here in droves and with little or no laws, to blockade their arrival we are now talking over 20 million. Nor does it stop there? Owing to the clarion call of Amnesty ringing out in the slums and ghetto’s of foreign criminals, sick, elderly and those without means, from all over the world will descend on us. IT MEANS OVERPOPULATION?
Bad as it may be now, who is going to subsidize the new arrivals? Not the business cartels that’s for sure? Once again taxpayers will be heavily taxed to pay for the new shipment of poor, uneducated from every region. How can we expect to have any government public option for our own people, when our gates remain wide open for “Anchor Babies” and the illegal millions expecting a free handout? A nurse in a Nevada hospital indicated they have a row of beds of illegal immigrants on dialysis, which was costing weekly $18.000 dollars for each treatment. Tell me who pays for that? The US government pays a small portion; the rest is acquired from the hospital or taxpayer.
I want a single payer system for homeless veterans, seniors, single mothers with children and poor American families. But I refuse to pay for everybody who climbs, crawls under the fence or bluffs the Federal officer at shipping ports and airports of entry. It’s not our responsibility. DON’T WAIT! PESTER YOUR SENATOR OR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY AT 202-224-3121? Find true facts by GOOGLING NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIAL WATCH & IMMIGRATION COUNTERS
September 15th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Jeff, I grew up in Virginia. I have to disagree with your assessment. There is a big difference between a southern gentleman and a southern bigot. Granted, the latter might seem to be the former, but once revealed, only another racist would assign the title “gentleman” to that person. Failure to understand that is hardly the mark of a well-reasoned critic.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
MUDDY WATERS
Ay Dios mio, Mr. Ruiz! Where is the love?
I ask, not because I am interested in a date, but rather interested in clearing up some confusion regarding this most carefully worded, somewhat unexpected column. You see, I am not certain I understand, and that may be a failing of my intellect, how race-baiting and name calling fits the moderate ideal of reasoned debate and civil discourse. For although your eloquence and passion somewhat conceals your central message, I cannot shake the feeling that you, by dint of our disagreement on the issue of health care reform, just called me a dangerous, angry, racist.
But certainly I am mistaken. After all I am quite a peaceful and obviously thoughtful man, with much more interest in cross-gender relationships of the naughty variety than violent relationships of the hate-crime sort. That my disagreement with the Democratic Elite’s vision of universal health coverage is actually a cover for a heretofore unknown hatred of illegal immigrants is shocking news to me indeed. Pity my poor Hispanic mother, wise Latina that she is, for as the closest brown-skinned person to me, she will undoubtedly bear the brunt of my latent anger when the rest of that cruel iceberg finally decides to tear apart her sad minority Titanic.
Of course I have been called any number of names in the past, mostly referring to my predilection for long words and choice of debate over physical sport. Sticks and stones, as they say, and I have learned to remind people that understanding the meaning of “concupiscence” does not automatically make one gay (though being concupiscent with another man would, which is why I avoid that). But I must admit that lately my tolerance for pernicious appellations has worn woefully thin. Not because I can no longer stand the beating to my ego, but simply because I grow weary of the obfuscation and misdirection that reflexive name-calling creates and allows. Mr. Ruiz, call me a weak-kneed knob-gobbler all day if you wish, but don’t tell me that my disagreements stem not from careful reason but only from gross emotion.
For years your Left has been trying to call me any number of names (racist, bigot, homophobe, classist, hate-monger et al), not for any physical evidence of those horrors, but simply because I disagreed with some politically important issue of the moment. When I thought Anita Hill was a nut and Clarence Thomas a fine justice? Seems I was a filthy bigot. When I thought civil unions were a better, though imperfect solution to “gay marriage”? Turns out I was the most eloquent, non-sports homophobe around. When I didn’t believe that taxes should be raised further on the productive “upper” class? Ding! I was a classist AND a racist. And finally when I thought that usurpation of the private health care system by our government was a tragically bad idea, I morphed instantly into a violent, dangerous, illegal-hunting monster. To be sure all the evidence was circumstantial, but to my Leftist detractors it no longer seemed to matter.
Which brings us to poor, uncouth Joe Wilson. Seems, like me, he has said something that the Left doesn’t like. He’s gone off script, as they say in Hollywood, and dared to shout at the President during a speech on health care reform. He deserves some small censure for his rudeness, certainly, but instead he will become the nexus for… the state of race relations in the United States and a hurricane of foul language. He has offended the PC Police and spoken “truth to power” (as the hippies used to say). Except he is white, the President black, and health care will help minorities, so his outburst cannot be truth. He must be a racist. His ideas don’t matter. The context is irrelevant.
“What’s your skin color, brother?” That’s all the Left needs to know.
Again I ask, Mr. Ruiz, where’s the love? I can recognize a great intellect when I see one, and this article is ample evidence. But where’s the compassion and empathy for your ideological opposition? Liberals endlessly remind us that if only we UNDERSTOOD Muslim terrorists, for example, we could find peace with them. But here, while you call your opponents racists and fan the flames of racial divisiveness, I see no understanding, only recrimination. Not to cut myself on Occam’s Razor, in stark refutation of years of practiced deconstructionism, but couldn’t the simple answer for his outburst have been alcohol? Amongst myriad explanations for his timing other than latent racism, maybe Joe Wilson was just drunk.
Of course he wasn’t, but that’s beside the point, which is that the Right deserve better intellectual treatment from the Left. Neither Joe Wilson nor I should be so reduced to being called racists. Because if that undertow you mention is racism, Mr. Ruiz, one wonders, where are you standing in that tide?
Deepest regards,
Roarke
September 16th, 2009 at 6:09 am
I agree fully with this column. There was nothing but racism in this congressman’s remarks. You could see the anger and hatred in his face and I live in Louisiana, I am white, I can not stand racism. Judge a person for the person they are not the color of their skin. I may not agree with everything President Obama does but he is our President, I certainly did not agree with all President Bush did. We have lost all honor and respect in this country since the election and it is with people like this senator and I am ashamed of him. Thank you Rudy for speaking out,people need to read this and should see for themselves but do not want to admit it.I will bet yo the children in the school districts he was elected in did not show the Presidents speech, how disrespectful, yet they went to church on Sunday and pretended to be good Christians . God was not fooled, he knows the truth.
September 16th, 2009 at 6:38 am
I was going to leave a reply but then thought that I’d rather not add to the unending circle of argument relative to racism…I will say that, in my opinion, Mr. Ruiz is way off the mark. This country has benefitted from the legal immigration of those from other countries since its foundation. It isn’t that there is a desire to stop immigration, whether those coming to this nation are black, brown, red, green, Latino, Slovak, Italian, Russian, (you get my trend here?). Illegal immigration and what it costs to the American people is the issue. Rather than stand on a pulpit and preach that “the (white) man” is against all persons of color, spread the message that if you want to be in the greatest nation on earth, do so legally. Tell the masses of immigrants to maintain pride in their heritage but that our America was chosen by them for what it stands for so respect America, learn English, embrace its customs and enjoy the opportunity for prosperity through hard work and dedication rather than hand outs or expectations because of racial and ethnic backgrounds.
There, I’m not adding to the unending circle of argument.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:09 am
Congressman Wilson has a long history of these “outbursts” and it’s no surprise that his apology to the President was half-hearted and forced by the Republican leadership. In fact Mr. Wilson made it abundantly clear that he was apologizing because the leadership demanded it. His failure to apologize to the House itself is further evidence that his apology was not sincere and it speaks volumes that the President has been statesman enough to accept it for face value.
But the disrespect accorded the President by the Republicans at his speech was more than just Joe Wilson’s outburst. Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor was clearly texting on his cell phone throughout the speech. Other Republican Congressmen were clearly not paying attention. The disrespect was palpable to any one watching.
Having spent the better part of the past 35 years as an urban planner and attorney researching and studying American racial attitudes, there is no question in my mind that there’s an undercurrent of racial bigotry (that goes far beyond the racism just about every American is taught) in the radical right’s (including Fox News) opposition to the President. I’m not a betting man, but I would feel confident wagering that there is a strong, positive correlation of racial bigotry amongst the most of those attacking the President in their most disrespectful manner.
Now that isn’t at all surprising. While incredible strides have been made the past 50 years, they cannot be expected to overcome 400 years in which African-Americans were treated as chattel, 100 years of Jim Crow, and just 50 years of half-hearted civil rights and fair housing legislation that the far-right dominated federal courts seeks to undo at every opportunity. With apologies to Shoeless Joe Jackson and the film “Field of Dreams, the Court of Appeals in the Seventh Circuit is where civil rights and fair housing laws go to die. Sadly change remains incremental. Great strides against racism and bigotry have been made, but we have many decades — perhaps centuries — to go until this is truly one nation with liberty and justice for all.
September 16th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Thank you for pointing out what should be obvious to everyone– Race played a part in this outburst.
To those that deny this, think of the following.
During the Bush administration, I ,a liberal democrat, did not want to be lumped with the likes of Ralph Nader, Churchill Ward, or God spare us… Hugo Chavez. So I refrained from stupid bombastic statements that made me look small and disrespectful of the office. Why? Because I did not embrace the loonies on the left. Because these loonies on the left, use whatever means necessary to make their case. And ultimately they do so to call attention to themselves.
No. I refrained from adolescent impulses.
So, why did Rep. Joe Wilson stoop as low as a loonie leftist?
Is it out of righteous indignation? Hmm.. No. It’s been pointed out AGAIN and AGAIN that there is no free ride for the undocumented in this bill.
Simply, if you don’t want to be lumped with loons, don’t ACT like one.
I mean think of it. Why didn’t Joe Wilson call President Bush a liar, or worse, when it looked like he may support the “Dream Act”?
Did he do it out of ignorance? Maybe he didn’t know that the undocumented aren’t covered. Doubtful.
So what could it have been?
Clearly, he was appealing to base instincts. Let’s list some of those.
1. There are those out there who have lost respect for the office of the President. Tea party people etc. If this is the case why was Joe Wilson the only only one yell out (specially on the issue of immigrants)? There are many senators and representatives out there who are fanning the “Tea Party” anti-government waves.
2. Anti-immigrant sentiments riled by anti-immigrant groups. Yes, anti-immigrant groups… groups like FAIR have lost their credibility as “anti-illegal” since they have allowed their ranks to fill with white supremacists.
3. Racism. Clearly, Mr. Wilson, at some level, has shown that he thinks the office of the president has been stained by SOMETHING, and that something has to be race.. OR he knew that he had everything to gain in his home state, by appealing to out and out racists or those that hide their racism.
So which is it?
If it quacks like a duck… well…
September 16th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
happy mexican independence day. sept 16, 1810 don manuel hidalgo, ignacio allende, and josefa ortiz declared war against the spanish rule. we celebrate our heroes today for having the courage to free us from spain. VIVA MEXICO!!
September 16th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Isn’t it easy to cite racism rather than digging deeper to find the root of the issues. Oh wait, I forgot, there is no deeper inspection necessary. After all, anytime a white person disagrees with a person who isn’t white it’s because of racism. I wonder if the issue goes both ways. When Charlie Rangel or Al Sharpton or Maxine Waters disagreed with Bush’s policies, that was because they were being racist, right?
September 16th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I have changed my mind about something.
Wilson… I don’t expect anything from his kind.
However, President Obama has caved.
Bigots rejoice. Lou Dobbs and his kind have won a battle.
Undocumented worker will not get coverage.
THAT is the real issue here. Not wether some uncouth representative showed a lack of respect for the president.
The White House should thank Joe Wilson.
He’s taken our sight off of the real issue.
A Democratic president has joined the ranks of the anti-immigrant groups.
He is denying them coverage AND calls them illegals to boot.
September 17th, 2009 at 6:25 am
To Hector on his “illegals to boot” reference…remember, if it quacks like a duck…?
September 18th, 2009 at 12:23 am
To Mike… I normally don’t get into arguments with anonymous posters-
But since I have a moment.
How much of your life do you think has been touched by the hands of “illegals”?
Is the food you eat— illegal?
Are those illegal fruits you eat?
Do you consider much of the housing in the Southwest built by “illegals” (and the equity, tax revenues before the bust) to have been “ill gotten booty”?
Look around Texas– Much of what you see has been built by “illegals”, much of what we’ve eaten has been picked by “illegals”
So yes, Mike, until you call the past prosperity “illegal” , until you call a system which NEEDS cheap slave-wage labor an “illegal” system, then I suggest you rethink just who gets called “illegal”?
I’ve argued with enough anti-immigrant types to be able to recite your own tired arguments back to you.. and no amount of self-righteous yelling, “But they came over illegally!!!” can cover up the ugly truth.
The United States of America hypocritically exploits then demonizes the very people that build it up.
First the Irish.. whom you first welcomed, until they threatened to mongrelize your Anglo-Saxon culture with their Catholicism.
In the mid 1880s— the Chinese, until you put a STOP to those “yellow hordes”.
But so many of you love the notion of some pastoral Ellis Island wonderland– where people in need just made their way to the states in blissfully “legal” immigrant waves.
And yes Ellis Island is a great part of the American story but just one of many threads– not all nice, not all neat and sometimes just plain ugly.
Take a moment to reflect….
Why do you think the latest wave of undocumented Mexican workers came?
NAFTA my friend,, NAFTA which made so many people rich on the border (have you been to McCallen lately ? It’s a boom town) yet displaced so many workers throughout the Mexican countryside.
Now you can argue (and you should) that Mexico needs to take care of it’s own. But that does not take away from our own American complicity in the displacement of Mexican workers.
Nor does is assuage our own guilt in exploitation that DOUBLES when you think of just how much we gained in cheap labor on top of the economic benefits of NAFTA.
So who is illegal? The system that perpetuates economic exploitation.
Or the people that come to make a better life….. in spite of the hatred spewed by so many.
Because that IS why they come..To work and make a better life– even if it is for a pittance.
It ain’t for Welfare and food stamps… President Clinton made that illegal
It ain’t for health insurance… unless you consider Emergency room care to be insurance
It ain’t for higher Ed…. your buddies killed the Dream Act
So yes Mike…. I call them undocumented because their lives are not centered on some devious criminal undertaking. They, for the most part, do not come to BE criminals but to work, with a humility and diligence beyond the WASPiest “work ethics”.
You’ve obviously made your choice in this matter. You’ve chosen who you wish to demonize. I take the long view and know that my perspective will outlive your shortsightedness.
Feel free to quote all the statistics you want – the FAIR website and others are waiting for your blind obeisance to bad, biased research.
September 18th, 2009 at 10:06 am
Thanks to all of you for your comments.
I feel compelled to reply in broad terms to both Roarke and Mike. Gentlemen, I appreciate your feedback. At the same time, I feel like my key points were missed. This may well be due to my own lack of clarity, so I’ll explain further.
By no means do I believe everyone who opposes or disagrees with Obama is a racist. By no means do I believe everyone who opposes immigration reform is a racist. And by no means do I think all White people are racist. That would be inconceivable to me. If you have an opportunity to read some of my other columns, I believe you will find that many of my role models and heroes of American history were not people of color. And my whole life is guided by a positive, optimistic view of human nature and a sincere desire to contribute to shared progress for people of all backgrounds.
My column does, however, point out what I believe to more than a coincidence of factors regarding Wilson’s behavior and positions, including his membership in an organization that has been widely designated as a hate group, which seem to indicate an undercurrent of race-motivated negativity. That said, it’s important to note that I concede the evidence is circumstantial. What I call for is not hatred of Joe Wilson, but rather vigilance and caution with regards to his possible motives and those of his supporters, who have contributed over $1 million to his campaign since the incident. What I call for is awareness of an undercurrent of racism which is fed — deliberately or not — by outbursts like Wilson’s.
Undercurrents by their nature are not always obvious on the surface. Racism can be like that. As I mention in the column, almost no one in their right mind these days would admit to being a racist. So only in the patterns of their actions can we perhaps detect what’s motivating them beneath the surface. What I’m calling for in the column is not to label everyone who is against healthcare and immigration reform a racist but rather for all of us responsible, fair-minded, non-racist Americans to be vigilant about the sinister potential for these destructive forces to rear their head, to bring violence and hate crimes upon people with the coming debate on immigration reform. In countering my column, you seem to act like racism is a forgotten footnote in history books. You also don’t respond to any of my specific points, just wax eloquently about how I missed the mark and claim I called you racist. Not so. From what I’ve read, I don’t think you guys are racist at all. I’ve read quite a bit of Roarke’s comments and I believe him to be a very thoughtful, responsible citizen with a desire to see America live up to its full potential as a beacon of equality and justice for all. And I specifically avoided name calling and race baiting in my column because I find that to be a counterproductive tactic for effective civil discourse.
With regards to Mike’s point about what I should tell illegal immigrants, that’s a hard one. The ones that are here are already here. The ones that are still in Mexico, I don’t have a platform to reach at this point. And if I did, it would be disingenuous to tell people to come legally when the legal system currently makes it nearly impossible for them to do so. What could I tell them? To stay in a country that provides them no economic opportunities except in the illegal drug trade? To stay in a country that’s at war with itself? I know some people would say that I should tell them to stay down there and fix their own country. But that won’t work. They’ve tried. It was called the Mexican Revolution. And by most accounts, it failed. I have called on the Mexican elite to create more economic opportunity and more economic mobility so there people don’t flee in search of it, but that will require a long-term process of cultural evolution. In the meantime, people are hungry.
In closing, whether you agree or disagree about health care reform, immigration reform or even Joe Wilson, it should be acknowledged that racism does still exist. Hate groups exist. Hate crimes exist and according to the FBI they are on the rise against Latinos specifically. I think to ignore the truth in these statements is to completely miss the point of my column, which is not to call all White people racists, but rather to call on all sensible, rational, well-intentioned Americans – liberal to conservative, Republican to Democrat – to unite against racism.
September 19th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I live right around the corner from Wilson’s office in West Columbia, SC. I sometimes call it “Little Mexico” – and i mean it in a good way – because we are surrounded by lots of stores and restaurants started by the many immigrants to the neighborhood from Mexico and Central America.
I wonder how Mr. Wilson will do in this district as more and more of the residents here become citizens and vote. And I hope they do it soon.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:17 am
he substantiated nothng ,Jow Wilson may be rude and wrong but being amember of the SCV is far from being radical.
I am amember and A Buddhist and my great great grandfather who was a teh jano fought in the Texas Brigade along iwth 5,000 othetr Tejanos.
This is triple heresay nonsense by Olbermann he is going to slander 30,000 people. Witut knowing crap
Evidently Keith never heard this quote form OLd Abe in 1838
Any people, anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable and most sacred right – a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can, may revolutionize, and make their own, of so many of the territory as they inhabit.”
The new England States also had three conferences of secession at Hartford over the war of 1812,Louisiana purchase and the entrance of Texas into the Union.
Harry Truman belonged ot the SCV it commemorates the sacrifice of Soldiers to defend their land. I would say almost 30 percent also belong to The sons of the American Revolution,sons of Union Veterans of the Civil war etc
If someone else where doing this to some other group Olbermann supports and he would accuse them of McCarthyism.
I have heard more sedition in fifteen minutes of a Mecha Maya meeting than in 10 years of SCV,They start out with the pledge of allegiance.
But why learn anything when you can repeat hearsay. Accused of well,I guess to Keith accused of, is the same as gulity.
maybe he hated those early cracker secessionists like Jefferson and Washington
Wants ot go back to the UK ,gulity until proven innocent Keith es un otro media Pindajo,nada mas
September 29th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Lo Siento sent his before I edited it TEJANO I am a lousy typist(arthritis)