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Brown Berets on Immigration
A Brown Beret's account of the "immigration debate"
The Brown Berets on Immigration
By Ramiro Medrano
Human migration is a phenomenon as old as humanity. Throughout the ages humans have been known to migrate extensively all over the world. Indeed, it is migration which created human isolation and is therefore responsible for our current genetic differences and the makeup of the world today. One of the main theories in explaining the populating of Turtle Island is through migration of Asians along a temporary land bridge called the Bering Strait, although this theory is currently under much scrutiny.
Our gente are a historically migrating people. Every time we look at the official Mexican flag, or interchangeably the panquetzalli which is the flag the Aztecs used, we should be reminded of out migrating history, for that is what these symbols represent. The official story tells us the Aztecs (or Mexicah) followed their “god” Huizilopochtli’s orders to migrate south out of their current home, Aztlan, in search of an eagle devouring a serpent, perched on a cactus in the middle of a lake. Although the story is a metaphor, the migration did indeed happen. It took the Aztecs seven generations to reach their destination: Lake Texcoco, where they would build the beautiful Tenochtitlan, which would then become modern-day Mexico City. There should be no confusion as to our migrating nature as it is depicted in our most representative emblems and symbols.
United States Immigration History
The United States as a country was founded by European immigrants fleeing political or religious persecution, and done on the backs of a population which were victims of a different form of migration: forced migration. Africans were bought and sold as slaves for centuries after the colonization of Africa by initially the Portuguese, and afterwards by all other European imperialist nations. Migration has continued all throughout history until modern times, despite the strong objection to it by modern-day nation-states, or at least the objection to migration done without the relatively new notion of proper legal immigration proceedings.
Although Turtle Island was already populated by a diverse people, Europeans insisted in an indiscriminate migration to these lands and in the settlement and foundation of cities and states, establishing their own laws, decimating the native people, and pushing those who were left out of their own lands (see the Trail of Tears, for example). The rise of Capitalism created the concept of private property, then establishing borders and the regularization of human traffic within these borders.
In the year 1776, the United States of America was created as a “free sovereign nation” by white Europeans usually native to Great Britain, but also from other European countries. In the year 1790, the Naturalization Act was created, which decreed “any free white alien” to become U.S. citizens simply for being “white” as European immigration continued. Between 1846 and 1940, 55 million people emigrated from Europe to America, 65% of whose destination was the United States. In the same period, 2.5 million people emigrated from Asia to the U.S.
In 1848, the United States, under the leadership of U.S. President James K. Polk, stole over half of the Mexican territory, physically fulfilling the imperialistic vision of Manifest Destiny “from sea to shining sea.” Immigration of whites into Texas, along with unstable politics in Mexico, pushed for the cession of Texas from Mexico, creating hostilities between the Mexican and U.S. governments once Texas was annexed by the U.S. in 1845. Land disputes between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande area in Texas led President Polk to send troops under General Zachary Taylor to the disputed land in hopes to prompt a response from the Mexican Government and use it as a pretext to war. This effectively led to the Mexican-American War, where the states of California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and part of Wyoming were annexed by the United States. This automatically turned many Mexicans into second-class citizens, and the Gold Rush Era of 1849 in California increased the migration of many different people, but mainly white, to the now United State’s west coast. Thousands of Mexican families were disenfranchised and chased out of their own lands. The majority of them never became citizens, and hangings were common all throughout the “U.S. Southwest” throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Gold Rush and the construction of railroads in California brought many different immigrants in search of gold, including Chinese workers. In response to the “Chinese threat,” the U.S. passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which severely limited the migration of Chinese workers to the United States and converted the Chinese, and many other Asians already living in the U.S., into prey of many white racists. In addition, California passed the Foreign Miner’s Tax targeted at decreasing Chinese and other migration into the state. The late 1800’s saw much racism and xenophobia, especially against Mexicans and Chinese, leading to public lynching, hangings, massacres, and full-blown Caucasian race riots.
It was in the late 1800’s that the Eugenics movement was created by Sir Francis Galton, who believed in the racist notion that human hereditary traits could be changed and “improved” by various forms of intervention, obviously believing the “white traits” to be superior to the rest. Eugenics was used to justify the many discriminatory policies that many white nation-states adopted against other races. It is widely believed that the AIDS virus is linked to eugenics scientists, as well as segregation, birth control (forced sterilization, see Planned Parenthood), and the killing of institutionalized, or handicapped, people. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were wide supporters of eugenics and the Racial Hygiene Theory, as well as other prominent figures like Winston Churchill and Alexander Graham Bell. Eugenics was an academic field which received much support from different prominent organizations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Institute. Nazis claimed the United States as inspiration in its wide acceptance of eugenics.
The widely used “illegal alien” concept stems from the eugenics movement in order to deem any non-white foreigner an “undesirable” and therefore an “illegal alien.” This concept is racist not because of the word “alien,” but because it deems a person “illegal.” Historically, the word “illegal” is used as an adjective to describe an action, for example, “she made an illegal gesture.” But since eugenics deemed people other-than-white inferior, then the usage of “illegal” shifted from being used as an adjective, to being used as a noun (for example, “he is an illegal”) to discriminate and separate “undesirables” from U.S. society. Because of widespread war and destruction during the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and the forced modernization of Mexico, many Mexicans migrated to the United States in large numbers, prompting more waves of racist anti-immigrant laws and sentiment in the United States. The Immigration Act of 1924 was a victory to American eugenicists and included restrictions on immigration of various foreigners, including Europeans “of a lesser race” from Eastern and Southern Europe, including Irish and Italian.
In 1929, the U.S. experienced the era of the Great Depression, prompting the rounding and deportation of many Mexicans back to Mexico, many of who were U.S. citizens. It was around this time that U.S. society saw the prominence of many White Power organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the American Legion, who blamed “foreigners” and other races for their country’s condition. The Great Depression was quickly followed by World War II against mainly Nazi Germany and Japan, once again prompting racist policies of detaining and incarcerating Japanese people simply for being Japanese. Ironically, in dire need of a strong labor force and in response to their shortage of workers due to the war, the U.S. and Mexican governments agreed in creating a Bracero Program in 1942 which lasted until 1964 and brought thousands of Mexican migrant workers into the U.S. to help the American economy recover. It was until 1965 that all immigration laws determined by race were nullified.
Contemporary Immigration
In the 1970’s, around 477,000 Mexicans were living in the United States. It is in the 1980’s, with U.S.-educated neoliberal Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid, that Mexico changed its course of being a mainly primary country (subsisting on agriculture and industry associated with it) to an attempted “modernization” of Mexico and the subsequent destruction of the agricultural industry. The next Mexican president, also educated in the United States, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, destroyed Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution and with it the ejido system, and signed, along with Bush Sr. and then Clinton, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The process of neoliberalization, commenced in the early eighties, had its toll on Mexicans and increased migration out of Mexico into the United States. By 1990, figures of Mexicans living in the United States increased to more than 4.5 million, and in 2000 this figure doubled, reaching almost 9 million Mexicans living in the U.S.
It is evident the United States Government foresaw the impact that NAFTA would have on the people of Mexico. In 1993, less than a year before signing NAFTA into effect, yet one year after initially signing NAFTA into official law, the U.S. Border Patrol began a border campaign in Texas titled Operation Hold the Line. In 1994, the year NAFTA began, la migra also started the California border campaign titled Operation Gatekeeper. These two operations have prompted undocumented migrant people to cross the deadly, racist U.S.-Mexico border through hardcore Arizonan desert, increasing the deaths along the border. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Border Patrol had not reported any deaths along the border prior to 1994. After 1995, border deaths steadily increased until reaching the staggering figure of over 500 deaths in 2005.
We Have a Right
In accordance with history, we, as descendants of a people who are intricately connected to all the native people of this hemisphere as well as to these lands, do not believe we are “immigrants” in our own lands, but migrant people who have always traveled back and forth without considering artificial borderlines or governmental decrees. Not only in a historical, but in a contemporary sense do we have the right to pursue happiness, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, which was signed by the United States in 1946. Our massive exodus as a people across racist borderlines are in direct result of U.S. foreign policy, namely neoliberal politics pushed by the ever-increasing shadow of capitalism and free-market theories, creating policies such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), NAFTA, Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), among others, which create a very heavy burden on the Mexican (and other countries’) working-class and exploit the natural resources so needed to live a decent lifestyle. We denounce any attempt to regulate the migration of people into any country without first creating equality among classes all around the world. We are aware it is capitalism which is the base of many ills all around the world, and we actively denounce it as long as it means ill will towards other people and profit over everything else. Although realistically, “immigration reform” is needed to help the people already living in the United States stay here, we believe the “immigration debate” needs to shift its focus to include mainly a debate about U.S. foreign policy and the impact it has had, and will continue to have, all around the world. We need to eliminate racist and exclusive concepts such as “illegal aliens” or “illegal immigrants” from our minds and learn the history behind immigration and why people migrate out of their home countries before pointing fingers and unfairly target mainly defenseless people as a direct result of our incompetence and stupidity. We need to fight against fascist immigration raids anywhere they pop-up and realize that there are more ties to racist history in the immigration debate other than these Gestapo-type terrorist attacks on our communities. Until fairness and equality exists around the world, until racism ceases to exist and true diversity is embraced, until then will we see a change in migration patterns and until then will “legal immigration” be a more viable option for many people around the world.
Until then, fuck all racist immigration laws! We will not cease to pursue a better life for our seeds! We are the people, and we will never be stopped! This is our land, and it is our right to exist!
C/S
Ramiro Medrano
Watsonville Autonomous Brown Beret Chapter
MEXICAH TIAHUI!
By Ramiro Medrano
Human migration is a phenomenon as old as humanity. Throughout the ages humans have been known to migrate extensively all over the world. Indeed, it is migration which created human isolation and is therefore responsible for our current genetic differences and the makeup of the world today. One of the main theories in explaining the populating of Turtle Island is through migration of Asians along a temporary land bridge called the Bering Strait, although this theory is currently under much scrutiny.
Our gente are a historically migrating people. Every time we look at the official Mexican flag, or interchangeably the panquetzalli which is the flag the Aztecs used, we should be reminded of out migrating history, for that is what these symbols represent. The official story tells us the Aztecs (or Mexicah) followed their “god” Huizilopochtli’s orders to migrate south out of their current home, Aztlan, in search of an eagle devouring a serpent, perched on a cactus in the middle of a lake. Although the story is a metaphor, the migration did indeed happen. It took the Aztecs seven generations to reach their destination: Lake Texcoco, where they would build the beautiful Tenochtitlan, which would then become modern-day Mexico City. There should be no confusion as to our migrating nature as it is depicted in our most representative emblems and symbols.
United States Immigration History
The United States as a country was founded by European immigrants fleeing political or religious persecution, and done on the backs of a population which were victims of a different form of migration: forced migration. Africans were bought and sold as slaves for centuries after the colonization of Africa by initially the Portuguese, and afterwards by all other European imperialist nations. Migration has continued all throughout history until modern times, despite the strong objection to it by modern-day nation-states, or at least the objection to migration done without the relatively new notion of proper legal immigration proceedings.
Although Turtle Island was already populated by a diverse people, Europeans insisted in an indiscriminate migration to these lands and in the settlement and foundation of cities and states, establishing their own laws, decimating the native people, and pushing those who were left out of their own lands (see the Trail of Tears, for example). The rise of Capitalism created the concept of private property, then establishing borders and the regularization of human traffic within these borders.
In the year 1776, the United States of America was created as a “free sovereign nation” by white Europeans usually native to Great Britain, but also from other European countries. In the year 1790, the Naturalization Act was created, which decreed “any free white alien” to become U.S. citizens simply for being “white” as European immigration continued. Between 1846 and 1940, 55 million people emigrated from Europe to America, 65% of whose destination was the United States. In the same period, 2.5 million people emigrated from Asia to the U.S.
In 1848, the United States, under the leadership of U.S. President James K. Polk, stole over half of the Mexican territory, physically fulfilling the imperialistic vision of Manifest Destiny “from sea to shining sea.” Immigration of whites into Texas, along with unstable politics in Mexico, pushed for the cession of Texas from Mexico, creating hostilities between the Mexican and U.S. governments once Texas was annexed by the U.S. in 1845. Land disputes between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande area in Texas led President Polk to send troops under General Zachary Taylor to the disputed land in hopes to prompt a response from the Mexican Government and use it as a pretext to war. This effectively led to the Mexican-American War, where the states of California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and part of Wyoming were annexed by the United States. This automatically turned many Mexicans into second-class citizens, and the Gold Rush Era of 1849 in California increased the migration of many different people, but mainly white, to the now United State’s west coast. Thousands of Mexican families were disenfranchised and chased out of their own lands. The majority of them never became citizens, and hangings were common all throughout the “U.S. Southwest” throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Gold Rush and the construction of railroads in California brought many different immigrants in search of gold, including Chinese workers. In response to the “Chinese threat,” the U.S. passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which severely limited the migration of Chinese workers to the United States and converted the Chinese, and many other Asians already living in the U.S., into prey of many white racists. In addition, California passed the Foreign Miner’s Tax targeted at decreasing Chinese and other migration into the state. The late 1800’s saw much racism and xenophobia, especially against Mexicans and Chinese, leading to public lynching, hangings, massacres, and full-blown Caucasian race riots.
It was in the late 1800’s that the Eugenics movement was created by Sir Francis Galton, who believed in the racist notion that human hereditary traits could be changed and “improved” by various forms of intervention, obviously believing the “white traits” to be superior to the rest. Eugenics was used to justify the many discriminatory policies that many white nation-states adopted against other races. It is widely believed that the AIDS virus is linked to eugenics scientists, as well as segregation, birth control (forced sterilization, see Planned Parenthood), and the killing of institutionalized, or handicapped, people. Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were wide supporters of eugenics and the Racial Hygiene Theory, as well as other prominent figures like Winston Churchill and Alexander Graham Bell. Eugenics was an academic field which received much support from different prominent organizations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie Institute. Nazis claimed the United States as inspiration in its wide acceptance of eugenics.
The widely used “illegal alien” concept stems from the eugenics movement in order to deem any non-white foreigner an “undesirable” and therefore an “illegal alien.” This concept is racist not because of the word “alien,” but because it deems a person “illegal.” Historically, the word “illegal” is used as an adjective to describe an action, for example, “she made an illegal gesture.” But since eugenics deemed people other-than-white inferior, then the usage of “illegal” shifted from being used as an adjective, to being used as a noun (for example, “he is an illegal”) to discriminate and separate “undesirables” from U.S. society. Because of widespread war and destruction during the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and the forced modernization of Mexico, many Mexicans migrated to the United States in large numbers, prompting more waves of racist anti-immigrant laws and sentiment in the United States. The Immigration Act of 1924 was a victory to American eugenicists and included restrictions on immigration of various foreigners, including Europeans “of a lesser race” from Eastern and Southern Europe, including Irish and Italian.
In 1929, the U.S. experienced the era of the Great Depression, prompting the rounding and deportation of many Mexicans back to Mexico, many of who were U.S. citizens. It was around this time that U.S. society saw the prominence of many White Power organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the American Legion, who blamed “foreigners” and other races for their country’s condition. The Great Depression was quickly followed by World War II against mainly Nazi Germany and Japan, once again prompting racist policies of detaining and incarcerating Japanese people simply for being Japanese. Ironically, in dire need of a strong labor force and in response to their shortage of workers due to the war, the U.S. and Mexican governments agreed in creating a Bracero Program in 1942 which lasted until 1964 and brought thousands of Mexican migrant workers into the U.S. to help the American economy recover. It was until 1965 that all immigration laws determined by race were nullified.
Contemporary Immigration
In the 1970’s, around 477,000 Mexicans were living in the United States. It is in the 1980’s, with U.S.-educated neoliberal Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid, that Mexico changed its course of being a mainly primary country (subsisting on agriculture and industry associated with it) to an attempted “modernization” of Mexico and the subsequent destruction of the agricultural industry. The next Mexican president, also educated in the United States, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, destroyed Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution and with it the ejido system, and signed, along with Bush Sr. and then Clinton, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994. The process of neoliberalization, commenced in the early eighties, had its toll on Mexicans and increased migration out of Mexico into the United States. By 1990, figures of Mexicans living in the United States increased to more than 4.5 million, and in 2000 this figure doubled, reaching almost 9 million Mexicans living in the U.S.
It is evident the United States Government foresaw the impact that NAFTA would have on the people of Mexico. In 1993, less than a year before signing NAFTA into effect, yet one year after initially signing NAFTA into official law, the U.S. Border Patrol began a border campaign in Texas titled Operation Hold the Line. In 1994, the year NAFTA began, la migra also started the California border campaign titled Operation Gatekeeper. These two operations have prompted undocumented migrant people to cross the deadly, racist U.S.-Mexico border through hardcore Arizonan desert, increasing the deaths along the border. Not surprisingly, the U.S. Border Patrol had not reported any deaths along the border prior to 1994. After 1995, border deaths steadily increased until reaching the staggering figure of over 500 deaths in 2005.
We Have a Right
In accordance with history, we, as descendants of a people who are intricately connected to all the native people of this hemisphere as well as to these lands, do not believe we are “immigrants” in our own lands, but migrant people who have always traveled back and forth without considering artificial borderlines or governmental decrees. Not only in a historical, but in a contemporary sense do we have the right to pursue happiness, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, which was signed by the United States in 1946. Our massive exodus as a people across racist borderlines are in direct result of U.S. foreign policy, namely neoliberal politics pushed by the ever-increasing shadow of capitalism and free-market theories, creating policies such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), NAFTA, Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP), and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), among others, which create a very heavy burden on the Mexican (and other countries’) working-class and exploit the natural resources so needed to live a decent lifestyle. We denounce any attempt to regulate the migration of people into any country without first creating equality among classes all around the world. We are aware it is capitalism which is the base of many ills all around the world, and we actively denounce it as long as it means ill will towards other people and profit over everything else. Although realistically, “immigration reform” is needed to help the people already living in the United States stay here, we believe the “immigration debate” needs to shift its focus to include mainly a debate about U.S. foreign policy and the impact it has had, and will continue to have, all around the world. We need to eliminate racist and exclusive concepts such as “illegal aliens” or “illegal immigrants” from our minds and learn the history behind immigration and why people migrate out of their home countries before pointing fingers and unfairly target mainly defenseless people as a direct result of our incompetence and stupidity. We need to fight against fascist immigration raids anywhere they pop-up and realize that there are more ties to racist history in the immigration debate other than these Gestapo-type terrorist attacks on our communities. Until fairness and equality exists around the world, until racism ceases to exist and true diversity is embraced, until then will we see a change in migration patterns and until then will “legal immigration” be a more viable option for many people around the world.
Until then, fuck all racist immigration laws! We will not cease to pursue a better life for our seeds! We are the people, and we will never be stopped! This is our land, and it is our right to exist!
C/S
Ramiro Medrano
Watsonville Autonomous Brown Beret Chapter
MEXICAH TIAHUI!
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Nice sentiment, but not really. It's not anyone's land, yours mine or anyone else's. Yet any modern "nation", self-proclaimed or otherwise, depends on some kind of rule of law, "migrations" or not. All nations in the world are nothing but "renters" of a small portion of the planet created to provide a sense of social stability for people. Tribal warfare and bloodshed used to be much more commonplace than it is these days, ("white" Europe included). We have all crawled out of a bloody past to where we are now. This has largely abated in no small part due to the establishment of law enforcement and borders, beginning in ancient China, the cradle of advanced modern civilization. You want the whole world to be like the Sunnis and Shias forever at each others throats? That is what a return to the "traditional indigenous past" and "eradication of borders" will get you.
You are defeating your own best argument with the "no borders-we are comin' in whether you like it or not" routine. That baloney just feeds right in to the racist (and I mean really racist, not so-called racist) KKK/Aryan Nations "race war" protagonists. Is that what you want? A confrontation? Because that is what is coming if you keep feeding the emotional trough with that "no borders, fuck you" propaganda. And who or what will you turn to for support? Armed conflict? Good luck. We all lose then, total bloodshed. The ACLU? Created by "white people". Labor Unions? Ditto. Created by the spilled blood of- poor white Americans! Oh those horrible Europeans! They may not be idealistically perfect enough for you, but at least thank them and other "white" liberals for making it possible for you to file a complaint and be heard, unlike the "old days" in "white" Europe, Aztlan, India, the Middle East, Africa (it still is like that there) and everywhere else when an axe, sword, or spear did the talking, where power spoke with a blade and not a District Attorney.
Racism still exists ,undeniably. It is still ingrained into the system like a virus that doesn't quite go away. It will be encountered for a lot of folks in times to come who still need to stand up to it. It is on the wane, however, little by little. I am fifty-two and I have seen the progress in my lifetime. Yes power and personal wealth still corrupts. Selfish motives will always be with us. The struggle never ends. That is the human condition, don't lay it all on "white" culture. Selfishness knows no racial bounds.
I know some of you Anglo-haters hate to hear this, but "Progressive" society is a "white" concept, expounded by European-based Rosicricians and Freemasons. Look it up. The concept of the abolition of private property, the abolition of despotic rule by kings and dictators, sexual egalitarianism, universal human rights, freedom and economic/political opportunity for all, democracy for all not just the few, University education, all are "white liberal" European concepts created by a minority of forward-thinking 17th Century "white" progressives, meant to be laboriously and gradually cultivated so worldwide society can be developed for the greater good for the long haul.
What "white" progressives like the Rosicrucians and Illuminist Lodges brought about was admittedly an imperfect revolution, one that "started white" by their point of view of practical necessity, but one that realistically acknowledged from the start that it would take generations to see any real progress so it could spread to all peoples."Give me you tired and poor" - a poem written by a French Liberal European woman as a gift along with the Statue of the Goddess Liberty, a French creation of Pagan European origin.
There is a radical divide in America, a dichotomy that has been a longstanding thread in "white" European/American culture, and that is because it was a minority of socially and economically established progressive thinkers who wanted, and still want, to push humanity forward out of the "dark ages" of tribalism and despots, who were up against a less educated, much more racist, majority who predictably resisted any social progress. They knew it would take a hell of a long time for any positive change to occur. And they were right. There is a long way to go. We can sit back in our modern comfort zones and criticize Thomas Jefferson for having slaves, etc, all we want, but nothing changes the fact that all "progressives", "feminists", "radicals", and "liberals" whether they acknowledge it or not, owe a huge debt to those old "white" visionaries who paved the way for the social progress they had in mind for a future they would never see, a social and political revolution that obviously still has a long way to go.
Be careful whose hand you bite, it just may be the one that feeds you.
You are defeating your own best argument with the "no borders-we are comin' in whether you like it or not" routine. That baloney just feeds right in to the racist (and I mean really racist, not so-called racist) KKK/Aryan Nations "race war" protagonists. Is that what you want? A confrontation? Because that is what is coming if you keep feeding the emotional trough with that "no borders, fuck you" propaganda. And who or what will you turn to for support? Armed conflict? Good luck. We all lose then, total bloodshed. The ACLU? Created by "white people". Labor Unions? Ditto. Created by the spilled blood of- poor white Americans! Oh those horrible Europeans! They may not be idealistically perfect enough for you, but at least thank them and other "white" liberals for making it possible for you to file a complaint and be heard, unlike the "old days" in "white" Europe, Aztlan, India, the Middle East, Africa (it still is like that there) and everywhere else when an axe, sword, or spear did the talking, where power spoke with a blade and not a District Attorney.
Racism still exists ,undeniably. It is still ingrained into the system like a virus that doesn't quite go away. It will be encountered for a lot of folks in times to come who still need to stand up to it. It is on the wane, however, little by little. I am fifty-two and I have seen the progress in my lifetime. Yes power and personal wealth still corrupts. Selfish motives will always be with us. The struggle never ends. That is the human condition, don't lay it all on "white" culture. Selfishness knows no racial bounds.
I know some of you Anglo-haters hate to hear this, but "Progressive" society is a "white" concept, expounded by European-based Rosicricians and Freemasons. Look it up. The concept of the abolition of private property, the abolition of despotic rule by kings and dictators, sexual egalitarianism, universal human rights, freedom and economic/political opportunity for all, democracy for all not just the few, University education, all are "white liberal" European concepts created by a minority of forward-thinking 17th Century "white" progressives, meant to be laboriously and gradually cultivated so worldwide society can be developed for the greater good for the long haul.
What "white" progressives like the Rosicrucians and Illuminist Lodges brought about was admittedly an imperfect revolution, one that "started white" by their point of view of practical necessity, but one that realistically acknowledged from the start that it would take generations to see any real progress so it could spread to all peoples."Give me you tired and poor" - a poem written by a French Liberal European woman as a gift along with the Statue of the Goddess Liberty, a French creation of Pagan European origin.
There is a radical divide in America, a dichotomy that has been a longstanding thread in "white" European/American culture, and that is because it was a minority of socially and economically established progressive thinkers who wanted, and still want, to push humanity forward out of the "dark ages" of tribalism and despots, who were up against a less educated, much more racist, majority who predictably resisted any social progress. They knew it would take a hell of a long time for any positive change to occur. And they were right. There is a long way to go. We can sit back in our modern comfort zones and criticize Thomas Jefferson for having slaves, etc, all we want, but nothing changes the fact that all "progressives", "feminists", "radicals", and "liberals" whether they acknowledge it or not, owe a huge debt to those old "white" visionaries who paved the way for the social progress they had in mind for a future they would never see, a social and political revolution that obviously still has a long way to go.
Be careful whose hand you bite, it just may be the one that feeds you.
thank you for your imperial/colonial eye on the situation of our times, the narratives that people like you bring forward to us/them/yourself demonstrate the level of oppression of the oppressor. keep articulating your narratives, and impose them on your relatives…you’ll get there….
Read my post again until it sinks in-you would not have the opportunity to even post your thoughts on this website if not for a small cadre of liberal white people who fought against colonialism in the 18th Century, who fought the British to sever ties with colonialism to begin the creation of a progressive society. Read some good "alternative" American history books. Better yet read The Occult Conspiracy by Michael Howard for the lowdown on the "secret" history of the American Revolution.
Of course there were widespread atrocities committed against native peoples by land-grabbing white settlers, just as the Maya and Aztecs commited vile atrocities against other tribes and put people into slavery, as did the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese in WW2, etc etc., all non-white cultures, by the way. I don't think Latino history is exempt on this issue. No excuses are being made by me for the past. But we are here now and the past cannot be erased or changed. All progressive people have to work within the situation they are in. And we are here now and can't turn the pages of time back.
Of course there were widespread atrocities committed against native peoples by land-grabbing white settlers, just as the Maya and Aztecs commited vile atrocities against other tribes and put people into slavery, as did the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese in WW2, etc etc., all non-white cultures, by the way. I don't think Latino history is exempt on this issue. No excuses are being made by me for the past. But we are here now and the past cannot be erased or changed. All progressive people have to work within the situation they are in. And we are here now and can't turn the pages of time back.
Patriarchy is a male-supremacist social structure based on rule of force against so-called "other" people. It was created by male barbarians 6,000 years ago who migrated to southern regions from north Asia. They slaughtered the peaceful Goddess societies. (The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler and Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe by Marija Gimbutas.
Racism is an element of patriarchy since "other" people who have different skin color are regarded with contempt by the dominant male elite of each particular nation (and their sell-out female lackeys.
Women of all races, including the race of the conquering male elite, are viewed with contempt and used for cheap labor, manufacturing babies for cheap labor and soldiers.
Most human migrations were caused by the rich ruling elite who took the best land for themselves and enslaved people of all races on all continents. Europeans were peasants for 1000 years as were Russian serfs and peasants of China and Asia who suffered even longer.
Africans were enslaved by whites for 500 years-and men enslaved women for 6,000 years.
All power by force is equally wrong, no matter how long it went on or how many people were enslaved. One enslaved woman or man is one too many.
We are all one race, the human race, but the rich elites pit us against each other because if we fight with eachoter over remaining resources (that the rich didnt take) we dont focus on who caused us all this misery, the patriarchal rich.
Racism is an element of patriarchy since "other" people who have different skin color are regarded with contempt by the dominant male elite of each particular nation (and their sell-out female lackeys.
Women of all races, including the race of the conquering male elite, are viewed with contempt and used for cheap labor, manufacturing babies for cheap labor and soldiers.
Most human migrations were caused by the rich ruling elite who took the best land for themselves and enslaved people of all races on all continents. Europeans were peasants for 1000 years as were Russian serfs and peasants of China and Asia who suffered even longer.
Africans were enslaved by whites for 500 years-and men enslaved women for 6,000 years.
All power by force is equally wrong, no matter how long it went on or how many people were enslaved. One enslaved woman or man is one too many.
We are all one race, the human race, but the rich elites pit us against each other because if we fight with eachoter over remaining resources (that the rich didnt take) we dont focus on who caused us all this misery, the patriarchal rich.
Interesting observation re: dehumanization of "the Other". I have never heard of female-based racist orgs that were not spinoffs of already existing male-led racist orgs. Riane Eisler's book is a must-read. One question re: "Amazon" societies with warrior queens. They considered males as "the Other". Many still do. Male influence?
In general I would guess this is true since most societies are male dominated and women have little power to stand up for themselves let alone form hate groups. A close look at even US history though shows that female dominated groups are about as racist as male ones. One key example would be the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, which was founded on anti-Irish and anti-Catholic roots but not clearly a spin-off of any male dominated groups. In Europe now you have many groups that have traditionally promoted feminism now focusing an inordinate amount of attention on problems in Muslim communities in a way that could be described as racist; while the focus is to save women in those other cultures from the men in the cultures the demonization of men specifically from other cultures has many similarities to the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and anti-African American stereotypes in the US South after the Civil War.
This article was not intended to speak only about racism in the United States, racism in general, or to say "boohoo look how bad white people have been to us," but to put into perspective the issue of racism and immigration, and how there is a link between anti-immigration sentiments and racism.
I am tired of people scapegoating underprivileged poor people of color and blaming them for the state of this country, and then to hide behind the "I am not against immigration, I am against illegal immigration" tired-ass bullshit excuse.
This short essay was also created to shift the focus from immigration reform to U.S. foreign policy. If we only speak about immigration reform and continue only speaking about this, then we are fomenting U.S. imperialism and not attacking it. We need to talk about the World Bank, the IMF, Plan Puebla Panamá, NAFTA, FTAA, how much subsistence farming has been affected by free-market policies and how this has created more poverty, less self-determination, and therefore a massive exodus into developed countries. This phenomenon is not only between Mexico or Latin America and the U.S., it's happening in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, you name it. "Utopia Bold" is right on when s/he claims that "the rich elites pit us against each other because if we fight with eachoter over remaining resources (that the rich didnt take) we dont focus on who caused us all this misery." This is so evident to me when your typical American complains about the scraps that "illegals take from society," while at the same time not realizing that not only is this government waging a multi-billion-dollar war on people of color, but that multi-billion-dollar American Corporations are laughing all the way to the bank because they aren't feeling the fucked up state of the U.S. economy, or because they don't have to worry about medical insurance, overcrowded hospitals, or a bad education system. I mean, California has the fifth largest economy in the world, yet is the 49th state to spend on education. HOW CRAZY IS THAT? And how is that immigrants' fault?
Once again, racism and immigration. This essay is not about racism in general. But I have to disagree that in a contemporary sense, feminist issues are more important than racism. The mere fact that white women could discriminate against people of color or against "foreigners" proves that white women, simply for being white, have always been held at higher regards than people of color or immigrants. I mean, look at Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. She was a huge racist who fervorously believed in the eugenics theory. Who do you think Planned Parenthood was created for? Who is it STILL nowadays targeted towards?
Jimmy: to believe "all of our freedoms" are owed to a "small group of liberal white men" is to downplay the many figures in history, all people of color, who have fought long and hard for justice. Do you think any kind of "freedom" is handed out like candy? It is fought and won...always! To believe it is white people who we owe everything we have to, is just ridiculous and racist, as you don't take into consideration the hardships many people have endured and gone through to get where we are in society. And still, all our "freedoms" aren't worth anything if others are being denied the pursuit of happiness. And to think that this country is the pinnacle of freedom and liberty is to not know shit. This is one of the most fascist countries in the world when it comes to personal freedoms, and that is the only reason why it isn't as repressive as other countries. Your comments, along with other comments about people not doing anything in Mexico to change their situation, made in another post, is evident of how ignorant you are to other struggles. People in Mexico, and other parts of Latin America are very involved in trying to change their government and current situations, but there is a much greater force oppressing them, and that is capitalism, and that's because they are in the receiving end. You know nothing of what it's like to be in the receiving end of capitalism. Nothing!
So, let's bring the discussion back and tie it into immigration, please. That's what this essay was written for.
I am tired of people scapegoating underprivileged poor people of color and blaming them for the state of this country, and then to hide behind the "I am not against immigration, I am against illegal immigration" tired-ass bullshit excuse.
This short essay was also created to shift the focus from immigration reform to U.S. foreign policy. If we only speak about immigration reform and continue only speaking about this, then we are fomenting U.S. imperialism and not attacking it. We need to talk about the World Bank, the IMF, Plan Puebla Panamá, NAFTA, FTAA, how much subsistence farming has been affected by free-market policies and how this has created more poverty, less self-determination, and therefore a massive exodus into developed countries. This phenomenon is not only between Mexico or Latin America and the U.S., it's happening in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, you name it. "Utopia Bold" is right on when s/he claims that "the rich elites pit us against each other because if we fight with eachoter over remaining resources (that the rich didnt take) we dont focus on who caused us all this misery." This is so evident to me when your typical American complains about the scraps that "illegals take from society," while at the same time not realizing that not only is this government waging a multi-billion-dollar war on people of color, but that multi-billion-dollar American Corporations are laughing all the way to the bank because they aren't feeling the fucked up state of the U.S. economy, or because they don't have to worry about medical insurance, overcrowded hospitals, or a bad education system. I mean, California has the fifth largest economy in the world, yet is the 49th state to spend on education. HOW CRAZY IS THAT? And how is that immigrants' fault?
Once again, racism and immigration. This essay is not about racism in general. But I have to disagree that in a contemporary sense, feminist issues are more important than racism. The mere fact that white women could discriminate against people of color or against "foreigners" proves that white women, simply for being white, have always been held at higher regards than people of color or immigrants. I mean, look at Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. She was a huge racist who fervorously believed in the eugenics theory. Who do you think Planned Parenthood was created for? Who is it STILL nowadays targeted towards?
Jimmy: to believe "all of our freedoms" are owed to a "small group of liberal white men" is to downplay the many figures in history, all people of color, who have fought long and hard for justice. Do you think any kind of "freedom" is handed out like candy? It is fought and won...always! To believe it is white people who we owe everything we have to, is just ridiculous and racist, as you don't take into consideration the hardships many people have endured and gone through to get where we are in society. And still, all our "freedoms" aren't worth anything if others are being denied the pursuit of happiness. And to think that this country is the pinnacle of freedom and liberty is to not know shit. This is one of the most fascist countries in the world when it comes to personal freedoms, and that is the only reason why it isn't as repressive as other countries. Your comments, along with other comments about people not doing anything in Mexico to change their situation, made in another post, is evident of how ignorant you are to other struggles. People in Mexico, and other parts of Latin America are very involved in trying to change their government and current situations, but there is a much greater force oppressing them, and that is capitalism, and that's because they are in the receiving end. You know nothing of what it's like to be in the receiving end of capitalism. Nothing!
So, let's bring the discussion back and tie it into immigration, please. That's what this essay was written for.
If this were "one of the most fascist countries in terms of personal freedoms" you would be hunted down via your URL (like in China for instance), taken by force in the middle of the night by masked thugs. Concepts like Due Process, being innocent until proven guilty, social justice for minorities, etc. are not generally White European concepts at all, but the concepts of a tiny fraction of liberal intellects who fought the tyranny of kings in Euprope for their people (who by chance just happened to be white) and came up with a new conception of society which we all take for granted as having been around forever today.
The *concept* of freedom and justice was written admittedly in extremely racist and socially ignorant colonial times, that is why non-whites and women were originally excluded. That was justifiably remedied by the people in the 20th Century and in turn accepted by the government and added into the US Constitution, which has a central mandate to be vigilant against tyranny with an eye to progressing past and remedying whatever legally sanctioned injustices happen to be prevalent in the present (and past). This means keeping an eye on a goal for the future, as overnight revolutions and other "quick fixes"always lead to more trouble down the line than they are worth. This is what all anti-fascists, anti-war activists, minority rights activists are all supposedly doing and more power to these folks.
Time and again we have been challenged by powerful, selfish, and racist individuals hiding behind the US government and they must be challenged and the American constitutional system was designed to deal with this, but what makes it so difficult is that there are many in power that are in direct opposition to the ideas that a liberal democracy was founded upon- they do not share the same intellects as the ones that formulated the US Constitution and they must be constantly challenged and the voting public must stay informed and be vigilant, and above all, participate to get change done to include more disenfranchised people into the mix.
Big money interests have always had an undemocratic motivation everywhere- no racial heritage is excluded from this type of selfish behaviour- and it is a tough struggle, but things have worked for the better for a majority of people so far compared to ages past. The problem is we have created an environmental ticking time bomb by all the dirty industry, worldwide, in all developing and developed nations. We do have a very long way to go to get to an "enlightened", sustainable, and just society, if we ever do. It obviously ain't happenin' yet!
"Tearing down the walls", or "blowing up shit" (as UCSC activist Alette Kendrick foolishly states on her MySpace page as her motto) may personally feel good on a thoughtless emotional level, but is not gonna make a better future for anybody. It is a good tactic to act and speak thoughtfully and wisely to garner the necessary support of those who may not be radicalized, but may be more sympathetic to the cause of justice than one may think, who may become effective allies if they perceive a common goal. In other words, don't create more enemies than you already may have by using hateful, reactionary or intolerant speech, which seems to erupt on this website too often.
If America was wiped off the face of the Earth, yes some people would rejoice but the world would not necessarily be a better place. Try fighting for human rights in Russia. Or China. Or India. Or even Mexico.Try being a liberal radical intellectual free spirit in Pakistan, practicing sexual freedom, dancing to Hip-Hop, Pop, or Rock music, or even dancing at all (it is illegal in Iran)!. Not that easy, huh? You may even be hung or publicly stoned, whipped, or beheaded for just "having fun" or loving someone of your own gender.
Think deeply about this before you go calling America "one of the most fascist states in the world".
The *concept* of freedom and justice was written admittedly in extremely racist and socially ignorant colonial times, that is why non-whites and women were originally excluded. That was justifiably remedied by the people in the 20th Century and in turn accepted by the government and added into the US Constitution, which has a central mandate to be vigilant against tyranny with an eye to progressing past and remedying whatever legally sanctioned injustices happen to be prevalent in the present (and past). This means keeping an eye on a goal for the future, as overnight revolutions and other "quick fixes"always lead to more trouble down the line than they are worth. This is what all anti-fascists, anti-war activists, minority rights activists are all supposedly doing and more power to these folks.
Time and again we have been challenged by powerful, selfish, and racist individuals hiding behind the US government and they must be challenged and the American constitutional system was designed to deal with this, but what makes it so difficult is that there are many in power that are in direct opposition to the ideas that a liberal democracy was founded upon- they do not share the same intellects as the ones that formulated the US Constitution and they must be constantly challenged and the voting public must stay informed and be vigilant, and above all, participate to get change done to include more disenfranchised people into the mix.
Big money interests have always had an undemocratic motivation everywhere- no racial heritage is excluded from this type of selfish behaviour- and it is a tough struggle, but things have worked for the better for a majority of people so far compared to ages past. The problem is we have created an environmental ticking time bomb by all the dirty industry, worldwide, in all developing and developed nations. We do have a very long way to go to get to an "enlightened", sustainable, and just society, if we ever do. It obviously ain't happenin' yet!
"Tearing down the walls", or "blowing up shit" (as UCSC activist Alette Kendrick foolishly states on her MySpace page as her motto) may personally feel good on a thoughtless emotional level, but is not gonna make a better future for anybody. It is a good tactic to act and speak thoughtfully and wisely to garner the necessary support of those who may not be radicalized, but may be more sympathetic to the cause of justice than one may think, who may become effective allies if they perceive a common goal. In other words, don't create more enemies than you already may have by using hateful, reactionary or intolerant speech, which seems to erupt on this website too often.
If America was wiped off the face of the Earth, yes some people would rejoice but the world would not necessarily be a better place. Try fighting for human rights in Russia. Or China. Or India. Or even Mexico.Try being a liberal radical intellectual free spirit in Pakistan, practicing sexual freedom, dancing to Hip-Hop, Pop, or Rock music, or even dancing at all (it is illegal in Iran)!. Not that easy, huh? You may even be hung or publicly stoned, whipped, or beheaded for just "having fun" or loving someone of your own gender.
Think deeply about this before you go calling America "one of the most fascist states in the world".
What kind of off-topic remark is this? This is a distraction. Those phrases are not from Alette's myspace, which by the way is "set to private." You can find out about Alette via the UC Activist Defense Committee.
Jimmy, you've got so much arrogance that it's annoying and this will be my last response to you because of it.
First of all, your perspective is unsurprisingly that of a white man, which it's generally not a problem, unless you are speaking on an issue which also affects people of color. The "tiny fraction of liberal intellects who fought tyranny in Europe" were obviously Europeans. This "tiny fraction of liberal intellects" then became tyrants themselves. Maybe not to you or any other "free white alien," but to Black slaves, women, Native Americans, and other "foreigners," hell yes. Global immigration has always, since the concept of controlled migration, been controlled by white men.
Second, you think white people created parliament and democracy? You are truly naive and full of yourself. I urge you to look up the Iroquois League Constitution and compare it to the U.S. Constitution. I assure you will be amazed. When white people arrived to this continent governments were controlled by the people. This is why Moctezuma was stoned to death by his own people when he refused to fight off the Spanish invaders. How often did kings die at the hands of their own people? You think we are nowadays void of tyranny? Look at the two-party system this country has always had and the squashing of all communist/socialist/anarchist/revolutionary movements. The "concept of freedom and justice" was written by white people too? I guess they invented the swahili word UHURU ("freedom") and the nahuatl word MAQUIXTIA ("freedom/liberty").
Jimmy, I don't think you understand the concept of fascism, and so here's the dictionary's description of the word:
a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
The countries you have pointed out are indeed more repressive, but this has to do with religion, not politics. This country's fascism is driven by politics and economics and is so structurized, that it doesn't have to be as repressive as others.
For example, if CNN were to support a coup d'etat of Bush's government, CNN would be deemed a terrorist organization, tried and jailed on terrorist charges, among others, while being completely dismantled as a national newschannel in no-time. In Venezuela, Radio Caracas Television supported the 2002 coup, yet remained on public TV for five more years until their permit was not renewed to broadcast on public television, though they have the option of broadcasting through private satellite TV.
In Mexico, when people want to gather and hold mass protests, they do it without worrying about permits, fees or criminal charges. In this country, you have to obtain a permit to protest! Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of a protest? And look at the LAPD repression of the peaceful Mayday march at McArthur Park in LA...all because they overstayed their permit for a few minutes. Talk about fascist.
We are at different levels, Jimmy. While you might think this country is the "best country on earth," most of the people around the world would tell you otherwise because of their experience of U.S. politics and economics...which prompt people to leave their home and "search for a better life" in a country that globally exploits theirs. And we are back to immigration and racism.
First of all, your perspective is unsurprisingly that of a white man, which it's generally not a problem, unless you are speaking on an issue which also affects people of color. The "tiny fraction of liberal intellects who fought tyranny in Europe" were obviously Europeans. This "tiny fraction of liberal intellects" then became tyrants themselves. Maybe not to you or any other "free white alien," but to Black slaves, women, Native Americans, and other "foreigners," hell yes. Global immigration has always, since the concept of controlled migration, been controlled by white men.
Second, you think white people created parliament and democracy? You are truly naive and full of yourself. I urge you to look up the Iroquois League Constitution and compare it to the U.S. Constitution. I assure you will be amazed. When white people arrived to this continent governments were controlled by the people. This is why Moctezuma was stoned to death by his own people when he refused to fight off the Spanish invaders. How often did kings die at the hands of their own people? You think we are nowadays void of tyranny? Look at the two-party system this country has always had and the squashing of all communist/socialist/anarchist/revolutionary movements. The "concept of freedom and justice" was written by white people too? I guess they invented the swahili word UHURU ("freedom") and the nahuatl word MAQUIXTIA ("freedom/liberty").
Jimmy, I don't think you understand the concept of fascism, and so here's the dictionary's description of the word:
a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.
The countries you have pointed out are indeed more repressive, but this has to do with religion, not politics. This country's fascism is driven by politics and economics and is so structurized, that it doesn't have to be as repressive as others.
For example, if CNN were to support a coup d'etat of Bush's government, CNN would be deemed a terrorist organization, tried and jailed on terrorist charges, among others, while being completely dismantled as a national newschannel in no-time. In Venezuela, Radio Caracas Television supported the 2002 coup, yet remained on public TV for five more years until their permit was not renewed to broadcast on public television, though they have the option of broadcasting through private satellite TV.
In Mexico, when people want to gather and hold mass protests, they do it without worrying about permits, fees or criminal charges. In this country, you have to obtain a permit to protest! Doesn't that defeat the entire purpose of a protest? And look at the LAPD repression of the peaceful Mayday march at McArthur Park in LA...all because they overstayed their permit for a few minutes. Talk about fascist.
We are at different levels, Jimmy. While you might think this country is the "best country on earth," most of the people around the world would tell you otherwise because of their experience of U.S. politics and economics...which prompt people to leave their home and "search for a better life" in a country that globally exploits theirs. And we are back to immigration and racism.
James k. Polk offerd 30 million dollers for the southwest terrritory then when the mexican govement refusd they sends troops to the border and the troops attack a U.S patrol the so U.S miltary action was taken and it turned slowly into a war and after U.S victory Polk still gave the money. A just war and to the victor go the spoils
ramiro,
your article and views on immigration are obviously well-researched, though it does seem in some ways like you are defending a position rather than the truth at times, i.e. the rights and history of people to migrate. there is a rich history of migration all around. does this legitimize it? is there inherent exploitation in it? fundamentally, how much investment do people migrating have in the places they migrate to?
these are questions, not answers, though there definitely could be a variety of responses. the transitory nature of migration is somewhat troubling. from a labor perspective, such people are generally more powerless, unable to tap in to local resources and organize themselves/fight oppression, especially illegal immigrants. environmentally, these folx also are not going to have the same investment in the region they are migrating through than residents. long term perspectives are jettisoned for immediate returns. what kinds of jobs/employers are they supporting? what kind of integrity do the bosses they have have for human decency, not just bang for the buck? locally, look at the crappy polluting agribusiness jobs in watsonville that rely on immigrant labor to do their dirty work in the strawberry fields. commercially grown strawberries are one of the most toxic crops around, the pesticides they use among the worst. the plastic sheeting on the ground wasteful. they, immigrants, are at the mercy of the almighty dollar they have come to earn...
just a few points. would appreciate your response.....
peace.
your article and views on immigration are obviously well-researched, though it does seem in some ways like you are defending a position rather than the truth at times, i.e. the rights and history of people to migrate. there is a rich history of migration all around. does this legitimize it? is there inherent exploitation in it? fundamentally, how much investment do people migrating have in the places they migrate to?
these are questions, not answers, though there definitely could be a variety of responses. the transitory nature of migration is somewhat troubling. from a labor perspective, such people are generally more powerless, unable to tap in to local resources and organize themselves/fight oppression, especially illegal immigrants. environmentally, these folx also are not going to have the same investment in the region they are migrating through than residents. long term perspectives are jettisoned for immediate returns. what kinds of jobs/employers are they supporting? what kind of integrity do the bosses they have have for human decency, not just bang for the buck? locally, look at the crappy polluting agribusiness jobs in watsonville that rely on immigrant labor to do their dirty work in the strawberry fields. commercially grown strawberries are one of the most toxic crops around, the pesticides they use among the worst. the plastic sheeting on the ground wasteful. they, immigrants, are at the mercy of the almighty dollar they have come to earn...
just a few points. would appreciate your response.....
peace.
I saw the film "Searching for Sugarman" last night. As a result of that and my research, I am starting to believe that the reason Sixto Rodriguez was denied musical stardom in the US was not because "his records didn't sell", but because of his affiliation with the Brown Berets at a time when the Establishment was terrified of them. Of course, I have no proof as yet, and I wonder if I would live very long if I did, but I do frankly suspect that powerful political and economic interests decided that Rodriguez had to be prevented from reaching a mass audience by any means necessary. In short, he was too radical AND too good, and thus too dangerous for Amerikan fascism. He may have instinctively felt that, had he continued to seek major fame (like what he had in South Africa and Australia), he would have met the same fate that John Lennon eventually met. I only posted this seemingly immaterial comment here brcause I have been unable to post it anywhere else (e.g., on aztlan.net or Brown Beret websites).
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