I am SO SICK of having the "option" of dealing with my bank/store/whatever in either Spanish or English. This is the USA! Our language is ENGLISH! I am a descendant of Italian immigrants. They came here, became legal citizens and learned English. And come to think of it, since my ancestors are all from Italy, I don't "owe" anything to the Native Americans or descendants of slaves. My ancestors didn't have anything to do with you. They weren't in this country until the turn of the century. And come to think of it, even if my ancestors had cheated the natives or owned slaves, I’ve never been on to believe in the “sins of the father” being paid for by his descendants. So unless anyone out there can give me a reeeeeeally good reason why I should feel otherwise (I have a fairly open mind, even on subjects I feel strongly about), that's where I stand.
Lets be clear about this. I have no problem with immigrants...even more, I welcome them, enjoy them, learn from them. This is my country. As hard as it may be to do at the moment, I still love it. If anyone moved here and became legal citizens, paying taxes and contributing to the pot from which we withdraw social services (and into which they dip so frequently and deeply), I'd welcome them with open arms to enrich our country. I love the mix of peoples and I have never been one for "pure blood." Everyone knows that mutts are saner and healthier than purebreds. :)The main complaints for me are, when you leave your homeland to make a life in a new country, learn the language. It's English here. It is very simply the right thing to do to learn the language and customs. Keep your language and customs in your own home if you want and share them with whoever you want, but "when in Rome..." and 2) pay taxes like everyone else! ESPECIALLY when you are taking advantage of the programs we have set up for the less fortunate!! There has got to be a way to deal with this.
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Oh Toni....I can't bear to have this conversation with you.LOL. YIKES.
There is no "pure blood" in this country, for starters. In theory, you make a good point about people being here legally, and how they should contribute to taxes etc. Yes, right on!
The problem is: they are here. Unless someone can find a way to deport all illegals or make them apply for citizenship, what are we going to do????? Take away their jobs (which no respecting Amrican will do), take away their housing---put them in the street? Then we'll have a bunch of hardened criminals that have no choice but to forage like animals to feed their kids. We will pay in so many ways.
It's such a complicated situation, really. Like I said, I believe we have a problem here with this, something should be done-the question is-WHAT?
I have heard the argument "my ancestors didn't own slaves etc." before. Some validity there, but I don't think that the Native Americans get angry with you, personally,for taking away their land. I think they feel animosity towards the whole white race in general for what happened to them.
Not saying that's right either. But what I will say is that I try to put myself in their shoes, and you know what? I'd harbor some resentment too...and feelings are never wrong.
How is this any different than the oppression of women????? We have no trouble seeing that perspective, do we? Interesting.
Taxes, don't get me started. Somehow, together with corporations like WalMart, the government has managed to put the health care, social services, and education of immigrants on the plates of wage-earning, property-owning Americans--while so many of us are losing our jobs not only to immigrants but abroad. We're screwed!! That's part of the reason why so many of us get mad at immigrants and the option to get our messages in Spanish. But they're good, hard-working family people. We should blame our government and big corporations for putting big profits before people. It's damn poor policy. No one's doing what's best for people, they're just lining their pockets and protecting their positions. That leaves us all out here on our own, to decide how to behave in the face of adversity in our day-to-day life. Personally I'm overwhelmed.
Amen sister.
I suggest if you want the skinny on the damage large corporations are doing to the world, rent the documentary "The Corporation". Very disturbing, extremely well done.
Ugh. I wrote this really long post in response to deb's, and then I re-read Nancy's post and thought she said it best, so I erased my long one and posted another, which I then somehow deleted. Now I'm too tired to even respond. Maybe someday when I get worked up again.
Basically, having animosity towards any group of people is racism. I never said i harbored ill will towards mexicans (or other hispanics). It's the situation. And yes, it IS the problem here, and no, I don't have any idea of what to do about it. Shipping them back to their country certainly isn't the answer. I wish someone much smarter than I would come up with a solution, because it's an issue that needs solving. I guess we can agree there. But I stand by what I said about learning the language.
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