Letter to the Editor
A couple of weeks ago, in the letters section of our local newspaper, one main aired his suspicion of Hispanics and their plight in our country. His ideas did not disturb me so much (he was basically saying, “send them back and keep the rest of them out”), but his language did. And I realized it was the same language I have seen used in this debate time and time again. Language that is frighteningly similar to language we’ve seen elsewhere…
I felt obligated to post a response.
Dear Editor,
Like most Lunenburg citizens, I have heard and read the escalating debate regarding the status of undocumented immigrants in our country. I don’t profess to be any more sure of the road ahead than any of our government officials. The issues are many and complex, and it will likely take a long time to sort them out in a way that is practical and beneficial (to anyone).
My primary concern, however, is for the people themselves. I use the term “people” intentionally, because it is a word so often missing from the debate. More often, the words “illegals,” “immigrants,” or other demeaning terms dominate the debate.
This sounds hauntingly familiar: the creation of the “us vs. them” mentality that has given rise to racism and the civil rights disasters that continue to destroy human beings all over the world in places like Sudan, Sub-Saharan Africa, Kosovo, and Iraq. It’s the same rhetoric we used to justify slavery, and the rhetoric the Nazis used to demonize anyone they didn’t like. When we start thinking of someONE as someTHING – immigrants, illegals, whatever – we no longer have to think of them as human beings. That’s dangerous.
One has only to travel to the border and look around at the houses and jobs available in Mexican towns to see why they want to come here. And sadly, when they’re here, one need only look around our own communities (yes, here in Kenbridge and Victoria) to see they live and work in conditions that are not much better than the ones they came from. Granted, some come for money, but they are people too, doing things we know well: trying to make a living and care for their loved ones… sound familiar? I don’t need to see a green card to recognize a fellow human being in need.
And lest we forget, our ancestors were once “illegal immigrants” on a continent they did not own: they brought pestilence, disease and war that wiped out or put into submission the better part of the Native American population. We owe a lot to “illegal immigrants,” it seems.
Whatever the answer to the immigration dilemma may be, hatred and racism is not it. Let’s start talking about the people of this debate instead of the nameless and faceless demons we’ve made them out to be. We may not solve the debate over immigration, but we sure might find our place in it.
Sincerely,
Jon Parks, Kenbridge
Jon, I could not agree with you more on this subject! It’s ironic… just yesterday I heard someone mention something about “sending the Hispanics back so that we ‘real’ Americans can have our jobs and land back” and I was frustrated about it all day. The thing that really – REALLY – gets to me is that we aren’t even “real” Americans. Technically it is not our land to begin with since we took it from the Indians (and wiped them out). Anyway, it was really nice to read someone else’s thoughts on the subject. Especially because you pretty much said exactly what I was thinking.
Thanks for being brave/willing enough to put thoughts like this out there!
Emily White
Thanks. I became intensely aware of the sentiment toward Latinos when I lived in Birmingham – a place that has been racially charged for decades. It’s part of the DNA of that area, I think. And since it’s no longer politically correct to be prejudiced against African Americans, we’ll find a new target – and come up with all kinds of reasons they’re worthy of our hatred. I once heard in conversation that a local police force refers to them as “the Hispanic Problem.”
It’s interesting to me that in the area I live now (rural, farming Virginia), the argument “they’re taking our jobs” doesn’t surface very often. People who’ve worked on a farm (or have seen Hispanics working there) understand the simple truth – most Americans simply refuse to do the jobs that Hispanics are doing.
This stems, I think, from a sense of entitlement – “Even though I decided to quit high school, I still deserve something better than flipping burgers.” Until we’re all willing to do the kinds of jobs they often take, I think this kind of rhetoric should stay out of the argument as well!