Arizona has been getting a lot of attention lately because of the SB 1070 law that virtually compels law enforcement agents to engage in racial profiling.Even Shakira had something to say about the bill.
Now, it looks like other states are quickly following suit.
The many facets of this issue could be discussed ad nauseam. But what really infuriates me is that while so many people are yelling at each other about whether undocumented immigrants (or illegal aliens, as Glenn Beck prefers to call them) should be allowed to use public hospitals, or whether illegal workers are the backbone of the U.S. economy, they fail to see that the immigration "problem" is only one symptom of a greater illness - that of U.S. imperialism and the devastating effects that multinational corporations and IMF loans have on the developing world.
The Structural Adjustment Packages that the IMF requires developing countries to adopt in exchange for much-needed loans, often call for the reduction of government spending on programs for the poor, creating the economic conditions that compel people to migrate to the U.S., where many people still believe that if they only work hard enough, they will be "successful."
It's easy to blame the immigrants, but much harder to understand the greater forces at work.
Did you hear Arizona also passed a law banning ethnic studies from the state of Arizona. Schools must teach only about individuals because talking about ethnic groups somehow undermines America. This is strange considering the immigration law, they think explicit ethnic differences is dangerous, because it creates differences (as if there is something wrong with differences) and they do not apply this when it comes to having to carry around your papers wherever you go to prove you are a "legal other." Did you know that Arizona is the current home headquarters of the KKK? No joke. Did you know they originally wore the white gowns because they thought black people would think they really ghosts of confederate soldiers, of course no black person ever fell for this, but they thought they were clever. Today they are just as, for a lack of a better term, stupid. I was on their website and I read an anti-immigration article written from Arizona. The main argument was that they (the white people) were there first?????? I am pretty positive that Arizona was originally part of Mexico until we illegally invaded and took it away. But anyway, what is the point? It is this, and it is a bit grim, how do we ever convince these people of our role in the "global village" and how local actions have transnational consequences if they are yet to understand that they are not living in 1829? Like they have not yet realized that bad things do not necessarily happen because somebody did a bad thing. They listen to Glenn Beck who always show his always praising the founding fathers and attacks the social welfare and corporate (not as in the corporation) responsibility. He might want to read these peoples work, Federalist #10 explicitly talks about land redistribution and government responsibility for the welfare of its people. They would want Glenn Beck removed (John Adams would probably want him lynched). And I do not think it is attack on free speech to remove Glenn Beck, if have a news station with the assets of Fox News that has access to everyone on the planet, it is no longer free speech, it is controlled by the media networks. Anyway, none of this matters because it is all very very personal. If these people hear something that matches their personal morality then that is the truth, and that sucks because if their is only one "real" truth, then most of the world cannot exist, and if does not exist then how could they understand the consequences of U.S. imperialism.
ReplyDeleteJason Yellen
Jason, thanks for bringing up the Arizona law banning ethnic studies - I I didn't know about. But I did know about Arizona being ground zero for the white supremacy movement: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/1/11/white_power_usa_the_rise_of
ReplyDeleteReally scary, demented stuff. And yes, the argument about "white people" being there first is a complete slap in the face to North, Central, and South American indigenous people, and a testament to the dominance of corporate media and gross bias in our education system.
Opening people's eyes is a daunting task because the distractions are just so ubiquitous and mighty. I think back to the allegory of the cave in Plato's Republic:
"Suppose that the man was compelled to look at the fire: wouldn't he be struck blind and try to turn his gaze back toward the shadows, as toward what he can see clearly and hold to be real? What if someone forcibly dragged such a man upward, out of the cave: wouldn't the man be angry at the one doing this to him? And if dragged all the way out into the sunlight, wouldn't he be distressed and unable to see "even one of the things now said to be true," viz. the shadows on the wall (516a)?
It is both comforting and disturbing that it is an issue that has been around forever, but overall, I think we're making progress so long as people like you and me do our part to engage in critical dialogue and effect small but necessary changes.