How today’s hostile attitude to immigrants is developing a new awareness and divergence from the Democratic party
By Jaime Díaz
Something profoundly wrong is taking place in politics today. It is something so inherently wrong and illogical that it doesn’t have a place in today’s United States of America. It is the attack on today’s immigrant groups and, while today’s government policies are harsh, bellicose and even hostile to immigrants, it is something as “American as apple pie.” Some people know it as racism and others have felt it as discrimination.
Looking back a century, we find the Irish and Italian Catholics along with Eastern Europeans and Jews all seeking to make their home in the U.S.A. and other countries such as Brazil and Argentina; many times they were running away from persecution and harsh treatment and hoped to find better lives here. Those who emigrated to the U.S.A. faced hardships and rejection based on the fact they deviated too much from the absolutist heritage of the original founders and that made it hard for them to integrate into society.
Terms such as WOP – a denigrating acronym meaning “without papers” – and others were adopted by mainstream culture to describe the new immigrants. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants – or WASPs – feared that the large influx of foreign peoples would destroy their society and way of life. They feared the new immigrants were not to be trusted and that they had to be pushed to the fringes of society.
And that they did. Because of this, we see how many of the mafias developed and flourished on the fringes of society during the bootlegging years, when contraband could bring in good money. Sadly, it was the people marginalized by society who saw opportunity in bootlegging as a means to get ahead in a society that rejected them; they also moved into vices, extortion and other crimes.
While our society rejected these immigrants, it accepted them openly in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. Today, for instance, one can hear Italo-Brazilians speaking Italian, or Japanese Brazilians speaking Japanese and so forth. They have no fear of who they are and live openly in their new societies, opening businesses and becoming key players in the work force and keeping their economies moving forward. They have no doubts about being Argentinians or Brazilians – depending on where they live today – and they do not fear supporting their old countries of origin; such was the case in the 2006 World Cup when, after Brazil was eliminated, millions of Brazilians simply changed their jerseys to the Italian colors and rooted open-heartedly for the Italian team!
In the U.S.A., however, we find a different situation, because while our demographics were changing in major cities a century ago, the conservative WASP society rejected them while at the same time accepting peoples from Northern Europe such as Swedes, Danish, Germans, English and Scottish. And so the Italians, Irish and Jews simply reacted to this politically by supporting the opposite political party. Today that party is the Democrats and it has been difficult for the Republicans to wean away voters from them due to the caustic history xenophobic politicians helped write in the past. And today, in spite of the obstacles posed to them, we see Irish, Italians and Jews prospering and participating in society and becoming today’s leaders in politics, business, the arts and sciences, etc.
We also see the tragic history African Americans have faced. In many parts of the country where a Black middle class was emerging in this past century, we now find impoverished neighborhoods and economic blight. Many companies still do not hire or promote Blacks to better jobs and it is an ongoing challenge to get equality and equal access to jobs and opportunities. This is something Martin Luther King Jr. fought hard for and his dream is still in the process of becoming a reality.
In addition, we have the Native Americans and Mexicans who got absorbed into the national borders of the U.S.A. by wars and treaties, such as the Treaty of Guadalupe, which promised Mexicans would have U.S. citizenship and be treated as equals in our society while retaining rights to their lands. Their lands were often stolen from them and they became second-class citizens in a country that rejected them and openly lynched and pushed these victims to the fringes of society, isolated and imporished; and yet the survivors retained their cultures and languages and today we see a majority of these groups siding politically with the Democrats.
It took well over a century to reacquire many of their rights. Martin Luther King Jr. and César Chávez are well known for their fights against injustices here. Less well known are texano attorneys such as Carlos Cadena and Gus García who, with an ironic sense of humor, proved to the U.S. Supreme Court that because Mexicans were treated as a separate class by Anglos that such Mexicans had the right to be judged by a jury of their peers in a court of law (Hernández vs. Texas – United States Supreme Court, 347 U.S. 475 (1954). Slowly, but surely, such leaders hammered away at the old, conservative views of Anglo America and gained for their repressed classes many of the rights they should have enjoyed since the inception of the country.
Is it any surprise today that African Americans, Mexicans, Native Americans, Latinos, Jews, Irish, Italians and other peoples who were rejected by WASP society today support the Democrats? This should not be a surprise to anyone and we should not be surprised by today’s political pogroms against the newest immigrants to our country. Many of them are here without papers – the new “WOPs” if you will. They all have aspirations to prosper and succeed in our country and do not question their identities culturally or linguistically, while at the same time learning and integrating into their lifestyles our culture and language.
And again, as history has proven to us in the past, the U.S.A. is portraying itself to be unwelcoming to these new immigrants who do not have WASP backgrounds. Arizona’s SB 1070, a denigrating legislation that directly attacks the Latino community sends a strong message to them that they are not welcome there. At the same time, we also have police in other parts of the nation who, for being deputized as ICE officials, receive additional federal monies; this buys the support of those police departments who receive ICE funds. We have persons who cross the border without papers being charged with federal crimes and imprisoned next to hardened criminals; this buys the support of the prison guard unions. We have traffic checkpoints – notoriously known in Spanish as “retenes” – that are not necessarily looking for drunk drivers if not for people who have been banned from getting licenses and so cannot register their cars or get auto insurance; their cars are seized and these traffic checkpoints bring in funds to police departments and cities who run them, while impoverishing and destabilizing the Mexican and “minority” populations they target.
Over time, more and more people have become targeted by these pogroms and has reinforced the notion that not only are the 11 million Latino and other WOPs not welcome in our country, but also the legal residents and citizens who are ethnic Mexicans and Latinos; that latter group could be as large as 56 million. These “legal” Mexicans and Latinos and Native Americans and African Americans today find it harder to find jobs, harder to retain any jobs they have, and definitely more difficult to earn promotions based on their merits! They also find themselves to be the victims of pogroms being targeted against Latino WOPs, as they are often stopped and questioned for their papers in places such as Maricopa County where the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been enforcing federal immigration laws already with the help of ICE deputization. Even sadder, some have become the victims of hate crimes. Such was the case of Juan Varela who was murdered by his neighbor after being told to go back to Mexico; Varela was a U.S. citizen who was watering his chile plants at the time he was murdered.
As any physics student can tell you, for every action there is a reaction. Rather than becoming prominent faces in today’s society, today’s non-WASP politicians and leaders are attacked – not for their stands on issues – if not for their race or creed or anything else that does not conform to WASP ideals. The consequential reaction to all of this discrimination is that instead of having more integrated politicians and leaders, we have a growing, mistrusting response where Mexicans and Latinos and Native Americans and African Americans are taking hold of their own political futures and defending themselves from the attacks as best they can.
For instance, the city of Maywood, CA, has fired all of its city employees, which includes the police officers, who had a poor reputation with the residents there. Maywood is now a sanctuary city, meaning it does not receive ICE funds and so does not try to enforce federal immigration laws. Because of these actions, Maywood’s politicians – including Vice Mayor Felipe Aguirre – are listening to their residents and bringing normalcy back to people’s lives.
In another of the 88 cities located in Los Angeles County, we find the residents of Bell, CA, waking up and protesting the outrageous salaries of city officials who – by using a possibly illegal loop hole – ignored state legislation to put limits on the state’s officials. These Bell officials have given themselves outrageous salaries! Part-time city council members, for example, earn $100,000 per year whereas in cities following the state law such city council members earn $400 a month. Bell’s residents, the majority of whom are Mexican and Latino, have been outraged at the scandal and are demanding these shameless officials resign.
In the state of Arizona, where SB 1070 will soon become law and where police officers already stop and question residents – regardless of whether they are there legally or not, many Mexicans and Latinos are leaving the state to find states that are friendly to them, regardless of their immigration status. Arizona is now rapidly becoming a ghost state as so many residents flee or stop going out to spend their money. As less money circulates in their state economy, their businesses suffer and even fail. On top of this, many people nationwide have decided to boycott the state of Arizona as a way to send a clear message that they do not endorse discrimination and harassment of anyone. To add to this, many Mexicans and Latinos who are legal residents or U.S. citizens simply avoid travelling through the state so as to avoid problems with the law for “driving while brown.”
Sadly, the Democrats will not be able to retain their hold over these growing populations of “minorities.” I say “minorities,” because these groups are no different from previous immigrant groups and just because their skin tone many times may be darker, it does not put them in a separate category. Mexicans, Latinos, Native Americans and many others are not just watching what the Democrat leaders say, but more importantly they are watching what they do. And so far, president Obama and other Democrat politicians have failed to deliver anything positive. Granted, these politicians have continued ICE funding, have continued with efforts to build physical walls between us and Mexico and so separate neighbors, have continued to keep mum on immigration reform, and have continued to ignore the problems that are most important to their constituents.
And so, many Democrat voters have grown disillusioned with a party that not only ignores them, but that acts no differently in its harsh attitude towards them; granted, many of these voters will avoid the Republican party like the plague! And yet, something tells me they won’t stay quiet. Those who cannot vote will march in the streets, while others who never voted before will sign up to vote and express their anger in future elections. And those who can vote already are deciding if they need to find and move on to a real political party that wants to actively include them.
I seriously believe many will find and listen to the new wave of candidates arising from the harsh environment today. They will find new leaders arising from cities like Bell, CA, and begin reforms from inside the political system. They will listen and attune themselves more to Green Party candidates who promote their values and equality in a political system that many times has failed them. Another presidential election by Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez may gain them enough votes to get federal funding and start to wedge actual people’s interests in between the two-party monopoly that has ignored their voices, interest, and complaints.
The people need elected officials who will listen and respond to their needs. If they don’t find that, then new voices may arise and come to develop new leaders who move in the direction their people need them to move in. And so we should expect voters and supporters to diverge from the Democratic party and find and further develop one that does identify with them and their needs. The Green Party could be that new party.
Sources: 1. The Alyona Show interview with Felipe Aguirre, the Vice Mayor of Maywood, CA: “Broke California City Fires Police” – June 24, 2010
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8cQX20PSfI&videos=TOudJ5W3Dj8
2. LA Times – Ruben Vives & Jeff Gottlieb: “3 Bell leaders to quit in pay scandal: Offices to resign in controversy over city salaries that are among the highest in the United States.” – July 23, 2010
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bell-council-20100723,0,4500089.story
3. LA Times – Steve López: “The bleeding Bell blues”
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez-20100721,0,5745068.column
4. Carlos M. Jiménez, “The Mexican American Heritage” TQS Publications, Berkeley, CA. May 1993 ISBN: 0-89229-027-7
5. LA Times – Nicholas Riccardi: “Fleeing Phoenix out of fear of immigration law: As families leave the city, and state, some neighborhoods – already suffering from the weak economy – are left with fewer customers to sustain businesses.” – July 22, 2010
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-phoenix-20100723,0,5088910,full.story
6. Reynaldo Anaya Valencia et al., “Mexican Americans and the Law: ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!” The University of Arizona Press, Tuscon 2004 ISBN: 0-8165-2279-0
7. LA Times – Nicholas Riccardi: “Arizona immigration law tints neighborhood dispute: The fatal shooting of a Phoenix resident becomes a hate-crime case even as police and activists downplay the incident’s racial overtones.” – July 26, 2010
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-arizona-20100726,0,2113319.story
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