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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Flag-waving? Flag-burning!

    http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.d ... /609210344

    Flag-waving? Flag-burning!
    ANTHONY M. STEVENS-ARROYO
    September 21, 2006


    The court decision that stalled the Hazleton immigration ordinance was a victory of democracy and the rule of law over vigilantism. Patriotic Americans favor enforcing enforceable laws. However, the U.S. Constitution clearly reserves jurisdiction over immigration to the federal government. Taking the law into your own hands has led to abuses such as Jim Crow in the South, the Greaser Laws in California and the Ku Klux Klan that terrorized African-Americans, Catholics and Jews for half a century.

    Now vigilantes attack the civil rights of Latino residents of Pennsylvania, claiming they can decide which freedoms Latinos and Latinas are allowed.

    These efforts are not political in a partisan sense: the Republicans pushing this agenda are opposed by an Iraq-beleaguered President Bush, who in this regard has had the common sense to oppose racist measures. Moreover, Democrats have been swept up in this anti-Latino sickness. When you realize Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta's leading role in Senator Santorum's reelection, however, it becomes clear that the Hazleton Ordinance and its Mount Pocono clone, since tabled, are part of a general strategy to divide Americans by hatred and racial suspicion, a tactic perfected by Joe McCarthy in the 1950s.

    Apparently, having decided he won't be reelected as God's friend, Senator Santorum has decided to run as the Devil's enemy. Santorum's T.V. ad shows Middle Eastern terrorists and then suggests that immigrants today read: Latinos and Latinas are "sinister." This kind of politics works against the inspirational words of "freedom and justice for all." Just what about "un-American" don't these people understand?

    This "hate 'em" strategy is alive and well in Harrisburg with an anti-Latino amendment being smuggled into legislation on insurance HB 1959 this June. It will be remembered that Jefferson, Madison and Adams did not put a "national language" into the constitution. They had seen the way England took away the linguistic freedoms of the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh in order to subordinate the conquered to the whims of empire, and wanted the United States to be different. The U.S. Constitution, therefore, was written to protect rights, not take them away. But in Pennsylvania, we have State Rep. Mario Scavello, R-176, taking the floor of the state General Assembly to support another Republican's amendment A07999 calling for an English-as-official-language rule, promoting exactly what the founders of this great country repudiated. State Rep. John Siptroth, D-186, also voted for the amendment.

    When people in the United States decide to learn English, it is called "assimilation." When government takes away their freedom, it is called "ethnic cleansing." Just what part of "unconstitutional" don't these people understand?

    The Constitution itself is under assault. Perennial GOP candidate Pat Buchanan has concocted a theory that when the 14th Amendment says that people born in the United States are automatically citizens, it doesn't apply to some Latinos and Latinas. This fantasy was given legitimacy by activist Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in the Senate hearings on his nomination.

    And just in case Puerto Ricans don't think of themselves as "immigrants" because they have been U.S. citizens since 1917 — the Presidential Commission on Status delivered a report to the White House in May 2006 that Puerto Ricans are not covered by the 14th Amendment. According to this commission, Congress can revoke the U.S. citizenship of Puerto Ricans and all their children any time it wants. Just what in the English language of "born in the United States" don't these people understand?

    The Catholic bishops and Protestant leaders who oppose the Sensenbrenner Bill in the House of Representatives are clear enough for me. People of faith should not be forced into doing the government's job in violation of the constitutional principle of separation of church and state.

    Santorum and his allies, however, support this draconian measure. They want to approve a law that would cast pastors, priests and nuns into jail just for giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name. Mayor Barletta says he only wants to enforce the law, but what has he done to those who throw rocks through the windows of Latino merchants in Hazleton's version of Kristallnacht? Has he prosecuted in the courts the trash collectors who refuse to pick up garbage in front of Latino homes in Hazleton? And what should be done to store owners who turn away Spanish-speaking mothers trying to buy milk for their children? Just what in "ungodly" don't these people understand?

    When politicians impose laws that are unconstitutional, un-American and ungodly, they produce division, hatred and social disruption. The values that made this country wonderful should not be sacrificed in order for politicians to stay in power. Pretending to be patriotic while undercutting the Constitution, the commandments and good sense desecrates everything America stands for. We Latinos and Latinas know the difference between flag waving and flag burning.

    Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo of Penn Estates is Professor of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College, CUNY and former deputy chair in New York of the Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is a contributor to Hispanic Link and a Pennsylvania native.
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member sippy's Avatar
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    We Latinos and Latinas know the difference between flag waving and flag burning.
    They may know the difference, but they obviously are confused about which country flag to be waving.
    "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same results is the definition of insanity. " Albert Einstein.

  3. #3
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    This is just sooooo much drivel without an ounce of fact....

  4. #4
    noyoucannot's Avatar
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    I ask myself why these people fight so hard to keep English as our official language out? They must know deep down that it will hold back their efforts to impose their culture and language on the US.

    Also, this "anti-Latino" garbage has got to stop. No, dip stick. It is anti-ILLEGAL. The fact that 85% of the illegals are Hispanic is not our fault. I'd feel the same way if the illegals were Swedes or Russians coming here and turning our country upside down.

  5. #5
    Senior Member gofer's Avatar
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    Now vigilantes attack the civil rights of Latino residents of Pennsylvania, claiming they can decide which freedoms Latinos and Latinas are allowed.
    I am convinced that many of these Latino journalists suffer from paranoia and a huge inferiority complex. The laws defines an illegal alien, not anyone else. They just refuse to acknowledge that illegal is in no way connected to anti-Latino, but they are determined to turn it into that.....for what reason, I don't know. Maybe they aren't smart enough to understand the difference or maybe they still have not yet managed to move every known family member here yet. Everytime they open their mouth, it makes people wonder why it is that they feel the need to defend every single soul of their race, no matter what the situation is......gotta be low-self-esteem.

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