Thread: Farmers Branch column stirs up readers

Posted on Sun, Nov. 26,

Farmers Branch column stirs up readers

By Bob Ray Sanders
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The fallout was so great from last Sunday's column on Farmers Branch that I might as well have dropped an atom bomb.

But I suppose when I used a certain word to describe the small Dallas County town's new anti-illegal immigration laws, I should have expected explosive reactions.

The Farmers Branch City Council, led by Councilman Tim O'Hare, enacted a series of ordinances that made English the official language, banned the rental of property to immigrants without legal papers and charged its police to crack down on "criminal aliens" by cooperating with federal officials.

My suggestion that these new laws were "acts of bigotry" upset many readers, and more than once I was asked, "What about illegal do you not understand?"

Because of the overwhelming reaction to the column, I could not respond to each person individually. Therefore, without adding new commentary, I will share some of the readers' reactions to what I wrote.

"Shame on you, Bob Ray, for defending criminals and putting down people who are trying to be law abiding. If the people you are trying to defend want to become part of our culture then they should speak the language."

"Why I read your column I will never know, but I do. You are a good writer, except I usually disagree with your message, even accepting the fact that you are a racist. You have a prejudice against the Caucasian race. ... Why do you always play the race card?"

"I, as a legal taxpayer for 75 years, did not pay into a system that will give to people who come here for a handout. AND I SAY TO FARMERS BRANCH, ROCK ON."

"Seems to me that Webster's definition of 'bigot' fits your foot much closer than Mr. O'Hare's."

"THANK YOU, thank you, thank you for hitting the nail on the head! I am a Caucasian female, married to a Caucasian male and we have lived in Farmers Branch for over three years and I am sincerely appalled and disappointed in our city and our city council."

"Why am I not surprised that you would take the side of criminals? I don't know why, but this seems to be the way y'all feel. You wonder why there is still bigotry when you take this kind of attitude."

"By your line of reasoning it is perfectly acceptable for anyone, immigrant or otherwise, to break any law in this country. After all, if it's okay to break our immigration laws why isn't it okay to break all other laws?"

"If a city chooses to enforce statutes that the Feds haven't, why the outrage? They have chosen to be here illegally. Should there not be consequences. While I disagree, you do state your case well."

"We have lived in several states and a couple of foreign countries. Unfortunately, the actions of Farmers Branch enhance widely held negative opinions of Texas. Thank you for continuing to write about what you think is right even when it will open you to much criticism."

"I have major issues with actions taken by cities when the sole purpose of those actions is to divide its citizens. I believe that making landlords/apartment managers responsible for enforcing immigration laws is beyond stupid."

"Your article was quite amusing! Thanks for the pre-game laughter you provided me on Sunday with your article on the brave and determined efforts of Farmers Branch to stop the flow, and the intrusive presence of ILLEGAL ALIENS in their community."

"Right on!! Those people on the Farmers Branch council just hate the descendents of the Indian peoples of the Americas. 'The only good Indian is a dead Indian' or at least not one living in Farmers Branch."

"The race card only serves to show the infinitely narrow thought process that people take towards difficult subjects. When you try to compare the immigrants, such as my ancestors, with those that come here illegally you are doing a great disservice to what we refer to as the melting pot of America."

"Farmers Branch is not a community of Bigots. That is irresponsible journalism on your part."

"I am SO glad you stated ... exactly what I was feeling about Farmers Branch's bigoted action. I can't believe that sensible people in the 21st Century can get so carried away."

"I think there is a ton of stories going on in your town to keep you busy for the next twenty years. 'But no.' You have to put your two-cents in something you think you care about. Look at yourself in the mirror and you may find some bigotry in there somewhere."

"I have lived in Fort Worth all my life, 72 years on the East Side. The illegals have moved into Poly and Handley by the hundreds. They come with their friends, 10 people living in a 2- and 3-bedroom house, 10 cars (six in the driveway and 4 in the street). My Poly looks like the scums and it [is] all because of illegals and minorities that have moved in."

"Who gave you the license to label people?"

"What we don't need is a bigot with a byline adding the wrong ingredient into the mix concerning the problem with illegal aliens."

"The saddest part was that the FB ordinance was passed on the same day that a Republican president, a Democrat contingent and the Black aristocracy met on the Washington Mall to dedicate a spot for the Martin Luther King memorial. All I could think was that Martin must be so sad on his special day."
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/1 ... =dfw_local

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Maybe his readers will be able to show ole Bob Ray the light.

Here's one of the letters to the editor.

Sanders has to be the ultimate racist. Any criticism leveled at someone with darker skin prompts him to toss out the race card.

Now he's supporting those who break the law by calling members of the Farmers Branch City Council bigots for wanting to weed out those who are in this country illegally.

I'll explain to Sanders why the United States has immigration laws. I've been through the process myself. I'm a legal resident, and the process can take time. Paperwork has to be filled out to show that you can read and write, how much education you have, etc. But most important is a health check to ensure that you aren't carrying a contagious disease that could infect millions.

An estimated 12 million illegals are putting a strain on our healthcare resources and overcrowding our schoolrooms.

Bob Ray, it's time to remove your bum from your well-worn journalist's chair and go out and help those Farmers Branch illegals fill out the immigration paperwork, pay for them to get health checks, pay their back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service if they can't pay them, and let them stay with you.

You're lucky that you were born in the United States and that you found a newspaper to print the rubbish you write.

Alexandra Wolf, Fort Worth

We went through that a couple of months back. Our brand new 'only been in town a month' editor of the local paper wrote this column!


Posted - 09/25/2006 : 19:34:00
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http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article


For racists, the song remains same

September 23, 2006

If you grew up where I did, you'd know about racists

They always sounded the same.

They often were indignant and very angry. It's a tone, a tilt and a particular tense that stuck with me for years.

Though it's not so useful a skill to possess, this long experience qualifies me as an expert

So, when I tell you this, don't take it personally, unless it applies to you and then maybe you should take it very personally

Based on my brief but happy time in Lake County, I'd say there are more racists here than you'd expect in a cosmopolitan, thriving county

Hard at the core, take-no-prisoners, pinch-faced racists, many of whom would argue that they are merely stand-up-for-the-red-white-and-blue Americans

But they kid themselves. They're the same sort who wore hoods and burned crosses when I was a young man. They all sound the same, think the same; value only what separates people. They all see the world from inside the same furrowed, petulant grimace.

And just with the racists of my youth, they almost never admit what they are because they're not adept at self-recognition. Racists always portray themselves as the good guys. The racists of my youth mostly were bigoted about blacks because they were the minority at hand, had very little besides their pride and desire to better themselves and they were easy to pick on. If there had been Vietnamese Boat People or Hmong or Haitians or any other folks with different pigmentation at close enough hand to rage against them, the racists I knew would have been racist about them, too. But those folks hadn't arrived yet.

Many of these pathetic patriots present themselves at the doorstep of this newspaper as letter writers, phone callers and e-mailers. In the spirit of knowing what's on people's minds, we even let some of them have their say because just because you're a repugnant, numbskullified idiot, that should not automatically disqualify you from public discourse

The targets in this county, of course, are Mexican immigrants

It must be difficult to be a local immigrant and know that so many white people dislike you so intensely for reasons that seem so patently preposterous and contrived

Racists always are toweringly angry about other people catching good breaks.

Yes, yes, I know that undocumented immigrants are violating the law, but thousands of born-here folks violate laws every day and never get caught -- or excoriated -- for their evildoingness. We don't execute cigarette company executives for killing millions of fellow citizens, but we prosecute terminally ill cancer patients for smoking marijuana. Go figure

If you are reading this and don't think it applies to you, ask yourself this question

Do you think your great-grandparents would not have leaped at the same chance to come here without properly signed papers?

Mine came from all over Europe. They had the right papers. But if my great-grandpas and ma'ams could not have made it here without breaking the law, without swimming across a shallow, dirty river at the nation's southern border, I bet they would have. They were a feisty, ingenious bunch. They had dreams. You often do what you must for your family. There's time enough later to worry about what people who wear white hoods will say.

But if my great-grandpas and ma'ams could not have made it here without breaking the law, without swimming across a shallow, dirty river at the nation's southern border, I bet they would have.

This is no different than saying, ' If you didn't have enough money to pay your bills, I bet you would rob a bank to' when speaking of someone who has robbed a bank. GEEZ!