Thread: LA DAILY NEWS: Something's wrong with immigration protests

http://www.dailynews.com/bridgetjohnson/ci_4258266



Los Angeles, CA, 8/30/2006



DailyNews.com A-ZBUSINESSCOFFEE BREAK-Flash Games-

Article Last Updated: 08/29/2006 09:40:31 PM PDT

Something's wrong with immigration protests
BY BRIDGET JOHNSON, Columnist



THE city of Maywood - a 1.2-square-mile town with an official population of just over 28,000 about eight miles south of downtown Los Angeles - is a pocket for illegal immigrants, lauded by immigrant advocates and decried by detractors. In this 96 percent Hispanic town, signs advising pedestrians to use crosswalks are printed in Spanish and English, and many storefronts' signs are in Spanish as well. The last census says 55 percent of residents are foreign-born, and 92 percent speak a language other than English at home.
Earlier this year, the Maywood City Council passed a resolution opposing the Sensenbrenner immigration bill after it passed in the House, and the town was designated the first "sanctuary city" in the state. The city also nixed police checkpoints so as not to net illegal immigrants without driver's licenses, and disbanded its traffic division for the same reason.

On Saturday, Save Our State showed up to protest that policy in front of Maywood City Hall, numbering several dozen with "Don't tread on me" and American flags. "Not anti-Hispanic, anti-illegal alien," read one sign; "Maywood is part of the U.S. and its elected officials need to act accordingly," read another. One man held a small sign that read "traitors," and the group was fronted by a banner championing Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo for president. ("Tancredo? Who's that?" a confused counter-demonstrator asked me.)

Police in riot gear manned a buffer zone on blocked-off Slauson Avenue, surrounding the anti-illegal-immigration demonstrators who were being faced down by a few hundred counter-protesters and neighboring residents who pulled out Mexican flags and joined the event. I had gotten wind of a socialist organization calling people out for the demonstration, hence showed up to find the counter-protest to be an eclectic mix of white guys in Che T-shirts and Latinos - wearing shirts ordering people to not call them Latino or Hispanic (too European), but Mexican - denouncing white people.

And if immigration proponents have been trying to pass off reconquista claims - the belief that immigrants want to take back "Aztlan" - as paranoid, these protesters weren't helping. One sign proclaimed "Stolen continent" - yet displayed two continents, North and South America. "White racists this is our continent" read one sign. Another said, "We will never live in peace until we get the European squatters off our lands."

I squatted in the middle of the counter-protesters for a couple


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



of hours, reading their literature, listening to them talk, trotting next to protesters trying to circumvent police lines and confronting a fleet of motorcycle cops on the next side street over.

And if what I witnessed is what the immigration debate has come down to, it's nothing less than vicious and hate-filled. This is where intelligent discourse flies out the window, and people start drawing territorial lines within communities.

A couple of times, unwelcome people came into the counter-protesting crowd to take photos or video, and were quickly surrounded by an angry crowd and pelted with water bottles and debris. Shouts of "you little white b-" were directed at a blond woman; a man yelled "Get out of here, this is our town" through a bullhorn to others.

Some wearing lucha libre masks and some with bandannas obscuring their faces, counter-protesters tried to get close to the SOS demonstrators by cutting down side streets leading to Slauson, and were angry when the cops were already there. Others manned the front lines with signs depicting Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Nazi, chanting "Minutemen! Resist! They're the real terrorists."

Toward the end of the counter-demonstration, those protesters raised the Mexican flag on the pole in front of the U.S. Post Office. Don Silva of SOS said one woman with his group was assaulted while trying to move through the opposition crowd, and some of their cars had tires slashed and were vandalized.

Maywood, regardless of its demographics, is still within the United States of America, and still falls under the laws of this country. Lobby against those laws if you feel they're unfair; that's the beauty of our system.

But when you have virulent protests that include a pre-teen boy yelling "f- that white b-" at a passing fair-skinned woman - me - something is seriously wrong. Especially when it comes from the side holding a banner that proclaimed "Say NO to racism."

Bridget Johnson writes for the Daily News. E-mail her at bridget.johnson@dailynews.com.


RETURN TO TOP






More Columns:
Something's wrong with immigration protests
Hezbollah backers are reprehensible
GOP owes partisans a great '08 candidate
London mayor's presence offensive
Vatican heaping blame on Israel counterproductive
Abbas waiting for Israel to do his dirty work
Military-operation nicknames can really bomb
Palestinians just asking for war
North Korea: Global threat or schoolyard brat?
Lights, camera, Hugo!













Sponsored Links
Los Angeles DUI Lawyer
Home Refinance Loans
Product Tests
Lapel Pins
Popcorn Machines Direct
Monitor
Moving Companies
Find aupairs & nanny search
Dogs
Personalized Wedding Favors
Personalized Gifts & Favors
Luxury




Copyright Notice
Privacy Policy Copyright © 2006
Los Angeles Newspaper Group Information

But when you have virulent protests that include a pre-teen boy yelling "f- that white b-" at a passing fair-skinned woman - me - something is seriously wrong. Especially when it comes from the side holding a banner that proclaimed "Say NO to racism."

Got that right!

This is a very good article . It reflects the angry hateful energy and the real feelings of the illegals towards us .
We do not need to use any more words , the actions of the illegals are much stronger and unfortunately they get more aggressive every day .
They will not stop until something is done , they will keep pushing , hurting , fighting , commiting crimes until they prevail .
this is the power attack , like gang rapes .
To violate the country , flag and its citizens in front of the police and media .
This is the gesture or the power control - telling - Look at us and do not dare to go against us ...........I think this is the message addressed more to the American president than to anybody else .
After 911 attack we had an understanding that it was a threat , a power message to all Americans and the President addressed it .
This is another message which has to be addressed by him , if left ignored another one will follow very soon

Bush will not do anything . In fact ,He will help the illegals take over .Well , He already is isn't he ?

He cannot keep silence on this issue - he pledged allegiance to the American flag as a President and as a Citizen .
Currently , he and his face is the Representation of America and his wife is the First Lady of America .
They cannot ignore something like this - they will be asked to speak up anyhow - today or tomorrow - this cannot be avoided , sorry

Hope, you are right about president Jorge not keeping silent on this issue. Unfortunately his 'noise' is pushing for the Amnesty bill S. 2611. Don't kid yourself, Jorge has no intentions of ever sealing the border. It would go against the plans he has for the North American Union.
The only way the border will be sealed is if American citizens take the responsibility into their own hands.

It does not matter what he says - he just has to express himself somehow on this matter and he can say that it is okay to violate the flag - or he can say that it is not okay , or to say nothing - whatever , still he will express himself as a president , because this is not a game here and it will happens again and again , so he is realy forced to react here - we will see his reaction , everybody will see ............
He and the Flag is one whole as long as he is the President of US , so the people who violated the flag and raised the Mexican flag on the property of US really violated him ,
that is why I am saying that he has to do something - this is the open insult in his face , so he has either to clean himself up or to ignore the spit in the face .

On May 1 they were marching with Mexican and American flags and singing American anthem in Spanish.
Last week they were stamping the American flag , singing the Communist songs and raisng Mexican flag over the US federal building .
These events are only 3 months apart and you can see the escalation of violence here .
Bush ignored the May 1 event , he can ignore last week event too , but even by ignoring he says a lot to Americans .
That is why I say - he has no choice but to respond - whatever he does will be the response .

All of us will wait to hear it