Thread: It's about the law, not racism

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/opin ... ts/bailey/

It's about the law, not racism

Several hours before the Minuteman organizational meeting in Elgin Thursday, Dale Asis, director of the Coalition of African, Asian, European and Latino Immigration of Illinois, called me. He had written a letter, he said, and he wanted us to publish it.

The suggested headline on the letter began "Minutemen are racists" and the letter said the group spreads "hate, fear and racism" and attracts members of hate groups like neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. Hard to tell which group was supposed to be using fear, hatred and racism to further their cause. Nothing in the points raised by Minuteman Project leaders suggested it was they who were promoting divisiveness or hatred.

Perhaps sensing a little dry timber in the wake of the Mexican Independence Day assembly at Larkin High School, which has become a flash point in a community and region overburdened with illegal immigrants, the Minuteman group chose Elgin as the site for its Fox Valley organizational meeting.

Attendance far exceeded their expectations, and if the largest police presence assembled since the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago is counted, it rivaled a Billy Graham revival in numbers. Thankfully, attendees were well-behaved though passionate, curious but not combative, and unintimidated by protesters who taunted them in Spanish, the delicious irony of that apparently escaping them.

In the spirit of promoting reasoned and dispassionate observations for discussion, I'll contribute two thoughts to the intellectual reservoir.

First, this discussion and growing despair is not about immigration. It is about illegal immigration. All of us came from somewhere else and most of us realize that will and should continue. Those who waited their turn, followed the procedures and arrived here legally are welcome, and no one that I have heard of is trying to stop that.

This is about illegal aliens. They are not undocumented workers; they are not simple people who came here seeking a better life. They are illegal. We don't need immigration reform as much as we need to enforce the immigration laws that we have. Don't give illegal aliens drivers' licenses, don't give them Matricula cards to legitimize their presence and please, don't give them amnesty. Just the notion of amnesty has hastened the rush across our porous borders.

The tactic used by groups such as CAAELII and Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights is to discourage use of the designation of "illegal aliens" as racist and encourage their characterization as "undocumented workers." From there it becomes easy to consider any attack on their status racism, elitism or bigotry. But changing what we call them does not mean they are legal, and there is a profound difference between immigrants who are here legally and those clever enough to sneak across the border. Do not let the verbiage dictate the situation. This is about illegal immigration only, and there is nothing racist about seeking uniform enforcement of immigration laws.

Secondly, whether a person accepts or rejects what the Minuteman Project stands for, that group is correct in one regard: the group exists and is growing because of the failure of the United States government to address this issue in a forceful and meaningful way. Disrespecting illegals does not address the problem. This is an issue that must be tackled at the state and federal levels with tough laws to punish employers who hire them and a strong government policy to first stop the massive inflow of illegals and second to address what to do about those already here.

This is not insolvable. Congress could take some of the time it spends trying to embarrass each other and some of the money we sent to Pakistan for earthquake relief and this would be a non-issue in six months. But it doesn't and will not until grass roots groups and their constituents force it to or until violence erupts. And to that end, it is a sad commentary that Dennis Hastert, the third-most powerful man in America and representative of this very district, has ignored this issue in spite of overwhelming evidence that it must be addressed.

Those who attended the Minuteman Project meeting in Elgin Thursday night were not racists. They were largely ordinary citizens looking for some hope, some inspiration that someone would have the courage to attack the issue of illegal immigration in light of our government's willful failure to do so.

The only hatred in evidence was from those who opposed them.

Bailey is managing editor of The Courier News.
11/13/05

everywhere One goes now , racsim is used to silence and invalidate anyone who speaks out about immigration. I see it happening on other boards and the news and casual conversation.
It is so common that I wonder if the people who are so concerned about racism are really afraid of race-wars ?by this I mean, they are really afraid of the consequences of speaking out about it. I mean I could never put a bumper sticker on my car about this website, because A mexican would slash my tires. culturally speaking , mexicans are not hobbits. they aggressively use handles like"your racist ; or'dis is discrimination" when they are breaking the law.
show me a period in history, when a country or tribe was happy about having 12 million univited guests to their country.

Racism, xenophobia, bigotry, all these are mere words. They shouldn't stop the conversation, roil the thoughts, shame the speaker. They don't change the ACTIONS, those words merely muddy the water. If those words are applied does it mean that we should turn our faces away from the truth of the situation??

People can call me whatever they want. It won't bother me in the least. I will still work to try to get congress to move to enforce the laws on the books...I will still fight to get illegals deported. My battle is not deflected by the application of a word. Nor will it be.

RR