Is the Anti-Illegal Immigrant Movement Racist?
Robert Lindsay - 10/4/2007
Robert Lindsay writes a blog where describes himself as an "Independent Left Journalist From California".


It's actually a trick question. Some of them are, for sure. Racists will always join any movement critical of immigration. So what? This entire argument rests on a fallacious assumption. That the presence of one group in a movement means that all of the other members of the movement share the feelings of that one group.

It's a very well-known logical fallacy and I wish I could name it for you. It's very important for aware folks to become aware of all of the logical fallacies out there, because people are using these BS arguments to try to convince you of this or that all that time. Fact is, if you change your mind due to a logical fallacy, you are being fooled. If you do so knowingly, you are a fool. If you use logical fallacies in your arguments, you are either ignorant, a fool or a knowing liar.

People without an argument regularly use this argument to tar opponents with the "crime of association". This particular logical fallacy is very widely used and manages to convince hundreds of millions of fools of this or that every year the world over.

Yet, just because I associate with someone, or anyone, does not mean that I share any, all or some of their views. Some of the folks I associate with claim to be gang members.

They are kids who live in my apartment complex. I am friends with a Black guy in my complex who wears a stocking over his head, gangster-style. One of the guys I was drinking with at the bar the other night looked like he just got out of prison and had a shirt on with an apparent gang logo.

I'm also friends with a guy who is a White Nationalist-White Supremacist racist, with the usual Nazi sympathies. He pretty much refuses to even so much as speak with anyone who is not White, especially Blacks and Browns. I don't agree with him, but I'm not going to dissociate with him.

I have friends who are rightwing Republicans and others who are leftwing Democrats and a few who are Communists.

To say that I agree with all of these people would be impossible, as they all hold contradictory views.

Which leads us to the anti-illegal immigration movement. The fact is, a large majority of Americans are opposed to illegal immigration, often ferociously so. Surveys show that 75-80% of Americans are against illegal immigration, and they seem to be getting madder about it every day.

In other words, opposing illegal immigration is simply normal, reasonable American politics. It's not fanatical or racist or anything like that, unless one wants to make the crazy claim that 80% of Americans are raving racists.

This gives the lie to the open borders crazies' notion that the anti-illegal immigration folks represent only a small "anti-immigrant" minority. According to them, the rest of us are supposedly open borders nuts.

The issue is complicated by polling questions and the actual views of Americans. Polls show that up to 65% or so of Americans support some sort of "path to citizenship" for the 12-20 million illegals already here.

On the other hand, Americans in these same polls think it is important to lock down the border.

The open borders loons want a completely open border, not just in the South but apparently everywhere. In their insane plan, every single "immigrant", or now, "migrant" (the words keep changing as they become stigmatized) who strolls across the border gets automatic US citizenship, apparently without any background checks or anything unpleasant like that.

Surely only a small minority of Americans favor such an insane program. The open borders liars conflate Americans' cynicism about the possibility of deporting 20 million illegals (hence some sort of "legalize them" solution) with an implied support by Americans for illegal immigrants and open borders, ignoring the nation's fervent desire to lock down the Southern border as much as extent possible.

Sure the movement has racists in it, but any rational person also knows that probably the vast majority of those opposing illegal immigration are not profoundly racist people, and if one is opposed to illegal immigration on principle, one is keeping company with 75-80% of the population, including, surely, sadly, but inevitably, some nasty racists.

http://globalpolitician.com/articledes. ... d=1&sid=26