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Ninth Ward: Immigrants come here today for the same reasons as our ancestors

By PAUL FOER, For The Capital
Published 06/03/09

Once, when my wife and I were perusing the wares in West Street's Goodwill store, a stranger walked up and sneered, "Prices keep going up here because of all those immigrants."
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It made no sense, but hatred and ignorance rarely does. This tiny incident shows the disdain for and misperceptions about Hispanic immigrants, who have drastically changed The Ninth Ward and all of America.

While I believe we need better immigration policy and laws that must be strongly enforced, there are economic and political reasons here and abroad that explain why so many people come here and why we should not be so quick to judge them.

We did not know whether to laugh or roll our eyes, but the stranger soon became the butt of dinner-time "Rosa and Juan" jokes such as this:

Rosa: Quiero ir al Goodwill a comprar viejos cosas y ropas por menos precios.

(Rosa: I want to go to Goodwill to buy old things and clothes for lower prices.)

Juan: Si. Por esa manera, los Gringos pagan precios mas altos!

(Juan: Yes. Because of this, the Gringos (roughly meaning North Americans) will pay higher prices.)

Immigrants of choice or those who were kidnapped, known as slaves, and their descendants built this country and created the melting pot legacy. Some folks think "illegals" when they hear "immigrants" so I'll say upfront that I am not excusing illegal immigration, however if we were to send back all the "illegals," a word that rings like "retards" or "gimps," all our restaurants, hotels and landscaping companies would shut down.

Perhaps I am more welcoming of these immigrants to The Ninth Ward than are some other residents because I speak Spanish and have traveled widely in Latin America. Most of these immigrants are from simple backgrounds and they came here for a better life. They work hard to attain the American Dream, the same one that brought our ancestors here.

Most hail from El Salvador, yet what does the average Ninth Warder know about this tiny, crowded country that some might pejoratively call a "Banana Republic?'' The same thinking would make The Ninth Ward a "Crab Republic" that used to be a "Tobacco Republic."

El Salvador was in political turmoil not too long ago. Perhaps some of us remember that our country has fooled around a lot in conflicts there and in neighboring countries for much of our history, tracing back to the Monroe Doctrine, which has allowed U.S. invasions throughout Latin America.

Today, many Salvadorans are contributing to the economies of both their native and adopted lands.

Consider what courage and will it has always taken immigrants to move to a strange and foreign place and how their struggles here today may make ours seem petty. Of course there are many negative impacts of immigration, but let's give each individual immigrant the benefit of doubt that he or she is probably here legally and is probably minding his or her own business.

By now, Juan and Rosa might be shopping in Steven's Hardware or Graul's. Maybe they own a home, a store or business. Did they drive up home prices or gas prices? No. Did they drive down home prices or gas prices? No. They just came here seeking a better life, and a strong case can be made that things were so bad in El Salvador because of hundreds of years of European colonization and later U.S. imperialism.

Admit it or not, much of that was at the hands of and to the benefit of American oligarchs - and that means we consumers have benefited. That also may be one of the reasons we have a better life here, which continues to attract immigrants to The Ninth Ward.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/c ... stors.html

As an immigrant and LEGAL and proud citizen of the United States I am insulted that immigrants are being lumped into the same catagory as illegals. Immigrants followed the laws of the land. illegals broke the laws.The Immigrants that built this country, were more educated and/or had skills that were needed in America. 90% of Illegals have less than a fight grade education and they perpetuate their poverty. Immigrants health records and criminal records were checked out before they were allowed to come to this country, Illegals are not checked in either catgory, as a result our country is filled with drug cartels and health pandemics like drug-resistant TB, Changna and Leprozy to name a few.
Immigrants wanted to assimilate to our culture, they learned English. Illegals think that Americans should accomodate them and speak Spanish. Immigrants were humble and did their best to help our communites and country. Illegals bring with them a third world thug mentality. They steal documnets so they can get fee food, housing, health care, education for their chidren, and protection from crime. They send most of the money they make from stealing our jobs and send it to their home country. Immigrants helped to unite America. Illegals could care less about America, they have their hands out at all times. Immigrants had pride and didn't take a hand out. Illegals march in our streets demanding that we financially support them and their anchors.

all our restaurants, hotels and landscaping companies would shut down.

That right there is the mentality of people like the author. They fear having their services limited, so they would have to do the work themselves, or would have to hire an American at a higher wage.

This line is what it is all about for these people, they fear losing their luxury of having someone service them in their lives, for cheap.

Originally Posted by HippieChick

, the Gringos (roughly meaning North Americans)

He lied. Gringos is an insult and is applied only to White people. It means you are a foreigner in your own land!