Latino Clergy Accuses "Okies" of "Ethnic Cleansing"
by
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de Aztlan
Los Angeles, Alta California - November 2, 2007 - (ACN)

During the Great Depression of the 1930's and the storms of the Dust Bowl that hit Oklahoma, thousands left the state and headed west to California for a new life. They were called Okies and arrived in California only to find bitterness, squalor and oppression as migrant agricultural workers. Many survived in the agricultural labor camps through the help of native Mexicans who worked side by side with them . Their lives and sufferings were immortalized by John Steinbeck in his 1939 novel, "The Grapes of Wrath." Steinbeck's novel, a landmark of American literature, exposed the very nature of inequality and injustice in the USA.

In an incredible reversal, Oklahomans today are committing the same
injustices against other people that they themselves suffered in the 1930's.
It is interesting to note that people who have experienced injustices can
themselves commit the same injustices against others such as the Jews
are also doing against the Palestinians in the Holy Land.

The treatment of Mexican immigrants in the state of Oklahoma has
become so unjust and ugly that it has compelled religious groups to
protest. The people of Oklahoma have passed a law designed to drive
Latinos out of the state. The racist law called House Bill 1804 took
effect yesterday and it makes it illegal to transport, rent or hire
Mexican and other Latino immigrants. The National Coalition of Latino
Clergy and Religious Leaders says that the state of Oklahoma is now
guilty of "ethnic cleansing" and many human rights organizations agree.
The Rev. Miguel Rivera, spokesman for the religious coalition, says that
House Bill 1804 clearly "targets" Latinos and therefore it is
unconstitutional.

It might be time to establish a safe region in the Southwest in order to
accommodate immigrants that are being expelled from racist states
elsewhere. Our elected political leadership must start addressing the
problem. Leaders in Alta California, Nuevo Mexico, Tejas and other
Southwestern states should start making plans.

http://www.aztlan.net/okie_ethnic_cleansing.htm

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