No one ever talks about it. It is taboo. Or perhaps, it is not important in our mostly Western European culture.
As we have developed a culture of fear, xenophobia, and antipathy towards foreigners, we have begun to kill our American Dream. We dislike people who look poorly dressed, “dark,” or otherwise not like “us.” We forget, or perhaps our history books don’t explain and our grandparents did not share, that most people who came through Elis Island came here with few belongings, lived in very modest quarters and felt as isolated and alienated as today’s monolingual and “lost in America” recent immigrant population.
Mexicans, Haitians, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Puerto Ricans, many, many, groups are portrayed as “less than American” and continue to be seen as different from the mainstream ideal. An ideal that may now be shattered after the savages who attacked innocent people in Boston. The facts are developing at this time. But the monsters in the two FBI photos are nothing like the “dark guy” ridiculously and irresponsibly described by CNN’s John King with Wolf Blitzer supporting.
“I want to be very careful about this, because people get very sensitive when you say these things,” King said Wednesday. “I was told by one of these sources who is a law enforcement official that this is a dark-skinned male.”
America is now more diverse than ever. It’s mainstream leadership is woefully out of touch with the silent growing segment of the population that is destined to inherit our tomorrow.
The Boston Globe reported a story that confirms the damage mainstream media does to our fabric when they echo the fears and phobias suffered by less educated Americans… By less educated we don’t mean did not go to College–we mean people who were raised and educated by parents and schools that failed. Some of these people have high degrees and are millionaires who lead our nightly broadcasts…
“Every day, Heba Abolaban of Malden checks on her family in war-strafed Syria, where water, bread and electricity are in short supply. She was far more worried about them than about herself on Wednesday morning when she put her baby daughter in a stroller and headed into the sunshine to a play group with a friend.But as they strolled down Commercial Street, an angry-faced man charged toward the petite woman, his hand balled into a fist. He punched her hard in the shoulder and screamed curses inches from her face. Then he pointed at her and …”
More via Malden woman attacked by man accusing Muslims of Marathon bombings – Metro – The Boston Globe.
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January 31, 2013 • 3:56 pm 0
Pew Hispanic Center – Chronicling Latinos Diverse Experiences in a Changing America
Some of the descendants of today’s native Americans are also the descendants of today’s Mexican Americans. For thousands of years there has been a natural migration from well below the Rio Grande to cold northern parts of what is today’s “Upper Midwest.” The region today that is loosely made up of the Dakotas, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. Ironically, even the then pilgrims were considered “illegal aliens” by the then natives. The same natives who “hosted them” and welcomed the pilgrims in what we now call “Thanks Giving.” Certainly the then natives must have thought of the pilgrims as “illegal aliens” but gave them quarter and kindness nevertheless.
But “my oh my” how times have changed and how the Thanksgiving tables have been turned. The immigration debate promises to change how we all define America and maybe even begin to tie together a North American Continent that continues to play a role for new comers. We may yet get the facts straight and muster up some of that native hospitality that made that long cold winter of immigration survivable for the original pilgrims.
We may yet repair the growing divisions in our country and continue to be a beacon of giving, welcoming and building for future generations. Like the Statue of Liberty, a symbol with open arms, allowing our culture to continue to welcome and thank all of us who were here before the next comers, like the native Americans who taught us that Thanks Giving lesson.
Get the facts at Pew. The Pew Hispanic Center continues to provide resources and leadership in this important area:
“The nation’s total immigrant population reached a record 40.4 million in 2011, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Hispanic Center. Over the last decade, the number of immigrants in the U.S. has grown by more than 9 million. The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. grew in the early part of the decade before peaking at 12 million in 2007. It is now at 11.1 million as of 2011, the last year for which an estimate is available.”
Related:
New Data: Statistical Portrait of the Foreign Born, 2011
Report: Unauthorized Immigrants: 11.1 Million in 2011
Report: Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero
via Pew Hispanic Center – Chronicling Latinos Diverse Experiences in a Changing America.
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