Kacey,
Are you really saying that racial discrimination was not considered wrong?
Such an assertion can only be put forth with the confidence of the race doing the discrimination, not the discriminated.
I think that what he means is that society at large did not consider what happened to the Chinese as wrong. They were a racial minority and in the thinking of the time, were not important. He went out of his way to try to show how that would not be the same case in the 21st century but you seem to have missed it.
And we seem to have gotten off of his main point with this discussion about racism.
The Chinese of the 19th century in America did not have a common border with China. If you go to Chinatown now you will find people who speak Chinese
and English. If you go to Little Italy you will find people who speak Italian
and English. If you go to Armenian sections of some cities your will find people who speak Armenian
and English.
But if you go to some sections of cities with large numbers of hispanics you will find folks who
discourage their kids from learning English.
This is about as much of a slap in the face for integrating into America as you can get.
Take a look at some of the major problems we have seen in other countries. People have died in conflicts over stupid stuff like ethenticity is a lot of nations. And in a lot of those places the warring sides
speak the same language and are citizens of the same country!
So when I look at people who refuse to let their kids learn English and still act as though they were part of Mexico, I have to worry what will happen in a few decades.
I am sure some people will think I am being paranoid. "It can't happen here!" But look at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and consider what happend less than a decade later. Who saw that coming?
You look at the troubles in Northern Ireland and ask yourself if the same thing could not happen in the border states of America- the ones that used to be part of Mexico. Not today, not even in this decade. But if people keep raising their kids to think of themselves as Mexicans in America and not Americans with ties to Mexico who the hell knows what will happen?
And the sad thing is, we are helping to cause that sense of alienation with our laws meant to be compassionate. I am with you when you say that we should open the doors to more immigrants. But the laws we have passed to make things better for workers have insured that the first generation from Mexico will never make it under those rules.
It is almost funny to work with an illeagle in a restraunt and realize that even though you cost more to the business, he takes home more pay at the end of the day. In addition to your pay, the business has to lay out cash for those taxes John was talking about that pay for fixing the road, Unemployement insurance, Social Security, Federal taxes, health care and quite a few other things that cost the company money to employ you. Andn that is not even counting the litigation risk from citizens in this lawsuit crazy society. For someone that is not a skilled worker and can't even speak the language it really is not worth it to employ them. So they either send the jobs overseas, get automation or get someone who has no legal status.
In the past, the first generation to America was quite willing to make the sacrifice of being treated as little better than work animals for a chance to live in America. They worked their best and pushed their kids to learn the language and do well in school so as to get the chances they did not. As parents they were willing to take a minial job to insure their kids future.And those kids did take off and did well.
But now, we have insured that the first generation could not find a job if they became citizens. No one will lay out the money they have to hire someone legal for someone who is unskilled and can't speak English. Our sense of compassion has regulated them to permanent second class status. And I am sure they resent all these folks patting themselves on the back at how much they think of the little guy while keeping the dream of working legally from them. And so they never become citizens, and often dream of going back to Mexico. And even if they hav kids and end up dying in America, they pass along that outlook as Mexicans in America to their kids and now we have huge centers of people who think of the Mexican flag as theirs and not the American one.
Oh yeah, I fear that in my lifetime, or that of my children, we will see much of the same problems we see between Shia and Sunni, Irish Protestant and Catholic and Serb and Croat and possibly worse.
I hope I am wrong. I doubt that I am.
