Yes, it is the first of May, that is, May Day. Hooray. I learned more about May Day at Wiki and other sites. It was on this day in history that Elvis married Priscilla. "Citizen Kane" first had a debut.
I am reminded, vaguely, of war movies, where anguished and anxious airmen screamed, "May Day! May Day!" (I don't know why they didn't just scream: "Oh $%^&_()^*%, we're getting hit!" or something...Curious still as to the reasoning behind "May Day" being some kind of alert?)
"May Day!"
Personally, the scheduled marches, etc. for the rights of Mexican workers in the US have me on alert. Yes, there have already been some demonstrations, but today's walk-outs, boycotts, and marches (should they come to the head they are anticipated to) really give me cause for alarm. Things may not escalate as I imagine; I doubt there will be thousands of cars torched as in France last summer. I don't suppose the nation will be crippled by a "Day without Mexicans," as they, themselves, described this day. I'll still be able to work away at my desk, slavishly grading essays...
...however, I do belive that "Times, They Are A Changin'"
When I was a child, growing up in the Midwest, rural, agricultural setting of SW Kansas, I knew of today's "undocumented workers" as (pardon me for trampling your sensitivities)...wetbacks. When I heard the term "illegal aliens," I looked to the skies, wondering how many aliens lived among us legally. When the border patrol wagons hauled off all our "migrant workers" and my father for interrogation, I was alarmed, for I did not even know it was wrong to hire people who wanted to work. All the euphemization of the issue clearly points out, at least to me, that it truly IS an issue. Public venacular is veneered by political and media connotating the heck out of things with euphemisms.
Thus, to use the now-out-of-vogue term "illegal aliens," I have to say: "You had me at illegal." This will cast me as a rabid republican, I'm sure (though I am not)...but to my mind, if these folks, these 11 million people, are here illegally, well then...treat them like felons. Clean up the situation. Or change the law and the status and (as is already happening) the language.
This is my blog's first toe-dip into political issues, but friends, we need to be wary. According to the 2000 census, "12.5 percent of respondents to the 2000 Census identified themselves as Hispanic, up from 9.0 percent in 1990, making them one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the United States. The Hispanic ethnicity category on the Census includes Mexicans (7.3 percent of the total U.S. population in 2000), Puerto Ricans (1.2 percent), Cubans (0.4 percent) and a host of other Latin and South American ethnicities." If an additional 11 million people are illegal aliens (that is, likely NOT part of the census)...and if that demographic keeps growing as it has...
People, "you'd better start swimmin' / or you'll sink like a stone," as Dylan warned. It seems to me that our nation moves at the speed of lag. I am the same way, if one were to personify a nation...when something is bothering me, but I don't feel up to coping with it, I put it off, bury it a while, look the other way. It was thus with the grass growing up through my driveway, and it is now with the papers I should be grading. Likewise, it seems our leadership (and generally, our citizenry) has feigned ignorance and apathy about as long as possible. Now we're in a maelstrom, a tight spot, a real pickle...and things are getting turbulent, uncomfortable, and sour.
Political pundits will variously report that the other party refuses to act on this for their own party's self interest. (That sentence is about as convoluted as I see the whole situation.) It does, indeed, seem we are at a legislative stand-off. Obviously, nothing is going to come from the Executive branch, and it's too early for the Judicial bunch to accomplish much...
...that leaves the people. Right now, it seems to me, the only people taking much action are those out protesting today.
We'd better wise up, embrace our fellow man, and move on.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Agreed. i think if they are going to say they are illegal then they need to treat them as felons just like they would some one who steals a car. Or change the law and make them pay taxes. As a college student I'm mostly concerned with scholarships, school is getting more and more expensive and it's getting harder and harder for a middle class white girl, whose parents are still together and working to get any financial aid.
Post a Comment