ALPERN AT LARGE-There are all sorts of racism that are tearing apart this city, county, state and nation--and it's just as untrue as it is unfair to proclaim that only part of the nation is racist. Racism is an equal-opportunity thing nowadays--there is plenty of it to go around--so if Angelenos in particular want to find out where racism abounds, they just might find they need to go no farther than the nearest mirror to find it.
Whether it's those who want to flood the nation with low-skilled labor to save a few bucks on their gardening, childcare, home cleaning or manufacturing costs, or whether it's those who want to shred our immigration laws to stay in political power forever, treating Latinos like a nameless and monomorphic entity to be exploited is not at all recognizing that Latinos are individuals, are intelligent, and are capable of earning their way to citizenship.
The deaths of two police officers in Sacramento by an illegal immigrant at the hands of one Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte, who was twice-deported to Mexico and who is truly a piece of human garbage if ever there was one, forces us to confront the REALITIES of illegal immigration and BOTH liberal and conservative racism yet again.
● The reality, whether Governor Brown or President Obama (who have both exploited Latinos to score political points) will admit it, is that most Latinos--be they here legally or illegally--consider this horrible cop-killer to be human garbage as well. Latinos, by and large, are fiercely religious, pro law-and-order, and know that there IS such a thing as good and evil in this world.
● The reality, whether most clueless Americans will admit it, is that Latinos are NOT all from Mexico, and using the term "Mexican" as synonymous with "Latino" is as racist as calling all Asians "Chinese".
● The reality, whether most clueless Americans will admit it, is that all Latin American countries have made a CHOICE as to how their nation will exist with respect to law and order, to say nothing of human decency. Columbia has pulled itself from anarchy to civilized society, while much of Mexico has descended into anarchy because it has tolerated governmental corruption for so long that to do otherwise is almost unheard of.
● The reality, whether the media will admit it, is that some of the most fiercely pro-American immigrants are Latino and are here legally, demand other immigrants (Latino or otherwise) learn English (NO ONE reasonable is asking anyone to give up their language of origin) and are loyal to America first. They don't get the media coverage (and just why is that?), but they DO exist. They are people, and deserve to come out of the shadows.
● The reality, whether the so-called "immigrants rights activists" will admit it, is that only immigrants from ONE nation (that of Mexico, and only a fraction of those individuals at that) refuse and fight the necessary learning of English (even partial English, or "Spanglish") to blend into society. It must never be forgotten that those Latinos who demand others speak Spanish are choosing to not communicate with black and Asian Americans.
● The reality, whether the media or political pundits will admit it, is that there are still Latino Republicans, but that those Latinos who either lean Republican or conservative/independent may consider themselves "white" for a whole host of reasons...not to say the least reason being that they consider ethnic identification to be horribly racist and offensive.
● The reality is, whether those who pretend to speak for all Latinos will admit it, that Latinos who are offended by the term "illegal" or "alien" are NOT necessarily interested in an amnesty, very much DO want to live in a nation with immigration laws (or any other laws) that are adhered to, and are more than willing to work their way to any status that allows them to stay here legally.
But issues to be resolved, whether our pandering leaders will admit to it, include the following:
1) Will the Melting Pot paradigm of this nation be adhered to, and the questions of what work will true immigrants do to earn their way to legal immigrant status be confronted?
2) Will "One Nation, Under God" and the understanding that while diversity is great, unity as one nation is just as great?
3) Will it be "allowed" to proclaim that communication with one language for blacks, Latinos, Asians and whites living in this country is a practical reality that can't be ignored? Will the understanding that English is the scientific and economic language of the planet (including the overwhelming majority of medical and other scientific textbooks worldwide) be "allowed" to be spoken of in our nation?
4) Will the confrontation of cultures and immigration debates be properly recognized and distilled to a necessary confrontation with ONE nation, that of Mexico (which really needs to behave like a better neighbor, and clean up its act)?
5) Will all nations (and/or their provinces) to our south, including portions of Mexico, FINALLY be asked the obvious, to-date-unspeakable, yet long overdue question: would you like to vote to become part of a larger United States of America? (Yep, I said that!)
Latinos are certainly capable of following the law, including and especially those from the nation at the center of the immigration issue--Mexico. As we see more and more Latino Americans waving American flags to prove a point, perhaps both native-born and foreign-born Americans (and those who wish to become Americans) can find the courage and answer the question: are Latinos capable of following the law?
I doubt that I'm the only one who would answer a resounding "YES" to that question...because to do otherwise would be, well, racist.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also does regular commentary on the MarkIsler Radio Show on AM 870, and co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
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