I am writing this entry because I am seeing something I have never before seen in 78 years, and I think it important. My vantage point is Oakland, California, and that makes all the difference in what I am about to explain.
First, you need to know more about the setting. California's ethnic composition recently shifted. Whites are no longer the largest ethnic group of citizens. There are now 14.99 million Latinos in California, and 14.92 million whites.
Trump's comments about Mexicans didn't sit well with the Hispanic community. Furthermore, I have never before seen such ardent opposition to a President-Elerct as what I am seeing now among whites.
The State Legislature of California is working on a bill that should be passed very shortly and which rules that except in cases of serious crime such as murder or assault or robbery, etc., State officials are forbidden to cooperate with any federal agents over any immigrant or immigration issues. It should pass within a few days. San Francisco is reaffirming its position as a "sanctuary city," and so is Oakland. I know personally that in Oakland, the schools do not pass around any immigration information about students. At least 15% of them, by a recent estimate, are "illegals." And if you want to hire a day laborer in this city, there are several places where you can go, meet potential workers, strike up a bargain with them, and bring them home to do work on one's premises.
Understand the sort of issu that we are dealing with here. We are not dealing with whether or not the President should add another 500 square miles to a marine sanctury, or wether street repairs should be given a higher financial priority than new parking meters, or whether ten new building inspectors should be hired to make certain buildings meet the City code. From the immigrant point of view, we are dealing with a situation that threatens their families and their very existence.
If some of your family members arrived here without documentation and their children were born here as legal American citizens, would you be willing to accept a situation in which your very family's cohesion was threatened ? What would you do if your family were threatened ? What would millions of people in the same class do if they were in the same situation ? What would set up a mass revolt ? How many millions of people would it take to be effective ?
Call in the National Guard? How many millions of them were and are law-abiding citizens who do not want to see their communities torn apart ? Would they (and should they) all follow orders ?
Let us consider the case of the young man who heard the false news about Hillary being involved in some kind of porn business out of a pizza parlor, and who brought a gun to the scene to "fix" the situation. Are there any unbalanced Hispanics out there who might do something similar to try to remedy Trump's inhumane and insane immigration policy ? It only takes one out of a group of people feeling their families and communities are in danger, or out of 15 million or more whites who feel a keen sense of injustice, to attempt something insane and terrible.
We are sitting oin a pressure cooker, and Trump is turning up the heat.
First, you need to know more about the setting. California's ethnic composition recently shifted. Whites are no longer the largest ethnic group of citizens. There are now 14.99 million Latinos in California, and 14.92 million whites.
Trump's comments about Mexicans didn't sit well with the Hispanic community. Furthermore, I have never before seen such ardent opposition to a President-Elerct as what I am seeing now among whites.
The State Legislature of California is working on a bill that should be passed very shortly and which rules that except in cases of serious crime such as murder or assault or robbery, etc., State officials are forbidden to cooperate with any federal agents over any immigrant or immigration issues. It should pass within a few days. San Francisco is reaffirming its position as a "sanctuary city," and so is Oakland. I know personally that in Oakland, the schools do not pass around any immigration information about students. At least 15% of them, by a recent estimate, are "illegals." And if you want to hire a day laborer in this city, there are several places where you can go, meet potential workers, strike up a bargain with them, and bring them home to do work on one's premises.
Understand the sort of issu that we are dealing with here. We are not dealing with whether or not the President should add another 500 square miles to a marine sanctury, or wether street repairs should be given a higher financial priority than new parking meters, or whether ten new building inspectors should be hired to make certain buildings meet the City code. From the immigrant point of view, we are dealing with a situation that threatens their families and their very existence.
If some of your family members arrived here without documentation and their children were born here as legal American citizens, would you be willing to accept a situation in which your very family's cohesion was threatened ? What would you do if your family were threatened ? What would millions of people in the same class do if they were in the same situation ? What would set up a mass revolt ? How many millions of people would it take to be effective ?
Call in the National Guard? How many millions of them were and are law-abiding citizens who do not want to see their communities torn apart ? Would they (and should they) all follow orders ?
Let us consider the case of the young man who heard the false news about Hillary being involved in some kind of porn business out of a pizza parlor, and who brought a gun to the scene to "fix" the situation. Are there any unbalanced Hispanics out there who might do something similar to try to remedy Trump's inhumane and insane immigration policy ? It only takes one out of a group of people feeling their families and communities are in danger, or out of 15 million or more whites who feel a keen sense of injustice, to attempt something insane and terrible.
We are sitting oin a pressure cooker, and Trump is turning up the heat.
No comments:
Post a Comment