INADVERTENTLY OR PURPOSEFULLY, intention matters not: On the matter of immigration in this land of immigrants, the “Left” and the “Right” perversely both adopt (to differing degrees) a conservative scarcity-model frame punctuated with the barbs of xenophobia and/or racism.
WHEN CONSIDERING THE MURDER OF BRISENIA FLORES, it does not help us find any valuable truth or approach any larger societal problem to isolate the event and wall it off from the larger context of anti-immigrant and thus anti-Latino hate and hostility in this nation. We have a larger problem on our hands.
THE NATIVIST LOBBY HAS INSINUATED ITSELF into the media dialogue on immigration to all our detriment. They create a false boogeyman of danger and parasitism, and promote the impression that the only response is a harsh, punitive one doled out in cuffs or a cell. The results of the February Bellingham raids are in, and put the lie to this screech of extremist thought.
THE DIALOGUE ON IMMIGRATION has, historically, been contentious and cyclical. There are times when hysteria peaks, and rational thought struggles to enter the national dialogue. And then, there are moments the truth breaches the surface and shines brightly. This week is one of those moments.
THERE HAS BEEN A PUSH as of late to communicate to the public how deeply into our system hate groups have infiltrated. In this anxious time we are living through, minorities and immigrants become scapegoats for society’s ills. People get hurt and hunted because of it. This is a good video to pass around to help.
HATE DOES NOT EMERGE FROM A VACUUM. Nor could it thrive there, we might add. Just as many hands are required to bring about positive change in our culture, so are many energies and voices required to propagate negativity on a large scale. There is no doubt that a battle rages and that the heart of this nation is at stake.
JUST LIKE THE SINGER AT THE ST. PAUL ANTI-WAR RALLY said of his band’s song Rock the Empire, this is a “call and response” post. ‘I shout out one thing, and you answer!’ he said…as I kept an eye on the police in riot gear, already gathering like storm clouds and in apparently no mood to rock much except the long batons in their hands.
House of Nezua
the XOLAGRAFIK theater!
