Racism. It's a buzz word, and one that is often associated with ether historical atrocities (i.e. slavery) or small minority groups (i.e. white supremacy groups). This, it must be acknowledged, is not the case. Racism is a very real part of our lives- it is structurally ingrained in many ways and is more socially acceptable than you would expect.
You may remember when Arizona passed the law that would allow police to pull drivers based on skin color and demand their papers. I was in Costa Rica at the time and I did not take kindly to this this news, in fact it outraged me. As I just heard on This American Life, HB56, a law in Alabama was recently passed. This law turns all law enforcers into immigration officers and deems it illegal not only to hire someone who might be illegal but actually refuse to help them in any way if they can't prove their citizenship. The law emphasises the importance of the people insuring that jobs stay where they should, in the hands of Americans. Basically the goal of the bill is to make life so hard for immigrants that they go back to their country without the government having to spend time and money deporting them.
We need jobs, it's true. I get that. The fact of the matter is, however, that though many Latinos have left Alabama for other states or countries because of HB56 jobs haven't increased in the fields that said Latinos worked in. Alabama has seen an increase in jobs, one significantly larger than that of the U.S. as a whole, but the auto industry (where most of the jobs have been created) is not and was not largely employed by the Latino community. Many Republican politicians, including the writer of the bill, are publicizing the bill as a success and using the increase in jobs in Alabama to prove it, suggesting that states across the U.S. impediment similar programs.
So what is the issue if they do? The law is a prime example of ingrained racism. The people in Alabama communities take the bill very seriously, refusing service to people who appear Latin if they can't prove their citizenship. A clerk refused a Costa Rican woman her groceries because she couldn't prove her citizenship on the spot and another Mexican woman couldn't receive her money from Walmart because she couldn't prover hers. (Walmart's money order policy, as Walmart confirmed, does not include proof citizenship).
There have been other changes in the community thanks to HB56, the most horrifying to me (being interested in education) is that 80% of Latino children were absent to school on Monday, October 31 compared to last year's average. 25% of construction workers have left thanks to HB45. People are fleeing the state and/or country because of the racial discrimination. Mothers sign their children over to white legal guardians for their kids safety. They pull their kids out of school, and when they don't their kids suffer endless ridicule for their race. They stop driving and only shop in Latino areas. In some cases they actually do move back to their home countries- countries where drug wars threaten life and life is often fear-filled. The fact of the matter is, however, days in Alabama are lived in just as much fear for many families.
This is tough for me. Having lived in and fallen in love with Latin America it is hard for me to participate in these debates. As in all situations having known and loved people who are directly impacted by a conflict pulls ones' heartstrings. I do, however, understand the concern across the U.S. for jobs. It is one of my main concerns as I face student debt and an uncertain future. BUT these jobs aren't taken by U.S. citizens. In fact, we need immigrants if we want our low living costs. For example undocumented immigrants have a 860%higher productivity rate in the tomato fields than their replacements. If we want to keep paying cheep prices for food, we need cheep labor. That's what these immigrants provide. I know that I for one won't be looking for a job in a tomato factory fresh out of college, especially if it pays poorly.
All I can say is that though jobs and the lack there of is a major issue bills like HB56 look at it the wrong way. First there are many explorable markets that could provide jobs for unemployed people including alliterative energy investments. Also people would be better off if the wealth was more evenly distributed- don't complain about immigrants who do the dirty work for major corporations until said corporations are not consuming a huge amount of resources and income when the rest of us are experiencing from a lowering quality of life.
The second reason, and one that is sadly more overlooked though I believe more important, is the inhumanity of this kind of bill. True we need jobs and immigrants take jobs. To an extent I do think that immigration control is necessary. The issue with HB56 and other laws like it is that it enforces a racist view on entire communities. It repeatedly drills the idea of us and them into the public's head until it becomes socially acceptable to be outwardly cruel to others based on their skin color. I don't care HOW bad our economy is- if we are willing to make life so miserable for immigrants that they will move back to war-torn, impoverished, and drug-cartel filled countries to get away from our immigration policy something has gone horribly wrong. And we just won't mention the U.S. government's hand in making these countries they way they are.
All I'm saying is take a step back and look at common humanity.
All info from This American Life and Huffington Post article. Click to access.
You may remember when Arizona passed the law that would allow police to pull drivers based on skin color and demand their papers. I was in Costa Rica at the time and I did not take kindly to this this news, in fact it outraged me. As I just heard on This American Life, HB56, a law in Alabama was recently passed. This law turns all law enforcers into immigration officers and deems it illegal not only to hire someone who might be illegal but actually refuse to help them in any way if they can't prove their citizenship. The law emphasises the importance of the people insuring that jobs stay where they should, in the hands of Americans. Basically the goal of the bill is to make life so hard for immigrants that they go back to their country without the government having to spend time and money deporting them.
We need jobs, it's true. I get that. The fact of the matter is, however, that though many Latinos have left Alabama for other states or countries because of HB56 jobs haven't increased in the fields that said Latinos worked in. Alabama has seen an increase in jobs, one significantly larger than that of the U.S. as a whole, but the auto industry (where most of the jobs have been created) is not and was not largely employed by the Latino community. Many Republican politicians, including the writer of the bill, are publicizing the bill as a success and using the increase in jobs in Alabama to prove it, suggesting that states across the U.S. impediment similar programs.
So what is the issue if they do? The law is a prime example of ingrained racism. The people in Alabama communities take the bill very seriously, refusing service to people who appear Latin if they can't prove their citizenship. A clerk refused a Costa Rican woman her groceries because she couldn't prove her citizenship on the spot and another Mexican woman couldn't receive her money from Walmart because she couldn't prover hers. (Walmart's money order policy, as Walmart confirmed, does not include proof citizenship).
There have been other changes in the community thanks to HB56, the most horrifying to me (being interested in education) is that 80% of Latino children were absent to school on Monday, October 31 compared to last year's average. 25% of construction workers have left thanks to HB45. People are fleeing the state and/or country because of the racial discrimination. Mothers sign their children over to white legal guardians for their kids safety. They pull their kids out of school, and when they don't their kids suffer endless ridicule for their race. They stop driving and only shop in Latino areas. In some cases they actually do move back to their home countries- countries where drug wars threaten life and life is often fear-filled. The fact of the matter is, however, days in Alabama are lived in just as much fear for many families.
This is tough for me. Having lived in and fallen in love with Latin America it is hard for me to participate in these debates. As in all situations having known and loved people who are directly impacted by a conflict pulls ones' heartstrings. I do, however, understand the concern across the U.S. for jobs. It is one of my main concerns as I face student debt and an uncertain future. BUT these jobs aren't taken by U.S. citizens. In fact, we need immigrants if we want our low living costs. For example undocumented immigrants have a 860%higher productivity rate in the tomato fields than their replacements. If we want to keep paying cheep prices for food, we need cheep labor. That's what these immigrants provide. I know that I for one won't be looking for a job in a tomato factory fresh out of college, especially if it pays poorly.
All I can say is that though jobs and the lack there of is a major issue bills like HB56 look at it the wrong way. First there are many explorable markets that could provide jobs for unemployed people including alliterative energy investments. Also people would be better off if the wealth was more evenly distributed- don't complain about immigrants who do the dirty work for major corporations until said corporations are not consuming a huge amount of resources and income when the rest of us are experiencing from a lowering quality of life.
The second reason, and one that is sadly more overlooked though I believe more important, is the inhumanity of this kind of bill. True we need jobs and immigrants take jobs. To an extent I do think that immigration control is necessary. The issue with HB56 and other laws like it is that it enforces a racist view on entire communities. It repeatedly drills the idea of us and them into the public's head until it becomes socially acceptable to be outwardly cruel to others based on their skin color. I don't care HOW bad our economy is- if we are willing to make life so miserable for immigrants that they will move back to war-torn, impoverished, and drug-cartel filled countries to get away from our immigration policy something has gone horribly wrong. And we just won't mention the U.S. government's hand in making these countries they way they are.
All I'm saying is take a step back and look at common humanity.
All info from This American Life and Huffington Post article. Click to access.
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