Necessary & Proper

When will this discrimination end? The U.S. is made up of immigrants, yet today there is a widespread attitude of xenophobia and nativism, specifically aimed towards Latinos (or, fuck, why not call all people of Hispanic descent Mexicans?). Even in France, there is a similar racist attitude towards North African immigrants, which has only grown worse after the recent terrorist attack in Toulouse by a radical Islamic extremist. In the U.S. we saw a similar sense of fear and ignorance grow out of 9/11, when many Americans came to associate ‘Muslim’ or ‘Middle Eastern’ with ‘terrorist.’

I grew up in a community that’s about 50% Latino, mostly Guatemalans, and yes, mostly illegal. I think it’s impossible to have a negative attitude towards immigrants if you’ve actually talked to one. It may be more convenient for hateful people to have the view of “get them out of our country, they come here illegally, steal our jobs, mooch off the system, refuse to speak our language, and blast their reggaeton all over the place.” However, once you have a conversation with someone who has come to the states illegally, to maintain this attitude would mean rejecting the truth.

Talk to these people who you view to be invading your land, and you’ll learn why they chose to go through the immense struggles required to come to America. They’ve come from lives of poverty, gang violence, murder, lack of education, and political corruption worse than the U.S. People don’t just wake up one day from a comfortable life of security and decide to risk their lives and leave their friends and family behind to live in another country. Also, I’ve never met anyone who hasn’t tried to get a legal U.S. citizenship, but been stopped by the system. There would be a significant decrease in illegal immigration if legal immigration was made more feasible. And the language issue… have you ever tried to learn a foreign language? It’s difficult, and doesn’t happen upon immediate entrance to a new country.

The issue of racism and hate in the U.S. is far more worrisome than the so-called issue of illegal immigration. Stop these Herman Cain’s with their alligator moats and electric border fences. Don’t let more people be discriminated against because of where they come from. Don’t let more lives be lost. FUCK HATE!