…Over the weekend we saw hundreds of thousands of immigrants, documented and not, marching in the streets. Their passion, their utter belief in their inalienable rights as humans was breathtaking. What was even more astonishing was their ability to join together, en masse, to organize themselves and speak truth to power. When is the last time we saw anything like that in this country? The Civil Rights Movement. Vietnam? Yes, but Vietnam War protesters were largely confined to colleges and universities…
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The immigration issue is not new; the first time I crossed the Tijuana border and observed dozens, if not hundreds, of immigrants dashing through traffic at the border was over twenty years ago. Five years ago I observed exactly the same scenario. This is a red herring issue timed to distract us from DeLay, Abramoff, Valerie Plame, Rumsfeld’s questionable sanity, Dubya’s “Manchurian Candidate” blink and fidget demeanor, etc. (The argument that Homeland Security must stem this tide of humanity ignores the obvious fact that none of the “terrorists” on 911 entered from our southern border.) And of course, our impending nuclear war on Iran. Probably Syria next. Well OK, if Israel really wants us to . . .
Over the weekend we saw hundreds of thousands of immigrants, documented and not, marching in the streets. Their passion, their utter belief in their inalienable rights as humans was breathtaking. What was even more astonishing was their ability to join together, en masse, to organize themselves and speak truth to power. When is the last time we saw anything like that in this country? The Civil Rights Movement. Vietnam? Yes, but Vietnam War protesters were largely confined to colleges and universities.
So what do these two things have in common, the Civil Rights Movement and our new Immigration Movement?
Community. These immigrants do not live in suburbs, in isolation. They are connected to each other, not television or internet. Living in Florida, I see these communities everywhere; they create their own Main Streets and local markets, their own Village Commons. They exchange ideas the way Americans did, before our Main Streets and political will were destroyed by isolating, transient suburbs, recreational shopping at the mall replacing genuine human interaction. These people want to be citizens, while it seems the vast majority of us are content to be consumers.
Tourists are staying away from this country in droves, and there are many Americans who are sickened by what we’ve become. Apparently immigrants from the south still believe America’s core is unsullied, America inspires them. For me, that is a refreshing breath of fresh air, a respite from the despair that has become the air we breathe, the food we eat, the thoughts we barely dare to think.
Written by Leslie Brundige, (email – ptni@direcway.com) who is is a volunteer with the PopulistAmerica.com news research team.
