This was the catalyst to untying the knot in my throat
A cause of death has yet to be determined for the woman, although Tucson police say no obvious signs of physical trauma were found during the autopsy.
I know I shouldn’t do it, because every.single.time I do, I’m instantly transported to a dark place en mi mente, but I mucked my way through the comment section at the Tucson Citizen anyways regarding this latest tragedy.
How can one signal the buzzards to circle while I ponder what this woman’s dreams were? or who her family is that has yet to receive the horrendous news?
How can a death be met with such callousness that wouldn’t be reserved for the mangiest family pet?
How are we to bring about a brighter world when hate rots the air like the area around Silverbell and El Camino del Cerro here in Tucson?
A discussion has been ensuing over the past week on the effects of hate speech. Aside from the regular bigotry that permeates the land, the shock jocks and dittoheads also hold responsibility for the ongoing dehumanization of (perceived) enemies whether it is based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or the plot of land they happened to be born.
To hold this conversation within the confines of the web would do a disservice to the victims of whatever ire the “mainstream” has decided to bloat itself with today or any day. We must branch out to our spheres of influence and begin reclaiming ground that has been lost or conquered.
It is the only way to redirect our attention to the dreams of our brothers and sisters instead of their criminality. Especially when their corpses continue to appear, wielding mirrors at the finger-pointers when the culpability is being sought.
Crossposted from Latino Político
to talk about illegal aliens when we don’t have to think of them as actual human beings. This makes me cry, Manny.
meant to put “illegal aliens” in quotes. You can always tell what side of the debate someone comes down on by the language they use.
It makes me cry too. So do hit piece headlines like this: Immigration Debate Sours for Illegals
Especially when it comes from the AssPress.
I’m losing hope. In the last couple of weeks I have seen more cold, hard racism from the descendents of immigrants than ever I suspected. They’re just poeple like us, who happen to be from the other side of an arbitrary line. They have relationships, families, and, yes, dreams.
cold, hard racism from the descendents of immigrants
That’s the part I always find so hard to understand. My father was an immigrant to the US in 1949, and I’m incensed by the way people are treating immigrants today. When the hell did the US become so exclusive to people seeking a different life? And why do some people whose ancestors must have emigrated here at some point feel they have the right to deny others an opportunity here?
but don’t ya know, CG? We’re living in different times now! How can you equate potato famines with criminally unbalanced economic policies? [/snark]
We can’t afford to lose hope. It is a luxury we can’t afford.
All of us have to step back now and then. Take a breath. Look into a child’s eyes.
But then we’ve got to keep on with the struggle. We’ve got to keep the dream of a better world alive.
Hang in there, Boran2.
thx for this great comment, Kahli. My ears and heart heard it too.
It really starts when labels are applied and accepted like ‘illegal aliens’…it separates them from us…like they are less than human. I know that if I was living in a place where I couldn’t support my family and there jobs someplace else I would do everything i could to get there. To do less would be to neglect my duty as a parent.
If I could smack Lou Dobbs and Bill O’Reilly every time they used the term alien instead of immigrant….
the whole system needs a complete overhaul. The term ‘alien’ is sanctioned in our current immigration process. Resident Alien and Non-Resident Alien are terms you’ll find at the IRS website. That being said, your points are spot-on and just one of the many reasons we rail against an inhumane system of immigration control. The language is even set up, deliberately in my opinion, to remind those within the system that they are of lesser stature than the rest of us.
I know the feeling, b2. I think the most frustrating thing for me is that I saw this coming a couple of years ago. The time was ripe for the immigrant community to become the next scapegoat and, sure enough, the media fell in lock-step with the agenda of division and whipped up outrage. Very sad (and scary) even though predictable.
But I don’t see any lines.
from that perspective, you don’t see any people, either.
hola ejmw, nice to run into ya.
I think about the borders every time I drive to Phoenix and cross over the (almost-always dry) Gila River. How different life would be if the railroad magnates didn’t lobby for the Gadsden Purchase. It’s also a reminder that things can always change again.
You know what kills me? That she would come here with all her dreams, only to find out that the cards are stacked against her in any endeavor she may choose. She will find not dreams, but pain.
And still they come, hoping for a new life, a better life and we greet them with hate. Thankfully, there are still those of us who great newcomers well.
hola Kamakhya. sometimes we just have to do the simple task of telling their stories – raising their dignity to levels worthy of anyone and everyone – and hope that it will plant the seeds to a future with more just treatment reserved to those who are seeking some stability in life.
thx 4 reading, as always. paz
And in the mean time, an international terrorist who is also a fugitive, and who entered the US illigaly, is set free on bail.
I need a barf-bucket.
You’ll be glad to read this this morning:
Court blocks Posada release
ask beat me to the linkage, but it has been an insane week with respect to how the judicial and immigration systems intersect.
I thought he had been set free last Friday. Thank you for the news!
Manee, I’ve been confused by the phrase “right of return” as used about Palestine. So I checked Wikipedia which says this:
Seems like it would be interesting to investigate our position regarding the Mexican right of return. I do believe the phrase should be applied to all Mexican nationals who enter the US. Instead of illegals they are refugees exercising their right of return.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
See also Human Rights Watch Policy on Right To Return
No surprise that the US is in violation of international law along with every treaty we’ve ever signed. I’m very sorry for all the suffering that has created and recommit myself to the humanist cause in America.
I think that mindset is very prevalent in Mexico, but unfortunately the far-right wing uses it as a cudgel by claiming things like ‘invasion’ and ‘reconquista’.
I wonder how big of a jolt it would give the U.S. public if they learned that it is a common belief in Mexico that the land seized in the mid 1800s at the receiving end of a gun barrel was forcefully taken by yet another manifestation of conquistador behavior? or that the Treaties signed after bloodshed and military incursions were altered by the U.S. Congress after being signed by diplomats, therefore making them illegitimate to the people that got screwed? or that Manifest Destiny is one of the most offensive terms ever devised?
There are a lot of families that have been separated by the lines drawn by D.C. In fact, the U.S. government is still separating them in this present day. That resistance would finally rise up and a demand for basic human rights be respected, should come as no surprise.
Now, to get Congress to recognize that is another matter. We’re barely able to keep the Democrats from repeating Minutemen talking points nowadays.