[lit-ideas] Re: Immigration
- From: Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 19:25:33 EST
In a message dated 3/25/2006 4:18:18 P.M. Central Standard Time,
andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
It's business vs. small-town Christian racists, which form both
sides of the GOP.
Hi,
Not necessarily.
In my case, it is that there is business which is mean and wants to not pay
living wages to people and those of us who are concerned about the taking
advantage of the Other.
What is business/liberal types who hire illegal (sometimes legal) people at
less than living wages (all with the implied threat of "I could turn you in if
you didn't work for me for $2 instead of $5 an hour...) I have many
liberal and conservative friends who hire illegal immigrants NOT because they
*really* care about the person, but because they can hire someone at a
completely
lower wage than if that person was working on their own in a small business
[housecleaning, child care, gardening, etc.]--IF they cared about the
person--illegal or legal--they would be paying at the least the market wage.
They do
NOT.
They are just like Walmart's contracting company which locks people in
overnight to clean...but spout off how liberal they are.
Businesses are a completely different situation. (and, I bet you, the
business world that is wanting to keep immigration the way it is now is VERY
racist...so to say it is the 'small town Christian' who is racist is, to me,
very
laughable. Having talked to some of these business types or listened to them
talk to each other (go hang out at a taekwondo tournament and eavesdrop
sometime with me--) or even look at their stats to see whether or not they have
the
token person to satisfy some diversity issue--ha.
They are ALL about keeping their costs low and not a care in the world about
the illegal or legal immigrant as a PERSON.
In fact, a lot of the businesses in small towns are VERY okay with illegal
immigration. So, I'm not sure where you are getting the "Christian racism"
bit--most of the Christian people in MY area are very much the ones who are
involved in the Diversity Councils, Harmony in a World of Difference--and are
the ones who are creating all sorts of ethnic and multicultural and other
similar sorts of 'fairs'. (the latest is called the "Heritage Fair" which
will be
in Independence--created esp by many of the Christian folk--in order to make
sure that all the different ethnic groups there get to know each other--)
In fact, I thought I sent an article not long ago that stated that most
small towns LIKE to have the immigrants (legal OR illegal) because to them it
showed that their economies (ie small businesses) were GROWING.
The racism is more likely to show up in the larger cities where you may have
lots of ethnic groups, but not in the schools--the racists (whether it be
the Asians and Caucasians or whatever) moving out of the areas which are full
of
Hispanics and Blacks.
To me, the issue boils down to whether or not businesses are willing to
invest in the infrastructure of the country OR communities in which they
live--and by that, how willing are they to pay living wages to people?
When Bush speaks of bringing in immigrants 'to do jobs Americans don't want
to do' -- to me THAT smacks of racism and is completely contrary to WHO an
American IS. If that person is in this country--he/she IS an American and we
ought to be assisting in providing for living wages so that the "American
Dream" can happen without making people live 28 people in a single house, live
on
donated food from (mostly) Churches (here in this area, most of the homeless
and financially deprived are taken care of by the "Christian" churches--in
fact, most of them -- even the fundamentalist ones whose theology I cannot
abide -- are extremely good at the caretaking of those in our smaller suburban
worlds or small towns in my area.)
Best,
Marlena
worried about living wages for ALL (illegal AND legal immigrants and
Americans...okay, all everywhere--but we are discussing the USA right now...)
There a
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