HAVE WE NO SHAME By J. Glenn Evans
It is unfortunate that the Federal Government and some states have all of sudden started creating such harsh legislation against so the called “Illegal Immigrants, ” aimed mainly at Mexicans.
Over the years our government has turned a so-called blind eye to these good family people who have cleaned rich folk’s dirty diapers and done the sweat labor others wished to avoid. I can honestly say Mexicans have been some of the finest people that I have known. They are more the victims than the victimizers. They are paid substandard wages; pay into social security from which they receive no benefit. These are people just like us, striving to feed and educate their families in a world where money and power are stack against us.
Now all of a sudden, after all of these years, this administration has seen fit to crack down on these helpless people in what I believe is a distraction from an illegal war, that also gives them an excuse to build detention centers at great profit to their big buck buddies. These centers will probably be used to detain future protesters when more of the American people wake to they fact that they have lost their rights under the Constitution.
In truth these good family people who still have the work ethic make a positive contribution to our economy and gene pool. To gather them up like cattle and ship them back after years of turning a blind eye, I believe is downright UN-CHRISTIAN. They are already here, have established roots and make a positive contribution to our country. Why not give them a Green Card and let them work toward citizenship. If our government is so concerned about more of them sneaking in ahead of becoming citizens, we might examine the effects of American foreign policy. Since CAFTA there has been a substantial loss to subsistence farms and opportunities to make a living on the other side of the border. Governments do have to protect their borders, but it would be more enlightening if our politicians would urge our government to work with the government of Mexico to examine the policies that force the citizens of Mexico to risk the illegal border crossing. The people of Mexico deserve better.
We might also take a look at history. Mexico welcomed American immigrants and in the 1820s, let settlers have land. In the next decade their numbers outgrew the Mexicans. When Santa Anna tried to reverse the trend, the American immigrants to Mexico declared their independence as the state of Texas and took away a big chunk of Mexican land with our help. Then later by conquest and a jam down their throat treaty and payment of what later proved to be a “miserly sum of fifteen million dollars” we took another big chunk of Mexican land that included California. Have we no shame in our treatment of these fine family people from Mexico.
Copyleft 2007 J. Glenn Evans
(Feel free to copy and distribute as broadly as possible)
Biography: J. Glenn Evans is a native of Wewoka, Oklahoma and graduate Wewoka High School 1949 and of East Central University (Ada, OK) in 1956 with a BS in General Business and minor in Speech; has lived in Seattle since 1960. Former stockbroker-investment banker. Founder of PoetsWest and Activists for a Better World; author of three books of poetry: Window in the Sky, Seattle Poems and Buffalo Tracks, a history of Sweden, two local biographies, and two novels: Broker Jim and Zeke’s Revenge. Widely published in journals and anthologies. Recipient of 1999 WPA Faith Beamer Cooke Award and 2003 Seattle Free Lances Outstanding Writer’s Award. Member of Washington Poets Association and Academy of American Poets. Listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Produces and hosts a weekly radio show of poetry and stories on KSER90.7 FM.
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REMEMBER THE CONSTITUTION and 1776 Earth rights—Human Rights—Peace
I can do little to correct the wrongs of yesterday, but I can and must add my voice to the war for justice today—J. Glenn Evans—Jun2007 ###
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