City Council meeting tonight to discuss local immigration reform policy - By N.L. Belardes
This lengthy letter showed up in my email today regarding Edna Molina-Jackson's stance on tonight's city council meeting that Bakersfield people concerned with the David Couch proposal should attend.
Meeting at 5pm
Read on:
This proposal of Couch's would mark a sad and backward move for a city that was part of the struggle for the civil rights of Mexican/Chicano people that began with migrant workers and extended to all Mexican American people. This region was the cradle of the Chicano Civil Rights movement, a movement that understood that those thought to be the least among us were indeed the heart within us; human rights activists Sra. Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez made this point very clear.
How many of you are willing to attend this meeting tomorrow?
Perhaps if enough people are interested we could meet a couple of hours prior to the meeting to formulate a response to this proposal.
Regardless of where people stand on immigration reform--these kind of actions generate ethnic antagonism, divisiveness and DOES germinate the seeds of racism. Even "legal" Latinos (and other U.S. minority groups) end up targeted by those who would labor hard against the "illegal" segment of OUR Population.
I recall when Prop 187 passed in CA, my sister (who is U.S. born, very white in appearance and speaks fluently in BOTH English and Spanish) was shocked when one of her white neighbors came over to ask if she and her family were legal! She was so dismayed by this action, she said her welcoming smile quickly gave way to the sight of something so ugly she could not respond with words...she simply closed her door. Do we wish to have Bakersfield become this...something so ugly we close off from each other? I don't. This is a wonderful town, filled with great spirit and community and it needs to be strengthened in this regard. We can't allow a few election-oriented politicians to drag Bakersfield down to the murky waters of fear and contempt they find so appealing.
The lesson taken from my sister's experience is...those that would discriminate (closet ethnocentrists of many backgrounds) come out of the wood work to do so when empowered by such policies and especially when they are left unchallenged!
What's the purpose of Couch's proposal except to make the good people of Bakersfield complicit in the latest xenophobic attack on people of color in this nation? Why not wait for the federal government to act prior to enacting local legislation? Not too long ago (less than 60 years), White legislators in the South also rushed to implement policies to control the increased threat Blacks posed to their lifestyle and Jim Crow laws were passed that cultivated white supremacy and advocated racial segregation. At the time that generation of "good people" in the South were convinced by a few of their fear-inducing political leaders that such laws were the best solution to the "Black problem" and even many "good people" in the South came to see segregation laws as "natural" and right.
Recall a bit of Southwest history...Latinos (especially those of Mexican origin) in the Southwestern U.S. were THE target of extensive discrimination--so much so that Mexican people have the dubious distinction of having been lynched in the Southwest at a rate greater than that of Blacks in the South. Today we, like many of our similarly oppressed brothers and sisters, stand on the shoulders of those who struggled before us to secure our civil rights and today our immigrant brothers and sisters look to us for support against this latest wave of oppression that in the end will negatively impact on us all.
Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And the renowned Latina scholar and author, Cherie Moraga said, "We must end the many silences that protect oppression."
There are better ways to resolve the immigration debate, ways that bring fair minded, good people together and that unite Americans of varied ethnicities...like you and me.
Please send me an email if you're willing to attend this Council meeting tomorrow to suggest alternatives to Couch's divisive and antagonistic policy proposal.
Edna
*****************************************************
Edna Molina, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
California State University, Bakersfield-------------
ORIGINAL MESSAGE BELOW:
Have you seen this?
I think our presence is required. --TM
>>> 7/17/2007>>>
Councilman to propose immigration stance for city
The Bakersfield Californian | Tuesday, Jul 17 2007 2:28 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jul 17 2007 2:28 PM
City Councilman David Couch is bringing the border battle to Bakersfield.
In an appearance on KERN Radio this morning, Couch announced a three-point plan for staking out the city's position on immigration.
Under Couch's proposal:
* City staff would be instructed to determine what city services can be denied to illegal immigrants.
* English would be declared the official language of Bakersfield.
* Bakersfield would be declared not a "sanctuary city."
Couch said he plans to introduce the proposal at Wednesday's (July 18th) City Council meeting, although he wasn't sure when. The Council meets at 5:15 p.m. for a short meeting, then again at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting at 5pm
Read on:
This proposal of Couch's would mark a sad and backward move for a city that was part of the struggle for the civil rights of Mexican/Chicano people that began with migrant workers and extended to all Mexican American people. This region was the cradle of the Chicano Civil Rights movement, a movement that understood that those thought to be the least among us were indeed the heart within us; human rights activists Sra. Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez made this point very clear.
How many of you are willing to attend this meeting tomorrow?
Perhaps if enough people are interested we could meet a couple of hours prior to the meeting to formulate a response to this proposal.
Regardless of where people stand on immigration reform--these kind of actions generate ethnic antagonism, divisiveness and DOES germinate the seeds of racism. Even "legal" Latinos (and other U.S. minority groups) end up targeted by those who would labor hard against the "illegal" segment of OUR Population.
I recall when Prop 187 passed in CA, my sister (who is U.S. born, very white in appearance and speaks fluently in BOTH English and Spanish) was shocked when one of her white neighbors came over to ask if she and her family were legal! She was so dismayed by this action, she said her welcoming smile quickly gave way to the sight of something so ugly she could not respond with words...she simply closed her door. Do we wish to have Bakersfield become this...something so ugly we close off from each other? I don't. This is a wonderful town, filled with great spirit and community and it needs to be strengthened in this regard. We can't allow a few election-oriented politicians to drag Bakersfield down to the murky waters of fear and contempt they find so appealing.
The lesson taken from my sister's experience is...those that would discriminate (closet ethnocentrists of many backgrounds) come out of the wood work to do so when empowered by such policies and especially when they are left unchallenged!
What's the purpose of Couch's proposal except to make the good people of Bakersfield complicit in the latest xenophobic attack on people of color in this nation? Why not wait for the federal government to act prior to enacting local legislation? Not too long ago (less than 60 years), White legislators in the South also rushed to implement policies to control the increased threat Blacks posed to their lifestyle and Jim Crow laws were passed that cultivated white supremacy and advocated racial segregation. At the time that generation of "good people" in the South were convinced by a few of their fear-inducing political leaders that such laws were the best solution to the "Black problem" and even many "good people" in the South came to see segregation laws as "natural" and right.
Recall a bit of Southwest history...Latinos (especially those of Mexican origin) in the Southwestern U.S. were THE target of extensive discrimination--so much so that Mexican people have the dubious distinction of having been lynched in the Southwest at a rate greater than that of Blacks in the South. Today we, like many of our similarly oppressed brothers and sisters, stand on the shoulders of those who struggled before us to secure our civil rights and today our immigrant brothers and sisters look to us for support against this latest wave of oppression that in the end will negatively impact on us all.
Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." And the renowned Latina scholar and author, Cherie Moraga said, "We must end the many silences that protect oppression."
There are better ways to resolve the immigration debate, ways that bring fair minded, good people together and that unite Americans of varied ethnicities...like you and me.
Please send me an email if you're willing to attend this Council meeting tomorrow to suggest alternatives to Couch's divisive and antagonistic policy proposal.
Edna
*****************************************************
Edna Molina, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
California State University, Bakersfield-------------
ORIGINAL MESSAGE BELOW:
Have you seen this?
I think our presence is required. --TM
>>> 7/17/2007>>>
Councilman to propose immigration stance for city
The Bakersfield Californian | Tuesday, Jul 17 2007 2:28 PM
Last Updated: Tuesday, Jul 17 2007 2:28 PM
City Councilman David Couch is bringing the border battle to Bakersfield.
In an appearance on KERN Radio this morning, Couch announced a three-point plan for staking out the city's position on immigration.
Under Couch's proposal:
* City staff would be instructed to determine what city services can be denied to illegal immigrants.
* English would be declared the official language of Bakersfield.
* Bakersfield would be declared not a "sanctuary city."
Couch said he plans to introduce the proposal at Wednesday's (July 18th) City Council meeting, although he wasn't sure when. The Council meets at 5:15 p.m. for a short meeting, then again at 6:30 p.m.
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Wednesday, July 18, 2007.
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Oh please!?! The anonymous, bigoted, uneducated, misinformed, and (let me guess) white neighbor. What a sham. Why not just name the 'neighbor' and let them actually learn a lesson about life? What regard should she have for the confrontational neighbor? But, I think this is all B.S., written to inflame the 'masses' and create an atmosphere of hostility about the current U.S. policies on immigration. It is bad enough to deal with the hypocrisy of the Republican party and the disconnect of the Democrats, lets not add to the problem with anonymous neighbors. Whatever the motive.
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