Hating migrant workers

I think the nascent anger comes first (0.00 / 0)

And then the people who are congenitally dissatisfied with their lives, or in many cases frustrated by their repressed or latent homosexuality, look for scapegoats who are weaker than they are, and take out their frustrations.  I think extreme rightwing rhetoric can enflame existing feelings but it doesn't create those feelings.

Strangely enough, I don't think most of the rightwing talkshow hosts actually feel this deep sense of anger themselves.  I think the Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin types have a different kind of pathology, that makes them want to incite violence, even though they don't personally feel that anger toward the target groups.  But maybe I'm giving them too much credit.

---

by: Duncan Idaho @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 05:39:25 AM UTC

Turner (0.00 / 0)

The conduct of these white goons is, of course, cowardly and deserving of our scorn.

But what about the underlying issue of illegal immigrants being worked like slaves (they're paid next to nothing) by unscrupulous employers who are too cheap to hire Americans and pay them a decent wage?

And what about the simple fact that we have so many people in our country illegally?  I don't think you have to be a racist to be disturbed by the fact that millions of people who have entered our country illegally are being used by employers to drive down the wages of Americans and break labor unions.  And, I hate to admit it, but the right-wingers happen to be right about the fact that large numbers of illegal aliens have created a huge tax burden in highly impacted communities, especially but not only those along the Mexican border.

I'll be accused of being some sort of troglodite for saying all this.  But those of us on the left who keep acting as though national boundaries don't matter, that we need to take it easy on Simon Legree employers who insist they can't get by without illegals working their fields (plantation owners once used the same argument), are way out of touch with the concerns of average Americans.

Tax-payers in places like Nogales, AZ, are not just whiners when they complain about having to pay for illegals to go to their schools, get medical care at their hospitals, and be fed and housed in their jails (because, you see, not all illegals have come to our country seeking honest work).

I don't know what a humane approach to the problem might be.  Maybe a Marshall Plan for Mexico and Latin America to improve the lot of workers there.  Making easing the immigration process so more can enter legally.  Maybe throwing a few exploitative employers in jail.

But to castigate all those who point out the problem of illegal immigration as racists is to to argue unethically.      

---

by: Turner @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 17:03:40 PM UTC

Just a couple (0.00 / 0)

of things...I understand the people attacked were Asian...and there has never been anything to suggest they are illegal, working for slave wages or for someone other than themselves...

Second point...if someone is working and drawing a paycheck, legal or otherwise, they are paying taxes...and thus are entitled to use those services as much as the next person...and a great many of the people here illegally are earning a paycheck with taxes taken out...

Lastly, why not make these 12 million "illegal" citizens legal? It's simple, it's cheap, and the problem is solved. Newcomers fill out a form, wait a period of time, go through the normal channels to citizenship...

---

by: bigsage @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 20:57:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

You're right (0.00 / 0)

I don't have much info on the particular case.  I don't know if the Asians are US citizens or not.  I was saying only that what's feeding anger among many American is that illegal workers are often doing these sub-minimum wage jobs, working virtually as slaves, while American workers are without work because they won't accept such low wages.

The way these racist punks expressed their anger, however, is totally wrong.  Their analysis of the issue of illegal immigration probably goes no deeper than their hatred of non-whites.

To grant total amnesty, as you propose, would be a huge disaster.  It would encourage a massive, massive flood of illegals, who might reasonably expect that they, like those who came before them, could expect amnesty in their turn.  And then there'd be a third and fourth wave.

The they-pay-taxes-too argument is weak.  Illegal immigrants pay some taxes, but they cost us Americans way more than they pay in to the system. That's why hospitals and school districts along the US-Mexican "border" are in such deep trouble.

 

---

by: Turner @ Tue Jul 15, 2008 at 22:49:12 PM UTC