Nothing brings out the worst in xenophobic America like the color of a person’s skin. Oh yeah.
America has a tried and troubling history of genocidal ethnic cleansing of ‘colored’ people. For our power-point presentation, let us review the treatment of Native Americans. America’s “First Nations” that are now, well, nowhere to be seen. Well, except maybe on “reservations” or back alley dark places where that aforementioned ‘native’ is passed out from a serious overdose of alcohol. See Gallup, New Mexico for further illustration.
Once America had driven the ‘red man’ to a final solution, it was on to the ‘yellow menace’. See California gold rushes, railroad construction, and of course San Francisco’s ‘yellow ghettos’. The treatment of “Chinese” migrants might be construed as worse than today’s treatment of migrants but realistically, not by so much. Then one could fly to World War II era treatment of “interned” Japanese. California sort of set the bar pretty high when it comes to treatment for the “color” of a person’s skin. Why, even in “our modern times” the color of a person’s skin will segregate one into enclaves and ghettos that riddle the California stateside like perky little Gazas here and there.
Irish migrants have felt that “great white furor” over coming to America. Jews have felt the furor, Germans too, and just about any migrant that wasn’t of the proper shading of ‘white’. Well, and aristocratic affiliation.
So then it becomes almost impossible to overlook America’s fascination with slavery. Again, it boils down to the color of skin. For whatever the reason, black was the proper shading for the “slaves” and “white” was the shading for slave ownership. For the most part. I’m not about to tackle the issue of “blacks owning blacks” during America’s ‘slave’ era. While that “ownership” issue is germane, I fully intend on leaving the subject for ‘blacks’ to argue about with other ‘blacks’. Yup.
Ah skin color. One man’s tan is another man’s probable cause for knee-jerk over reaction and possible deportation. Detention. Termination of existence. Cause being the “wrong” skin color in America can and still to this very day, get one shot on sight. Can we all say Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio? Oh yeah, I’m getting to Arpaio.
As most people know, the ‘Great (really?) State of Arizona’ has passed and signed into law a nifty little racist bit of legislation lovingly known as SB1070. The ‘Arizona Immigration and You’d Better Be Able To Prove It’ law. Arizona has taken up the cause of ‘freedom loving and fearful white’ Arizonees and is about the business of openly harassing and possibly deporting “brown” people. Arizona’s SB1070 will directly and inhumanely singling out brown-skinned people. Not white people and not black people. Nope. Brown-skinned people because Arizona is “afraid” of what brown people might do.
Arizona’s SB1070 is really about purging Arizona voter registration rolls. You see, ‘white’ Arizonees are a shrinking minority. Oh yeah. White Arizonees are becoming an “endangered species” and that has driven white Arizona into a hateful fit of auto-xenophobic hysteria. Ergo, if you ain’t “white” in Arizona well you’d better be able to prove that you are “legally” entitled to be in Arizona. “Papers please, ACHTUNG, SCHNELL SCHNELL!”
We have arrived at Sheriff Nazi Joe Arpaio. The “official enforcer” for Maricopa County. That’s in Arizona. Yup. You see, Sheriff Nazi Joe has been about the business of harassing and murdering “brownskinned” people for a long time. White Arizona simply loves Sheriff Nazi Joe. Oh yeah. Cause the good Sheriff kills them brownies and he kills ‘em good. Sheriff Nazi Joe figures that if’n the Federals ain’t about to deal with them danged illegals (code word for Mexican migrants) well by golly, Sheriff Nazi Joe will. Deal with ‘em. One way or his way. Sheriff Nazi Joe still believes with all his fascist little heart that “guns tamed the West.” Sheriff Nazi Joe Arpaio is an embarrassment to Arizona but Arizonees are too stupid to figure out why. All that xenophobia has addled the white Arizona mindset. Well and the heat. Gits dang hot out in the badlands of Maricopa County.
The ACTUAL problem with migrants in the vast American westlands is the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization folks. U.S.I.N. as it’s called out here in the “West”, has an incomprehensibly non-navigable bureaucracy. Most migrants would love the chance to become an American citizen. Most migrants can’t. Become “naturalized” on account of the system is shamefully corrupt and takes about forever to “naturalize.” Well and the process takes literally mountains of cash, to be paid to INS vermin that are corrupt and ‘on the take’. Oh yeah and that is true.
Some poor Mexican migrant wants only to find a sanctuary for some peace and a chance to raise a family that has a chance at a reasonable future and INS places so many roadblocks on that process, what is the point? Naturalization becomes cost prohibitive. So the migrants take whatever “short cuts” that might present themselves and the game is on.
The U.S. Congress is NOT about to change a system that rakes in piles of bribe money, federal grants to Sheriff Nazi Joe Arpaio, slave labor wages, and/or the entire workforce employed by the hotels, restaurants, and various service industries of Arizona. Well and Nevada, California, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, and parts of ‘mums-the-word’ Wyoming. The United States Chamber of Commerce really really does NOT want any change in a system where the Chamber’s members employ thousands of cheap-labor souls and keep them very very quiet. Oh yeah, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce talks some big talk BUT, they oppose changes to a broken immigration process. Kind of like the original “don’t ask don’t tell.”
Eventually, Mexican migrants that have avoided “capture” by the likes of Sheriff Nazi Joe Arpaio bear children. Yup. Those “children” are born in the U.S.A and are, tah-dah. American citizens. With all the rights and privileges afforded ANY American citizen. Oh yeah, those children can and do vote. Remembering back to white Arizona’s real rationale for SB1070. Purge them funky voter rolls white boys! Arizona wants the American citizen children of illegals purged from voter rolls. Cause, you know, those children will tend to not appreciate the discrimination and harassment and murder of their parents by the likes of Sheriff Nazi Joe Arpaio AND being kept down for generations by assclown ‘white’ Arizonees that “prefer” their labor dirt cheap and not making political waves. And there’s the real reason for Arizona’s SB1070. Cause you know, being brown will draw a frown from “establishment” Arizona or Texas or Utah or Nevada or California or even Massachusetts.
author’s note- the term “Arizonee or Arizonees or any variation on that theme is a parochial usage for ‘white’ denizens of Arizona. The ‘State of’ or ‘City of’ or ‘County of’ and is in common usage throughout America’s West. Just thought you should know.