Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Genesis Said It Best, "It's No Fun!"

Let's talk about the human spirit while I speak in broad generalities.

Certain folks from the continent of Africa got a raw deal. Their own countrymen sold them into slavery. Slave traders removed them from their homes and sold them all over the world as though they weren't human. When we hear stories from our own history about slavery we are shocked and can hardly imagine what that era must have been like or how people could be so self-deceived that they justified such things. The heroes in this story are the brave men and women who fled the nightmare of slavery and those who helped them along the way, people like those who created the underground railway.

Similarly, children who are born into the abject poverty of America's urban inner cities. The cycles of poverty, lack of educational attainment, and the influence of drugs and gangs create a situation that seems hopeless and without solution. Yet when a person manages to escape and become successful, we say, "See, America is the land of opportunity." and admire the courage and strength of someone who pulls themselves up "by their own bootstraps". Powerful stuff, right?

Let's talk about Mexico, or more specifically, about Mexican immigrants who are in this country illegally because that is really who is the target of Arizona's new immigration law. That is who we blame for taking American jobs away. It is the growing number of brown faces in our communities that we associate with the "immigration" problem. Think about it though, what have they done after all? By and large, their most prominent crime - the thing that we use to put us on the moral high ground - is that they have broken the law. Yes - Yes - for the last time - I admit it - they have broken the law.

Would we tell anyone trapped in slavery that they should just obey the law? Of course not. Our nation fought over the issue of slavery (tangentially, anyway) and eventually abolished it.

Do we let drug dealers run urban neighborhoods and not provide assistance for people trying to escape?

Maybe it would help to think about illegal immigrants from Mexico in a different way. Let's call them what they are: refugees. Refugees from a broken political and economic system. Refugees from unimaginable, soul-crushing poverty and anarchy created by drug lords run amok. * Who would choose to raise a family in the midst of that if there was a viable alternative? Not me. I admire the courage and human spirit of those who make that very dangerous and controversial decision.

Yes. they broke the law. We get it but, here are three things to ponder:

1. Can I really cast stones?
2. Am I better, simply by virtue of being born in the US and by proxy, is someone less of a person by the misfortune of being born into slavery or poverty or Mexico?
3. Is there a better way to approach this issue besides tougher enforcement?

For me the answers are simple: No, No, Yes.

* See http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_4755.html   

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