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Teach Your Children Well

Racist chants at a basketball game between Southern Mississippi University and Kansas State University highlight why we need to teach our children about ills of racism.

It's March Madness, and the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles have already made their mark. Not by making the most baskets...would have been nice. No, their fans were chanting to a Kansas State player that he needed to get his green card while he took his foul shots. Their racism was so gross that the Southern Mississippi college president quickly apologized with "deep regrets." We are so proud.

Well, I am happy that the college has enough sense to at least put a good public face on the state of racism in the great state of Mississippi. While on the stage of the NCAA basketball tournament we would not want to display overt racism...wouldn't be right. Read about it here.

While the kids are being reprimanded for their racism at the NCAA tourney their state leaders are proceeding with their own agenda at the Mississippi State House. The legislature in Mississippi is controlled in both houses by the GOP and the governor is a Republican, so it follows that they are in the process of passing an immigration law similar to the Arizona's and unfortunately the law we have here in Georgia. The kids will always share the truth...and in this case the truth is ugly. Create a law that singles out those with brown skin, arrest them and remove them from our streets. Call them illegal and teach your children to hate them simply because they are looking for the chance we have had and they have brown skin.

Ronald Reagan gave amnesty to undocumented workers. Congress was supposed to pass a comprehensive immigration law and didn't. So for over 25 years the USA was exploiting the labor of those brown-skinned workers and benefiting hugely by their labor. These undocumented have families, houses, kids and lives here in the USA. As a country, we have a responsibility for all of those that came, worked, and created a life. There is no doubt in my mind that our implicit allowance for their coming and going to the USA carries a responsibility for fairness. And then, there are the words on the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

Every day some poor soul will be pulled over for some minor traffic infraction and after their rights as human beings have been trampled on they will ultimately be sent back to Mexico. So much for probable cause, so much for the words on the Statue of Liberty. Our police will pull you over and because you are brown skinned and undocumented we'll mess with your life and your rights as a human being.

Those kids from the state of Mississippi were only saying what their state leaders were telling them was OK to say. Unfortunately we won't be getting any apologies from the parents of Mississippi or Georgia, or Arizona because the "Golden Door" is closed.  

(Originally posted on The Daily Liberal, a blog by Wes Allen.)

David Brown March 18, 2012 at 11:46 pm
Wes, I appreciate your perspective on this important issue. Unfortunately, our perspectives are the minority opinion in Gwinnett County at this point. Keep speaking out, my friend.
Robert Thomas. Sr. March 20, 2012 at 05:31 pm
There's nothing racist about protecting one's borders, nor in enforcing the laws which do so. Try, as an alien buying property in Mexico (perhaps recently changed) and you can't do so, nor do the Mexicans have any compunction about deporting their illegal aliens, mainly Central Americans, when they can do so.
David Brown March 20, 2012 at 07:35 pm
A major earthquake struck southwestern Mexico this afternoon, frightening residents and shaking buildings as far as the capital. Oh no!!! I hope that doesn't spur any of THEM to cross over the border seeking refuge.
Diana Dice March 20, 2012 at 09:27 pm
Thank you, Mr Allen for respecting the inherent worth and dignity of all people. I applaud you.
Diana Dice
R March 21, 2012 at 02:41 am
"Create a law that singles out those with brown skin, arrest them and remove them from our streets."
Sorry sir, PLEASE point out the specific clauses in print where ILLEGAL Violators are defined as BROWN? Where ILLEGAL violators are of a specific race? Can't be done because ILLEGAL is a state of being or presence, NOT a RACE or origin. So the RACE issue is NOT actually in any bill recently passed in any of the states you mention, your opinion itself seems to be what is injecting a skewed and RACIST view on the issue. Are you actually stating that ALL deportees go to Mexico? "Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door." So that CLEARLY states that as long as the Statue of Liberty has stood the world acknowledges that the US of A HAS a DOOR to enter through, one that has and STILL is accepting those that ENTER THROUGH it. This does NOT imply that the US of A will take those who enter at any other point due to ease of entry. Would you accept anyone who enters your home through any other means than the DOOR? Would you accept just anyone? If your invited guest came though a window, would that be acceptable to you - even if it appeared to be open at the time because it WASN'T locked... Would you greet an UNINVITED guest who came though that same closed but UNLOCKED window? I venture to say that police would be called and rightly so. That's what many citizens and LEGAL aliens desire, its as simple as that.
R March 21, 2012 at 02:57 am
Those who believe that driving without a license or driving without insurance is a minor issue, may not be aware of the significant damage done to OUR families and friends by loss of life, property and future earnings potential.
The state may have finally caught on that the loss of that long term tax revenue from those whose income has been eliminated or drastically reduced due to encounters with these "undocumented" drivers is funding that they can't spend in times of ever larger budget shortfalls.
David Brown March 21, 2012 at 01:02 pm
R, after you repent, you'll feel a whole lot better.:)
I was thinking the other day that I wish a law could be passed that would prevent people from voting while they're angry. People tend to make poor decisions while they're angry.
R March 21, 2012 at 08:58 pm
David - No repenting required, just growing weary of the Money Changers. (Smiles)
Simply stating facts that have long been pushed off to the corner by others who stand to profit from the lack of focus. If people support bad policy, they should be educated in the ramifications thereof. And as to the case I made, there has been no rebuttal of substance yet.
Tammy Osier March 22, 2012 at 02:12 am
Got to go with R here, at least on the part that says people can be arrested for being a certain race. The only people sent to ICE in Ga. are on the record books as having committed a crime. The law is very specific and it would be a great lack of integrity to do that (not to mention the loss of a job for having arrested someone without cause). While I sympathize and wish that our immigration laws could be different so that law abiding immigrants can come here and make our country their home, I have to take issue with the implication that our law enforcement would be anything but upright in enforcing the laws that they have been sworn to uphold.
Gang activity, no license or insurance, assault, drugs - sorry, but anyone who breaks those laws gets locked up. Look at the docket books at the sheriff's dept.
David Brown March 22, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Tammy, my primary concern is that of profiling. When a police officer stops a person for committing a traffic violation, what are the characteristics about that person that would lead the officer to suspect the driver is in the country illegally? I submit if the person is Hispanic or has an accent, the officer would look into the person's citizenship. If the driver is not Hispanic or doesn't have an accent, the assumption would not be made. Let's not be naive.
RL March 22, 2012 at 02:04 pm
If the person cannot offer a valid drivers license, absolutely check their status egardless of "accent".
Check the Gwinnett County mugshots website and check out how many (apparently Hispanic) people are arrested for: no DL, no insurance, no registration, etc. It is dangerous out there. Talk about naive, Dave. Get you head out of the sand.
David Brown March 22, 2012 at 02:37 pm
RL, at this point we'll just have to agree to disagree. That's preferable to going back and forth/post for post. This is one of those issues that whites and non-whites see differently. Enjoy the rest of your day:)
RL March 22, 2012 at 03:27 pm
Fair enough
Tammy Osier March 23, 2012 at 01:18 pm
David, an Officer can get in trouble for not having a valid reason to pull someone over. I honestly don't think anyone is out to get anybody. Profiling is a part of their work, but even that has its limits. Seems to me it IS being treated fairly for laws to apply to all. I can't drive around with no insurance or ID and neither can you. If there is a lone wolf out there, we have procedures to make sure they don't stay employed long. I have worked with gangs, drug dealers etc... for far too long to ignore the fact that we have to deal with lawbreakers to keep all safe. Enforcing the laws helps to identify the ones who ARE a danger to society. We have to be able to identify people. If you were involved in a hit and run where a loved one was killed and there was no way to identify the perp, how would you feel then? Seems dangerous to me otherwise. I'm looking at it from the point of view concerning safety and law - not race. If that is a true issue then I agree that it needs to be looked into. I'm sorry that our situation is where people need to fear being looked at suspiciously. That's got to be tough. We do need immigration reform so that those who are honest and hard working can have the same opportunities that their forefathers did. Got to start there.
David Brown March 23, 2012 at 02:20 pm
Tammy, many of the points you've raised bother me. As I said to my friend RL, at this point we'll just have to agree to disagree. That's preferable to going back and forth/post for post. This is one of those issues that whites and non-whites see differently. Enjoy the rest of your day:)
R March 23, 2012 at 06:27 pm
David - you have commented twice now that one's viewpoint on this issue depends on race. That's really NOT accurate, it depends on the view of legal vs. Illegal ACTIONS . You have no way of knowing the "color" of all readers / posters here, nor should we immediately focus on that aspect in every issue.

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