| hola and greetings mis amiga/os del blogosphere!
Thought I'd take a crack at articulating what draws me, an incredibly overeducated, cynical (lately), pro-union, anti-globalization, chronically-ill (R.A.), hitched to the enemy (old white guy) Tejana academic into the fray of immigration and politics.
Well, I do have a blog (see profile) which I am just getting back to after the hysteria of the Messiah being elected (can ANYONE live up to the expectations people have of the president elect, bless him?). The whole sick mania of how the election campaigning went down jaded me intensely, and no, I wasn't really excited about either candidate. I admit to the fact I would have rather chopped off a hand than vote Red, but I did not vote Blue. I voted for something I could honestly believe in (so of course, I did Nader/ Gonzales!). I was in IL when BO was running for senator, and Jack Ryan's wife accused Ryan of abusing her, then he dropped out, they brought in Alan Keyes... BO wasn't going to be elected, but you know Chicago politics. So I'm not a True Believer (tm). I wish him the best, but I do not have illusions that the world will change overnight.
More importantly, I don't believe that by ignoring the past due to a biracial man being elected is going to be helpful. We have such a pained racist history, and it's multicolored. When I was small, probably about 7 or 8, I distinclty rememebring seeing in a Dairy Queen in TX a "No Dogs, No Mexicans" sign as our six member family ate in our Sunday best.
I get furious when people try to pooh-pooh this history, as the blood of some of my ancestors was spilt by their for something as cavalier as land. That lynching was a spectator sport should be acknowledged,and we should be forced to have a national dicussion and not lie to ourselves about whose backs we stand on, "documented" and
"undocumented", slave, servant, peasant, farmworker, laborers of all kinds.
This is why building bridges IS important, but we build them knowing others are trying to blow them up because the status quo is too tempting to remain. And I also want my people, La Raza, to get up, organized, and moving! If we can do it-- then let's do it! Time to stop holding hat in hand and hope for the best. We have always been survivors-- not victims. Andale Raza! |
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