Kevin Marshall's America
It’s Cinco de Mayo. So what, exactly, are we celebrating?
Strong reactions have risen from both sides of the Arizona debate. (Associated Press)
It certainly isn’t Mexican culture, at least not if any of us take the stand that what the State of Arizona has done is even remotely acceptable.
I’m well aware that illegal immigration is, well, illegal. As in against the law. It’s also a vital part of our economy, particularly in the American Southwest. Throughout our history, we as a nation have turned a blind eye to laws regarding this and other similar matters when it suited our economic and social interests. In that sense, it’s no different than the Rockefeller Drug Laws: they’re not in place to punish so much as provide a means for which to ensnare bigger fish and provide bargaining leverage for law enforcement.
I’m uncomfortable around anyone calling or referring to them as “criminals.” Technically, it’s true. But we have a connotation of moral ambivalence and malicious intent associated with that label, which certainly isn’t fitting for us when we’re using them as a cheap source of labor. They’re fine so long as they’ve finished the masonry, landscaping, and other work we have for which we don’t want to pay face value. But once they’re done, then they’re criminals.
I apologize if you find this uncomfortable or inflammatory. Surely, if you read this blog, you know that I keep an open mind and have very few hard and fast rules when it comes to political and social matters. I also am very hesitant to say I can’t or won’t budge on an issue. However, in matters such as this, I cannot find any room for movement or debate; not when basic human rights are being violated to make a political point and express a rooted resentment and bias towards an entire people.
Which is why I find it maddening when I see, hear, and read certain people support of this legislation that are also, somehow, expressing a desire to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
You cannot celebrate Mexican-American culture without acknowledging that illegal immigration is a significant part of it; it’s in songs, practices, and family history. Even the fact that we note the holiday at all is an acknowledgement of that fact. It’s in the statistics: most came, or had ancestors, come to this country illegally. We certainly don’t see this kind of exuberance for the Chinese New Year, after all.
To a point, we need to protect our borders. But we also need to be realistic. Laws weren’t meant to be broken, but they’re regularly bent. Operating under any other pretense is naïve at best and downright dishonest at worst.
The Arizona legislation isn’t about making the job of police easier, it’s about the indictment and persecution of an entire ethnicity. I’m ashamed that we live in a country that will specifically target a specific minority or ethnicity for this sort of legislation. It is no different than looking at statistics in a certain area indicating more blacks are arrested for certain crimes and as such passing a law that specifically allows police to interrogate and demand documentation without just cause.
So, even if you don’t sympathize or agree with the plight of the illegals, you should still be at least uncomfortable with the passing of this legislation. It isn’t anti-Mexican so much as it is anti-American.
See Also: Phoenix Suns to become “Los Suns” for tonight’s Western Conference Semi-Final game. To abate the comment: I too at first thought “but wouldn’t it be Los Solos or something like that?” But with “Suns” being a proper noun and the name of the franchise itself, only the article (“The” to “Los”) would be affected.
React: Is the Arizona law a civil rights violation? And are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo?
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12 Responses to Cinco de Mayo – Are You Celebrating? Why?
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STALK ME
If everyone agrees that the US immigration system is broken – why not focus on repairing the system? Seems like a good place to start would be to make it easier for people to become US citizens. Stop looking for ways to punish them for failing to do so.
Don’t we want a productive, successful society? How do we know we aren’t branding the next Albert Einstein as “illegal?” Set up an easy system that makes sense for everyone and then help people move through that system so they can be free to contribute to our culture and community.
I’m all for people pulling their own weight. I would prefer if those coming to this country were documented (like us), with a SS# (like us), and were paying taxes (like us), etc., especially if they are going to benefit from the freedoms we enjoy.
But I also believe in treating all people fairly, with dignity, and respect (which, is also the way I want to be treated). Anyone who feels the same really can’t (or at least, shouldn’t) support any law that jeapordizes that treatment for anyone. Once we start passing laws like that, who’s to say how far we all are from surrendering those same rights?
As a liberal and a feminist (immigration is a feminist issue btw), I find myself in the tough spot of not entirely disagreeing with Arizona. Illegal immigration has ALWAYS been a problem for the US and if you don’t believe me, then please ask my Irish ancestors that were literally turned away at the Port of New York and entered this country illegally through Canada. The fact is that there are only so many resources and jobs to go around and if there are more people than resources, it becomes a problem, especially in a state like Arizona in which water could become a crisis for them in five years or less. Illegal immigrants aren’t paying taxes. They’re not paying into medicare or medicaid. However, they are using our health care system. In many cases, they are not picking up the bill. No one is turned away emergency care, no matter their personal finances, and without a social security card or in many cases a legitimate personal address, they don’t get the bill. So the state pays, and yes, you and I pay through our taxes.
Should Washington tackle immigration law? Absolutely, I’m a fan of Obama’s plan. However as states struggle to find the money to pay for services those who are paying taxes contribute to and expect, I’m having less and less of a problem with telling people who come here illegally and don’t contribute to please leave until they can enter the country through legal means.
“You cannot celebrate Mexican culture without acknowledging that illegal immigration is a huge part of it; it’s in their songs, their practices, and their family history.”
Really?!? I’m pretty sure any member of my family, in the generations they’ve (legally) been in this country, has never sang any songs about cutting fences or thrown any “Happy Border Crossing” parties. Also, I think you would mean Mexican-American culture, seeing as how Mexicans generally still live in Mexico.
I’m guessing (hoping) you didn’t really mean this the way it comes across.
Cecelia – right; modified slightly. Obviously don’t mean ALL.
It would be nice to celebrate a culture for one day without recognizing the negatives. Besides, the real Cinco de Mayo was May 5, 1862, when the Mexican army overtook France’s army invasion in the Battle of Puebla. The Mexican army was outnumbered by 1/2 their size and they still managed to be the victor. Cinco de Mayo is actually not observed much in Mexico, but in the U.S. it’s an observation of their culture. And in most cases, margaritas and salsa. And I am definitely not complaining about either one.
Ironically, Mexico has an illegal immigration problem from Central America and the Caribbean, and they deal with it more harshly than the recent Arizona law. I wish I could find a less politically charged source – the argument hasn’t seemed to garner much mainstream attention yet – but so far, Michelle Malkin has written about it.
I’m not Mexican but I like burritos, so… :)
Kevin: thanks for giving us something to think about.
Amanda’s point is interesting, and related to that I found a blog post that seconds her assessment, and then some:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/05/cinco-de-mayo.html
However, there’s something distasteful about people in the US embracing this date while keeping Mexicans at arm’s length. Yes, raise a glass to Cinco de Mayo — and then send your dirty dishes to the guy from Juarez toiling in the kitchen.
I like that you brought this holiday/issue up.
I just wanted to say that if Chinese New year had a good alcoholic drink attached to holiday, we may be talking about human rights….
D – Truth.
Amanda – I get what you’re saying, and my response is much better summed up as Rob’s second point. As a country we really are too eager to sit on the sidelines with this sort of thing and then pay lip service to it.
Ed – It’s a problem there. There’s a lot of problems in Mexico, as a matter of fact, that need to be addressed; many of which force illegals here in the first place. But how, exactly, is it an argument? I honestly don’t see how that should impact anyone’s stance on this law. I do hold America to a higher standard than the rest of the world, because the country always has and always will demand it. We have a moral obligation to ourselves and the rest of the world to stand at the forefront of freedom and basic human rights, and not just pay lip service to it. And, I’ll be honest, I’m really bothered by folks like Malkin who are so in love with their own punditry they won’t take a stand for it but will still take a stand against those in opposition to it just for the sake of being contrarian. Mexico does a lot of things wrong. That doesn’t mean we should allow Arizona to do so.
Rob – *nodding in agreement*
It was interesting to see that my half-Mexican friend’s Facebook wall was bombarded yesterday with “Happy Cinco de Mayo, man”, “Hey, have a great holiday” and then some other semi-degrading “jokes”. I don’t know how he feels about it, but I felt my blood boiling for some reason. It just seemed ignorant.
Great post, Kevin.
It is very difficult for most people to really give a sound and unbiased opinion since most people are not extremely affected by the issue in their everyday and daily lives. It’s hard to imagine and understand the full spectrum of the issue with being immersed in it and having it affects you directly. So take a step back with me for one second and imagine the situation in a way that is a bit more relatable. Picture the college or university you graduated from. You paid a great deal of money (we’ll call your tuition taxes) for the school (or country/state) to provide you with resources, opportunities, facilities, safety, etc. Picture a system in place where not only do all of the students who pay tuition attend this school but people are able to sneak on campus and utilize many of the resources without much security or repercussions. All of a sudden you attend a class that instead of 26 students, now has 38. There are not enough desks for everyone to use, people come a go sporadically which distracts the professor, and classroom resources are in high demand. There are much longer line in the café because the facilities was equipped to handle such large numbers and facilities stops cleaning the bathrooms and doing general maintenance because their time is being spent cleaning all of the extra litter, garbage and debris that is building up around campus. Since the people who are sneaking on campus are utilizing many of the resources, there is no money to expand or hire new staff. Your money is now working less for you and being spread over many more who are contributing.
You are not getting the education you paid for and your overall experience is being diminished. Now of course there are advantages to all these people just showing up. There are more people around to study with (or copy off of). With more students you might find some who will end up being the new (and possibly a great) Student Body president. And of course with so many people, they bring a lot of new ideas and experiences to share with all of the other students. But do those things balance out waiting in line for 46 minutes to get in the shower just to find out that all of the hot water is gone? Or having to stand in the back of the class and try to read to read notes on the chalk board 50ft away when you should be in a cozy seat reading off the projector that your school can no longer afford because of the overflow. What is the solution? Your school can offer an admissions process to some of the people sneaking on however many will be put on a waiting list and some might not be accepted for some time. They could offer financial aid to some but how would there choose who to help and who not to help?
Looking at in a bubble that would directly impact our money, our recourses and of course our ability to secure a job and job stability, it feels a little different.
Obviously there are a lot of problems in our country but when it comes down to it, we live in the greatest country in the world and you can’t blame people for wanting a piece of it. But people have to understand things are different then they were 300 years ago. The US was new with so much room to grow. There were billions and billions of acres of unsettled land and people came with the understanding that they we (in many ways) on their own to make a life. When my great-grandparents came over, the government wasn’t expected to lend support and provide resources like welfare and Medicaid. And if the established immigrants at the time were told they had to pay money to the gov’t to help the new immigrants get established, there would have been anarchy.
I know we have it good in this country. Personally, I feel like everyone should get to experience that, but there are proper channels. I like Obama’s thinking of making it tougher to cross the border but easier for those who are utilizing the proper channels.
One last point (and this is completely unfounded, just a thought): with the government spending so much money and resources controlling the border and providing resources and assistance to the illegal’s in the country, you have to believe that that is going to slowdown the acceptance of new LEGAL immigrants into the country. Meaning that people who have been trying for years to escape their terrorist or communist regime on the other side of the world to make a better life are being denied to at least slowed because of the millions who refuse to do it the right way. Aren’t immigrants from other countries just as important? By getting a handle on the illegal’s from one county we can offer a better opportunity to people experiencing hardship all over the world.