I just turned on CSPAN for a few minutes and witnessed a beautiful display of everything I love about this country. Right in front of the building where the bipartisan group of congressmen passed a bill that would criminalize aid to a specific group of Americans, hundreds of thousands of my fellow Patriots enthusiastically told Tom Tancredo and Jim Senselessbrenner to fuck off.
The Hispanic community is the spirit of this country. At this moment, more so than any other ethnic group. Yes that's right Mr. Minuteman who sits on an armchair on the border all day, you are far less of an American than a group of people who aren't even citizens. The way the predominantly young-middle aged minutemen sit around all day instead of working is living proof that there are jobs Americans won't do. Anyone that young who can afford all that time has got to be unemployed.
But back to the message I really want to get across. Although these beautiful demonstrations exhibit some of the best qualities of this country, they are igniting a debate that brings out the exact opposite of this country.
Unlike any other political story as of late, I have never been more motivated and impassioned to help my beloved Hispanic brothers and sisters here in Tulsa, Oklahoma- One of the most pathetic anti-immigrant bastions in the country.
I feel like I talk too much about my hometown here on Dkos but as someone who isn't intellectually brilliant like so many people here, I think its the most valuable kind of input I can contribute. So here it goes:
Here in Tulsa and throughout the country, there have been two distinct heroes this month: The hispanic community and the Catholic Church. Here's what our Catholic Bishop has courageously said:
"When it becomes a crime to love the poor and serve their needs, then I will be the first to go to jail for this crime, and I pray that every priest and every deacon in this Diocese will have the courage to walk with me into that prison." -- Bishop Edward J. Slattery
Anyone familiar with red state Catholicism knows that such an outspoken stance would be rather unpopular, yet the Catholic Church has proven to stand on principle and we should all thank them for it. My family is already thanking them- My mother, a former diehard Irish Catholic from North Jersey is returning to the Church of her childhood after spending five frustrating years in the United Church of Christ. I'm very happy for her.
Before this firestorm over hr 4437 erupted, I had a somewhat of an affinity for the Hispanic community. My mother, bless her heart, is a guidance councilor at an elementary school that is almost 100% illegal Mexican immigrants. During her time there, she has especially bonded with Tulsa's wonderful Hispanic community and I got familiar with them through her a little bit.
Over the past few months, however, talk about "immigration reform" started to emerge at the forefront of American politics. Angry Tulsans began writing letter to the editor saying that Mexicans were moving into their neighborhood and wouldn't stop 'shooting their pistols at night." Bizarre stuff like this began popping up all over the place and I became very ashamed of my fellow Tulsans who I hold in very high regard.
But the place where I've witnessed the most xenophobia is at my high school. Sadly, its become "cool" to bash Mexican immigrants at high schools like mine. I almost always sit back and put up with it for sometimes, its good natured joking if you can believe that. But other times I just boil up with anger. Like today, for example. All of the our cafeteria ladies are Mexican and couldn't be nicer to us. And how do we treat them in return? Well, today, spoiled rich brat that I thankfully do not know very well repeatedly mocked one lady's accented English. Just the other day, one kid called one of them lazy just because the poor baby's hamburger was cold.
So when I saw that it wasn't just a bunch of traditionalist old folks hopping on the anti-Mexican bandwagon, I really started sympathize with the poor Mexicans immigrants in my city.
Which finally brings me to the demonstrations. Before this week I was never a big fan of protesting to be completely honest. I though of it as ineffective and a pointless excuse for a bunch of hippies to get rowdy. But I was dead wrong.
HR 4437 passed in the house because too many reasonable Democrats and Republicans saw it as a "popular" thing to do. In the red states, where the rhetoric of the anti-immigration movement has become very populist, many red state Dems such as Oklahoma's Dan Boren were simply trying to beef up their populist credentials with angry white constituents. However, this was before these demonstrations.
Through these beautiful demonstrations, we have amplified our voice once and for all. Despite our amazing accomplishments in Dallas yesterday, DC today, and LA a while back, there is plenty of unfinished work to be done. As far as I know, Tulsa has only had two very miniscule demonstrations. This is a problem because its cities like Tulsa, (where the hate radio has propagated the anti-immigrant message for years) that need these demonstrations the most. Given the large size of our illegal population, we could stage a memorable one if organized well. I'm currently trying to set something up through the Catholic Diocese so we can organize something a little bit more substantial. If anyone in Northeast Oklahoma feels like we need to do the same, feel free to email me.
And last but not least, I must admit, I teared up watching that demonstration on CSPAN. To see these people waving those beautiful American flags despite all the prejudice they've faced in this country spoke volumes to me about their Patriotism. Like I said earlier, the most Patriotic Americans right now aren't even citizens. And that's perfectly fine with me.