That was a line spoken by Jack Nicholson’s character, George Hanson, in the 1969 film "Easy Rider," which I watched for the ump-teenth time last evening. As clichéd as Easy Rider was, and despite the shallow hip-ness of its characters, the film provided a snapshot of what is often referred to today as "fly-over" country and its often, less-than-hospitable reaction to outsiders, particularly those who look a little different.
Various scenes in this film, set presumably in Texas, Louisiana, and at the very end, in Mississippi, were poignant in that those scenes not only captured the feel and social culture of time and place in 1969, but in the fact that in many ways, little has really changed in in the 40 years since. Even today, in places where southern rednecks sport 1980s mullets and Confederate flag tattoos, and still rock out to ‘Skynyrd, folks remain highly suspicious of outsiders, and openly hostile towards interlopers.
In his 2005 book "Born Fighting," now-Senator Jim Webb describes how Scots-Irish immigrants shaped America, their progeny formed the bedrock of its society, and how some ultimately came to deeply resent the perceived advantages given to less-earnest groups, particularly racial minorities. Yet, remarkably, these same people take umbrage at being labeled as racist much in the same way as many of today's Tea Party acolytes. Webb’s example serves as a template for other, less-well-defined, but equally disaffected groups. Resentment endures, and along with it, a siege-like mentality among many Whites throughout the U.S., the South and Southwest notwithstanding.
But they’re takin’ our jobs...
The notion that immigrants, legal or illegal, are taking away jobs, is a red herring as old as dirt itself, and a lame excuse for inhumanity. Fat and sassy Real Americans don’t like to sweat, get dirty, get up early, or spend long hours doing stoop labor, and therefore, wouldn’t do the work that migrant laborers line up for daily. It's a matter of necessity and all comes down to feeding and clothing one’s family and surviving another week, and maybe wiring a few dollars home to Oaxaca or El Salvador.
What happened in Arizona this week amounts to drawing a line in the desert sand, with no shortage of folks lining up on either side. But the tide of public opinion does not favor Arizona and the threat of boycotts or even a general strike should not be so easily dismissed by its governor.
As Dr. Martin Luther King said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."