As most of you know, I am the web blog team coordinator for John Laesch for US Congress. I recently wrote a
live blog from John's immigration town hall meeting. In my last update of the night, I mentioned that "I could go on all night about the public discourse in that room, and how the discussion with the people actually brought out some compromise." So, here are my thoughts about the
real public discourse in America: What the media and internet does not show us.
In that room, there were people from the Illinois Coallition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, there were Laesch supporters, there were munitemen, and there were just regular citizens who wanted their voices heard. Among that group, there was a Native American, a couple of African Americans, and a handful of Hispanics. The people in the room came from all walks of life, and some of them weren't even very political people. All in all, it was a very diverse crowd.
The speakers only spoke for about an hour all together. The last two hours was open to discussion and debate. For the first of those two hours, people came up to the microphone and shared their observations and experiences. It ran the gammut of topics. There was a minuteman who got up and spoke about immigrants killing US Citizens. There was a young union worker urging people to support businesses that do not hire undocumented workers. There was a person from the local Peace and Justice Group urging us to remember that immigrants are people to, and to "have a heart." There were many people that prefaced with saying that they did not identify with a political party, or that they were not political people. After this portion of the meeting, we discussed some of the points brought up during that time.
One of the most interesting parts of the night was the discussion over what the woman from the Peace and Justice group said. See, in her speech, she also reminded us that we all immigrated here at one point or another. So, someone said that it was different for us, because we came legally. Someone else said, "Yes, but it was easier for us. We came through Ellis Island." So, John proposed having an "Ellis Island South." A point on the mexican border that immigrants can come through, be inspected for health problems and documented, and then come into the country as legal immigrants. Even the minutemen agreed to this! Everyone in the room agreed on this point. I was not expecting this at all. This experience taught me a couple of things:
First, that the public discourse in America is not black and white. It is not "democrat and republican" or "right and left." There are still compromises to be made, points that everyone can agree on, even if at first they seem to be hopelessly opposite (such as the hispanic immigrants and the minutemen who were in the room). We should be looking for this common ground.
Second, all politics is personal, even international issues like immigration. This is something that I have always known, but it was really enforced for me at this meeting. There was a mother who got up and talked about the increasing drug problem in her neighborhood with the rise of more illegal immigrants. She cried as she told us her 14 year old son recently asked her for a gun because he was scared. The union worker talked about how their health care benefits were getting slashed, because the retailer down the street is hiring illegal immigrants for cheap labor, and their store cannot keep up. Immigrants talked about family members who couldn't be with their families because of our immigration policies. One man told about friends of his that are mexican, and how even though they are legal, they are still expected to work twice as hard and fast as their caucasian co-workers. I didn't realize how incredibly personal this issue is to people that, on the surface, it does not seem to affect that much.
Third, people's votes can be changed. All it takes is for someone to listen to them. See, there was another point that was agreed on by all in the room: There was no love for Dennis Hastert in that room. It's obvoius why the left-leaning, pro-immigration people would not like him, but even the republicans and the minutemen did not like him. Why? Because he does not listen to them. They recognize that he is all talk and no action. He has been talking about border security for years now, and he is only pretending to do something about it now that he finally has a serious challenger this election cycle. People recognize that, and they don't like it.
Lastly, all people want is real democracy. They don't want to be treated like they're stupid. They want to be listened to. They want their voices to be heard and treated like they are valid. They just haven't had anyone listening to them for a long time. I think some of the minutemen may even vote for John because of those point. The leader of the minutemen publicly commended him for having this meeting, and thanked him for being willing to listen to all sides and find compromises. If we would listen to the people instead of shoving things at them that plainly say, "Either believe in this or vote for the other guy," then we would win back congress easily. There would be no reason to worry.
Remember these things when you are talking to people. Look for the common ground. Listen to people, even if they seem on the surface to be rabid Bushites. They will surprise you, if only you take the time to listen.
(crossposted on fireside14.com, IL-14's local blog)