“These days, it feels to me like you make a devil's pact when you walk into this country. You hand over your passport at the check-in, you get stamped, you want to make a little money, get yourself started... but you mean to go back! Who would want to stay? Cold, wet, miserable; terrible food, dreadful newspapers - who would want to stay? In a place where you are never welcomed, only tolerated. Just tolerated. Like you are an animal finally house-trained.”
― Zadie Smith, White Teeth
I grew up on a 165 acre farm that grew many types of crops. One was strawberries.
It was summertime and I was 12 years old. I wanted my mother to buy me a radio. I was informed if I wanted things like that, I could earn my own money. Picking strawberries was the only job I could find. When your parents own the field, it wasn’t tough getting a job.
Soon I was on my knees picking down a very long row. On the other side was a beautiful Mexican American named Maria, She was three times as fast as me and she came back to help me. I was the only non-Mexican there. “Where do you live? “she asked. I pointed to a big white house on a hill all could see. “My parents own this place.’Maria’s eyes grew wide as she asked “your parents are owners and you must work with us?” ‘I have to earn my own money if I want to buy things for myself.” ‘Your parents sound very mean,” I agreed with her but my Mother was strict and unbending on my being old enough to work.
Maria’s entire family worked on that field. All money earned was given to the family to be able to eat and survive. Her six-year old brother picked as well. In the fall the family would pick apples.
I had a crush on this beautiful girl and I can still see her face 53 years later, One morning I didn’t see her and found out she had been killed in a car wreck the night before. I learned about death and pain when I was 13,
Now I am 66 years old. I have been buying gas and coffee from a Mexican-American for many years. The man I buy from is around my age and is handsome enough to be a moviestar,
One morning I noticed how tired he looked. He smiled and said with 2 hours sleep it gets hard. ‘” You get only two hours sleep? “I asked. He said he has three jobs and a 100 hour or longer week is normal for him. “I support my family and send money to my parents.”I warned him he would get sick if he didn’t get more sleep. He shrugged his shoulders.
In my life I have never met a group of people with a stronger work ethic than Mexican Americans. Immigration is a campaign topic in 2015. Folks like I’ve mentioned do jobs no one else will.Washington state would have a big problem with no one to pick crops.Americans rarely take a job in the fields.
Ask the next Republican you see which job are they afraid of loosing to a Mexican American. I am curious what will happen if all Mexican’s are deported. Are you willing to work in the fields?
Care about all people. Don’t buy any plan that calls for deporting people. It’s a racist and cruel thing to even discuss. If the Trump crowd is in favor of deportation, then they are racists.
Progressives care for and want good things to happen to all people.
-For the undocumented immigrants, the big priority is just to get out from the shadows, be able to get a driver's license, buy an airplane ticket and stop worrying about sudden deportation. But for the country as a whole, it's crucial that everybody have a citizen's stake in the nation's welfare.
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