“That Conversation about Race” category archive
A Notion of Immigrants, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Dept. 0
At my local rag, Tom Wallace reminds us that theft of labor is as American as apple pie (though he does not use that precise term).
After reminding us of America’s original sin of chattel slavery, theft of labor at its most brazen, he discusses the Reagan era escape clause for those who wish to employ exploit undocumented immigrants. An excerpt (emphasis added):
But how could millions of undocumented immigrants avoid deportation? The answer: Congress created the necessary legislation. The Reagan administration’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 made it illegal to recruit or hire undocumented immigrants. However, it also provided a loophole for employers to hire while not violating the law by simply neglecting to ask or verify citizenship.
And, ironically, those who most willing to exploit undocumented immigrants seem to also be those most willing to demonize them when it suits their fancy . . . .
The Lake Effect 0
Thom and Dean Obeidallah discuss Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, plus a couple of other topics.
Courting Disaster 0
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gene Collier is less than sanguine about how the Supreme Supremacist Court might act in a case involving the “Independent State Legislature Theory,” if they choose to hear it, especially in the light of some of their recent decisions. An excerpt; follow the link for his reasoning.
Devolution 0
David takes a look at how the Republican Party went from William F. Buckley to Donald Trump.
If you ignore most of the videos that I post, well, that’s your privilege. But I urge to watch this one.
The Mechanics of Hate 0
Bernard Cohen, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, explores the work of Aaron Beck, considered the father of cognitive therapy. Among the topics Beck explored was “the cognitive basis of anger, hostility, and violence”; Cohen focuses on that aspect of his work. Given the current state of dis coarse discourse, in which many folks don’t seem happy unless they are hating, I found this a worthwhile read. Here’s a bit (emphasis in the original):
Sounds familiar, does it not?
Follow the link for the rest.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Helen Ubinas is less than sanguine. She argues that
Follow the link for her reasoning.
Backfire, a Notion of Immigrants Dept. 0
It’s almost poetic . . . .
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar’s certifications allow the mostly Venezuelan migrants to apply for special U-visas pending his department’s investigation of the Sept. 14 flight to Martha’s Vineyard, according to an ACLU Massachusetts statement Thursday. U-visas would allow the migrants to remain in the U.S. lawfully as the criminal investigation by Salazar’s department and the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office proceeds.
In another statement, Salazar said that “based upon the claims of migrants being transported from Bexar County under false pretenses, we are investigating this case as possible unlawful restraint,” a misdemeanor.
Follow the link for the complete report.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
From the Daily Show, which reminds us that old times there are not forgotten:
Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy has come full circle and consumed the Republican Party.
Via C&L.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Athens State University Professor Sean R. Busick is not sanguine. Here’s a bit from his article (emphasis added):
(snip)
Like some politicians from the 1850s, their extremism is selfish and short-sighted. Normalizing talk of political violence leads to political violence. Though the extremists who plague us may not be serious people, some of their followers take them seriously.
We too should take them seriously. We should recognize the danger they pose and vote them out.
The Fife and Dumb Corps 0
When I was a young ‘un, back in the olden days, I had a summer job for three years with the local health department. It was a fun job working with a mobile clinic for migrant agricultural workers. We would move the clinic, which was in a modified house trailer, to various locations convenient to the local labor camps (that was the term) over the course of the week. Local doctors and nurses volunteered to offer medical care (they may have gotten some small remuneration, but I can guarantee it wasn’t much).
That’s when I learned how to back a trailer (an experience that came in handy years later when I bought a trailer boat). The downside was that whatever darned fool designed the clinic put the dentist’s office in the back, when it should have been over the wheels (dentist equipment is heavy), making it difficult to tow because the balance was out of whack, but that’s another story.
Anyhoo, it took me a while to figure out why the health department building had four restrooms and two drinking fountains.
Then I got it. It was built in the days of “white” and “colored.” (Not that those days have gone away, but at least the signs have.)
As a Southern boy who grew up under Jim Crow, I understand why some humans are so eager to deny the humanity of other humans.
It gives them a reason to feel special.
Especially when they know they are not.
A Notion of Immigrants 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Vidal exposes the dirty little secret of the anti-immigration crowd. A nugget:
The first would be to mandate the use of E-Verify at every employer in America. E-Verify is a simple government system that checks to make sure a person is legally allowed to work in America, using records from the Social Security Administration – to see if the employee has a legitimate Social Security number – and from the Department of Homeland Security. . . .
So why aren’t we, as a country, using these two very simple steps to cut down on demand for undocumented labor? Because big businesses and politicians don’t actually want to do that.
Follow the link for her reasoning.
Facebook Frolics 0
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
Rather, it is a pipeline of puerile and viaduct of vile.
Know Them by the Company They Keep 0
Charles Blow notices a pattern.
A Bridge Too Favre 0
The Los Angeles Times’s LZ Granderson, who has ties to Mississippi, digs into Brett Farve’s role in–er–misappropriating public funds intended to help the less-well-off to serve his own private ends. A snippet:
Once is a mistake.*
He came back for seconds.
______________________
*Yeah. Right.
