Last week, I took Senator Burns to task for what I perceived to be racist overtones in his comments about immigration reform. As it turns out, Burns’ comments were relatively nuanced when compared to the racist spew offered up by Eric over at What’s Right Wing in Montana. The post certainly makes clear that some would rather rely on tired, nativist claims than engage in a debate about the facts. After reading Eric’s post, I’ve begun to wonder if the Republicans don’t have a candidate ready to replace Shawn Stuart.
Eric offers this insight:
Today, we have a flood of illegal immigrants, who aren’t coming here to become Americans, but simply to get jobs, and send the money back to Mexico. They don’t want to pay taxes, or have auto insurance, they are simply parasites on our economy. They don’t even want to learn English, they want bi-lingual schools in California! And the liberals are eager to please them.
Now, usually, when someone feels the need to compare someone to Hitler, debate suffers just a bit. However, in this case, when the Goebbels fits, I suppose Eric has to wear it. Hitler, speaking about the Jewish problem:
But now… when the nation is no longer willing to be sucked dry by these parasites, on every side one hears nothing but laments. But lamentations have not led these democratic countries to substitute helpful activity at last for their hypocritical questions; on the contrary, these countries with icy coldness assured us that obviously there was no place for the Jews in their territory. …
Maybe it’s unfair to compare Eric’s rhetoric with that of Hitler, but certainly no less fair than
- denigrating 10-12 million people as parasites
- making unfounded accusations about the motives and actions of those same people
- making specious claims about what is the ‘right way’ to be an immigrant
Let’s just take one claim and evaluate its veracity. Eric claims that these terrible immigrants don’t even want to learn English, the savages! Of course, a little research might have shown Eric this:
Enrollment surveys at the turn of the 20th century reported that at least 600,000 primary school students (public and parochial) were receiving part or all of their instruction in the German language — about 4% of all American children in the elementary grades. That’s larger than the percentage of students enrolled in Spanish-English programs today.
Or this:
When children arrive in school with little or no English-speaking ability, “sink or swim” instruction is a violation of their civil rights, according to the U.S. Supreme Court in this 1974 decision.Lau remains the major precedent regarding the educational rights of language minorities, although it is grounded in statute… Imposition of a requirement that, before a child can effectively participate in the educational program, he must already have acquired those basic skills is to make a mockery of public education. We know that those who do not understand English are certain to find their classroom experiences wholly incomprehensible and in no way meaningful.
Thirty year old Supreme Court precedents? One hundred year old history? Who needs those when we can demonize immigrants?
There is certainly a place for a meaningful national debate on immigration policy. That debate can’t happen when opponents of immigration make fools of themselves and a mockery of civilized discourse. And while comparisons to the Nazis are rarely compelling, silence in the face of dehumanizing, totalizing rhetoric of racism cannot be ignored.
Article by Don Pogreba
Don has written 1332 posts for us. He is an English and debate teacher in Helena, MT. When not writing here or working on debate handbooks, he is writing about educational issues at Prairie Pedagogue.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
I didn’t know I was deserving of so much attention, but thanks for the blurb.
I made no racial comments, I simply make the argument, correctly, that we need to enforce our immigration policies.
Your comments misrepresent and devalue millions of immigrants, legal and illegal, many of whom came to America for a fresh start – they’re chasing the American dream, not the Mexican dream.
That they are proud of their heritage and not natural-born Americans does not make them “parasites.” Your comments are racially biased. Just try not to call deporting 12 million people and electrifying the border your “final solution.”
Good call, Eric. Let’s keep the dirty Mexicans out so we can destroy our own economy, all by ourselves, dammit!
Explain to me how it is something other than racist to refer to a group of people as parasites or to make false disparaging claims about people because of their race.
You might not be comfortable being called on it, but your rhetoric certainly is racist.
Please give me a better definition then, for a group of people who literally sneak into our country, illegally, for the sole purpose of economic gain?
Parents. Husbands. Wives. Human Beings.
Those work for me.
October 02, 2007 06:48PM EDT [general.addtranslation] Download Article (PDF) [ insert language bar ]
Sexual Harassment and Bigotry is alive and well on the left, center, etc, most
Bigotry of all types is alive and working in the workplace
By Donald Iarussi
I have traveled across the USA and have worked for many companies and organizations both left, right and in the middle and I assure you that Bigotry, Racism, Anti Gay, Anti Female, anti Black, Anti Minority behavior is alive and well in the USA.
From the offices of NY Life in NYC, Brooklyn College, Pearson Testing, The RR Express Baseball team, University of Texas Sports, Wyndham Franchises, Mitt Romneys Olymoc Office, A NY Congressman named Jerry Nadler, Various If not most High Schools, Bozeman Montana, West Yellowstone Montana, Xantarra Resorts to name a few placed where I saw blatent bigotry.
Most wanna pretend it does not exist.
Keywords: Bronx, Culture, Civil Rights,
What they get is long hours, run down, sometimes bug, mouse infested housing. That most employees pay their employees rent. The Governors of Montana, Wyoming as well as newspapers like the Billings, bozeman and west Yellowstone media suppress any stories of racism, bigotry or exploitation of employees
The names are mostly ethnic, the employees come from all over the USA and all over the world to work in and around Yellowstone National Park. Wages are sometimes as low as minimum wage, usually around $8 an hour.
In the park Xanterra Runs most of the hotels and concessions and its mostly all white management staff ignores racism, anti semitism, older white male employees drinking and trying to seduce 18 year old female workers. In a Dorm called Pelican at lake hotel, drugs were being traded, porn films were being made, underage drinking was at epidemic proportions.
Xanterra has successfully covered up its corruption and its exploitation of its workers. Outside the park in West Yellowstone, I lived in housing on hwy 20 that actually had swastika on the wall and other sick symbols. The white owned Christian managers and owners actually denied the symbols and threatened me with physical violene.
In my next housing situation, I was promised $9.25 an hour but actually for the most part made $8.25. I was placed in housing that was filhy, delopodated with dozens of nails in the walls. The stove top was full of grease and the oven filthy. Yet, i was charged $150 cleaning depositit. In the area outside, I cleaned up over 100 beer cans and bottles and hundreds of cigarette butts. I also paid $300 rent that is taken out of my check
Conditions are afr worse for many others who live in this substandard housing. There is no low cost medical in town, The restaurants and supermarket owners charge ridiculasly high prices for food and necessities.
If employees are fired or quit thier job, even for medical reasons, they must leave their housing or the police will remove them. The Governors of Wyoming and Montana have actually sided with these slave driving, business lords and have refused to prosecute landlords or enforce OSHA regulations. ALso local congress and senate members are in the pockets of the rich business owners.
Why the national media and our elected officials continue to ignore the attrocities in West Yellowstone Montana leads me to believe that corruption and wealth have bought out politicians and the media.
By Donald Iarussi nytex@lycos.com 5016467769
Nothing has changed in Montana, as a matter of fact one can add many other companies to the list of Companies who lie, cheat, employees, have employees work in unsafe environments.
How about Wyndham Hotels who have two motel franchises in Montana. One the Days Inn in West Yellowstone. Where the Hotel owner Manager refers to muslims as Towelheads.
Where Chinese guests are discriminated against and the property manager tells employees to watch out for those Chinese guests. they stuff a dozen in the room and cook in the rooms to save money, they are all the same says gayle archer the property
manager of Days inn at West Yellowstones. The Super 8 motel in West Yellowstone had similar comments made against Chinese by a manager and staff members .WHile another staff member told me that it is too bad for gays. Because they will all get aids.
all of what you said is a fat load of shit. i work for xanterra in the lake area of yellowstone. the housing is incredibly comfortable and not run down. plus, the staff is not "mostly white" in fact, one of the higher ups of xanterra is a black man! also, Lake Yellowstone is WYOMING, you douche.
i said someone read like goebbels?
“Eric Coobs is trying to tackle the immigration debate. Don says Eric reads like Goebbels. That may be harsh. On the other hand, Don seems far more familiar with Goebbels than me, so who knows?”
lol
there is a real problem amongst most white people in Montana who pretend they are not bigots. I had no idea when i came to Montana i would live in a residence with a swastika on the wall, with kkk flyers and arian nation flyers being distributed.
Most Democrat Liberal in Montana are clearly racist , especially in Bozeman , Montana where people have murdered the native Americans, destroyed the environment and have
made sure a homeless shelter will not be built and that hispanics would receive small wages and live in substandard housing.
Most Democrat Liberal (sic) are racist? Really? Come on. Where is your evidence?
Do you think liberals are planting KKK flyers? Does anyone really think those are more than a few isolated kooks?
You should read the Bozeman Daily Chronicle today about that homeless shelter, by the way.
Hey guys…I was thinking about attending a University in Montana for my Master and decided to do a little research on the state but came across this conversation…looks like Montana is out of the list.
It would have been a nice place to live though…
Chad-
I’ve got to tell you that the arguments here are certainly the exception. Montana is, in general terms, a very tolerant and open place. Like everywhere, though, we have a few who can’t understand that we’ve moved into the 21st or even 20th century.
Come try out Montana. You’ll like it.
U of M is also in the most progressive part of the state. I think you would agree… I would encourage you to visit!
Okay, I stumbled upon this and I have to say something. I am a first generation American, my parents came into this country illegally from El Salvador in 1989 because of Civil War. Many immigrants come into this country becuase they see opportunity for themselves, families, and for jobs. Sadly, our governments in Latin America are so corrupt that the bottom half of social spectrum in those countries, such as farmers and day laborers whatever, have no choice other than to come into this country. And when you say parasites, and they’re coming to the US for sole economic gain…isn’t everyone in this country? We Hispanics just share the wealth of this country back down to our families who have nothing down there. It’s easy to talk when you don’t know the background of many Hispanics. I’ll admit yes, some don’t indeed care to learn Spanish, but the most Hispanics do make an effort. I should know, becuase my parents did, and so did everyone else I come into contact with.
My two cents, and I’d love to go to Montana someday.
Thanks for the comments, James. I think you are absolutely right–many, many people came to America for opportunities to improve the conditions for their families and their futures.
It’s too bad that we have so often demonized the very people whose drive and ambition make the country better off.
I absolutley hate illegal immigrants
yet I am spanish.
Because they (the 20 that I know personally anyways) have no desire to conform, dont follow the law, and make citizens like myself generally look bad.
I am not white (I have mixed), but I would probably agree with the racists, sick as it might sound. Those whom put no effort upon arrival to become a part of society, THE RIGHT WAY (my family is immigrant but legal, and you can too ~_~), are no better than parasites in my opinion, and in quite a lot of other hispanic american homes. Unfortunately there are way too many naive idiots whom want to protect them. Only so they can have a spanish speaking maid for the kids, so they can learn spanish at a young age which isnt bad except the maid lives in the basement “apartment” ~_~ (example situation, all to common)
I came across this and I have to say that I disagree completely……..
I was born mexican and I can tell you all that it is hard for an immigrant here. My parents both are immigrants and they are trying to better them selves. My father has been 12 years in this country and when he arrived here to the U.S.A he slept in the streets till he got a steady job mean while he worked on the corners of the streets, standing outside of home depots, he got robbed twice but he never robbed or begged for money he worked nobody gave him anything he had to earn it. He then rented an apartment, then bought a home, them bought another home, then opened his own business , then beacame a legal resident, now he has more than 15 workers and growing they are all from different athnic backgrounds and treats them no different from his own kids. Pays his taxes, donates money, and is preparing to fund acholarship program for kids whos parents came to the united states like him and have no means to pay for their kids to go to college.
I graduated from highschool with honors got a full payed scholarship to the university of my choice. I pay my taxes, I have insurance and I always work hard for what I want. Now correct me if Im wrong but a parasite does nothing for good of the organism it is living in and I believe at heart that my fathers experience is proof that the majority of immigrants come to better their lifes and their childrens and in the process also of this country. Remember it is the land of their future kids, grand kids and great grandkids. After all who as a parent generally speaking diregarding where they come from, what color they are, what sex they are etc.. all that aside WHO DOESNT WANT A BETTER FUTURE FOR THEIR KINDS? .
I believe that it is safe to say that they are also contributing to the growth of this beautiful yet to be perfect country.
Just alittle piece of mind from the daughter of a very humble, loving, intelligent man.
payed? of your choice? Doubtful, our university system does not work that way. Your blather is unbelievable.
“Please give me a better definition then, for a group of people who literally sneak into our country, illegally, for the sole purpose of economic gain?”
You’re a conservative, right? So you ought to know ‘it is not from the generosity of the butcher that we get our meat’. (It’s from Adam Smith, btw) Yes, they come for economic gain, and their gain is our gains, its the story of capitalism.
Did you read that China just passed Japan as the world’s second economy? If their GDP per capita gets to even 1/3 of ours, the largest economy in the world will be a non-democratic one. If the future is going to be a democratic one, we need people willing to work hard, and Latin American countries needs the extra capital (remittances) to help their own economies. If we’re going to succeed in promoting our vision of the world, we need immigration policies that benefit the whole hemisphere.
Do you actually believe this drivel or you just spout it? The way to break a country it to overload it’s resources aimed at providing for it’s citizens, cause racial strife while doing so, encourage each side to treat the other with no respect, encourage the interlopers to gain more ‘help’ and remove all ‘help’ from the country of origin and then when it collapses offer a ‘government’ alternative that most happily vote in. It’s called voting yourself into slavery and it has clear examples from history. If you aren’t smart enough to figure that out then you aren’t smart enough yet and probably need even more education. I learned that in the 9th grade in this state when I went to school. They must have really dumbed things down to the point that you can’t even learn that by college.
Yeah, you really seem to have a firm grasp of history and economics, sir. A couple of points in your rant stand out.
You claim that immigration overloads the resources of the country. Quite surprisingly,you’re wrong. As Newsweek reports, “Yet the consensus among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. They also replenish—and help fund benefits for—an aging American labor force that will retire in huge numbers over the next few decades.”
The entirety of American history is the story of immigrants coming to America, improving the country and its economy, despite the howls of xenophobes and nativists. I don’t know who you are, Prairie, but it’s almost certain that at some point, there were ‘mericans’ arguing that your people shouldn’t come here, too. They certainly told my Irish and Polish ancestors that.
You also claim that “racial strife” ensues. Gosh, I wonder who is responsible for that?
Maybe your 9th grade class (as it was probably your last) is a little distorted in your memory.
After all, look at Japan – they never accepted immigrants, and now they are stuck with an aging population (that actually is straining the resources of the society) and a population too racially sensitized after years of anti-foreign rhetoric from people like you to even accept back their own after a generation in Brazil. Hence, two decades of next to zero economic growth and a future of (barring large scale societal changes) slow depopulation and gradual loss of importance.
{ 2 trackbacks }