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| The fear of Balkanization |
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What has become very apparent is that the roots of fear expressed by the dominant culture continue to grow in proportion to the growth of newly arrived immigrants. The fear has to do with the perceived destruction of western culture and civilization. The architects of society are preaching balkanization as an outcome of open borders without realizing that it is they who have created real and imaginary boundaries causing an unparallel division in society.
The melting pot is being resurrected, made of the most indestructible attitude known to mankind, fear. This old time myth, lost in the backdrop of guerilla street theatre that satirized the inherent paranoia towards difference, is slowly becoming the new icon for the United States.
Look for this image to be placed on a box of Wheaties or a can of Campbell Soup. If history repeats itself, only certain ingredients will be placed in the pot to protect the status quo.
The Brown horde is being blamed for diluting American culture. The Spanglish language is on the chopping bloc as imperialists continue to preach “language as the glue that holds society together.” The battleground for another public policy battle that promises to be even more explosive than Amendment #31 is in the making. Word has it that an ex-governor is going to slip on his confederate suit, gathering dust in a locked closet, and lead the charge of the light brigade.
Americanization, an anachronistic policy developed after the Mexican American War is peeping its head out of the sand, wondering when it will be placed on the dinner table to fulfill the voracious appetites of extremists and minutemen whose agendas have been crystallized.
Hidden under the rhetoric of national security, terrorism, and the laws of human nature as defined by the power structure, national so called scholars are in a conundrum about taking a proper course of action. Legislators are debating dual citizenship, permanent settlement by outsiders, a new Bracero Program and a potpourri of issues related to protecting the borders. Ending birthright citizenship, insulating immigrants in inhumane internal colonies, and limiting their democratic participation have become part of the factors in the heated discussion.
The next level of debate will center on developing wrist bands, identification cards, and perhaps branding. What would be more appropriate than the scorching sound of human flesh as hot irons with an “illegal alien” is placed permanently on an immigrant’s forehead?
Conservative politicians believe that by having children parrot the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance in schools that these young rascals will develop great feelings of patriotism and loyalty for this country. At the same time that this thinking is occurring, the parents of these children are being detained in inhumane camps, scorned by their captors, becoming the sacrificial lambs for the next holocaust. Somewhere between what is expected of children in the classroom and how their parents are being treated is a contradiction that has yet to be resolved.
And although, military recruiters continue to visit predominantly Latino high schools and huge numbers of young Latinos/as are joining the military to fulfill false craving for machismo/a, becoming the canon fodder for the War in Iraq, no one extends a hand shake or a pat on the back for these valiant warriors.
People conveniently forget when it comes time to remember those patriotic behaviors that Latinos have practiced in defense of this country. Many forget that the first casualty in Iraq was a Gualtemateco. Instead the draftsmen of society belligerently question the loyalty of La Raza.
There are several propositions on the table for negotiation regarding immigration. There is plenty of blame to spread across the vested interest groups whose conflicts of loyalty are embroiled in internal controversy. Employers are blamed for breaking the law; however, they seem to be able to evade prosecution as cases numbers dwindle. The lack of effective implementation of current immigration laws has been spat out as a culprit.
Cheap labor is a fungible commodity. It can be interchanged across any border. Immigrants should not become fungible commodities. They should be treated with the respect and dignity afforded to all human beings. Those that cross las fronteras come to work to fulfill the most basic of human of needs, survival. Their illusions of paved gold streets are destroyed as they encounter balkanization. Seldom are their dreams met. Instead shards of broken dreams silently dissipate.
The America that existed in the 20th century no longer exists. The time for humane dialogue is here.
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