| Down with repatriation: Battle cry for Cinco de Mayo |
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My grandfather Rosalio was ingenious about the conversations he had with his grandsons. We were young whippersnappers unaware of the political intricacies of the day. Grandpa Rosalio was wise enough to know that he had a responsibility to pass on the tough lessons of life to his offspring. My brothers and I had already encountered racial tensions in the community. As episodic as they might have been, they laid the infrastructure about what Papa Grande was talking about. His clever style helped create images in my mind that linger on today.
Rosalio was a proud Mexicano who worked for the Santa Fe Railroad for 50 years. He seldom hid in dark shadows, speaking his mind in either masterful Spanish or broken English. Watching Mexicanas/os repatriate were part of his experience as he told stories of Mexicanas/os herded into railroad cars and transported back to their mother country.
He warned us of dark days ahead, a time when repressive measures would return and when back lash would turn into whiplash. I am sure that he is now turning over in his grave as his spirit joins the cacophony of spirits sitting at the drive inn watching this horrendous acto in a place unbeknownst to us.
Some of América’s key imigraphobes will take center stage in American society supported by closet racists waiting on the fringes of society, hiding behind thin veils of prejudice. Joe Arpaio, the Arizonian modern day Wyatt Earp with a posse branded as the minutemen and Governor Jan Brewer, the poster girl for anti-immigration who signed into law a pernicious piece of legislation, SB 1070 will now face the wrath of the many pro-immigration forces ready to take the streets. Incidentally, claims for racial profiling in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments have already been filed in the district court in Arizona against Arpaio.
Activists are preparing boycotts, rallies and good old fashioned civil disobedience en masse in protest against this legislation. They are ready to celebrate International Worker’s Day and Cinco de Mayo which are just around the corner. Nine students in Arizona have already demonstrated their displeasure by chaining themselves in front of the Arizona Capital doors as future migra officers cut the chains and arrested them.
According to Los Angeles columnists Javier Rodríguez and Antonio H. Rodríguez ethnic cleansing is at the base of this pernicious legislation. A 1993 United Nations Commission defined ethnic cleansing as, "the planned deliberate removal from a specific territory, persons of a particular ethnic group, by force or intimidation, in order to render that area ethnically homogenous."
Ethnic cleansing has as its objective cultural genocide. Whether ethnic cleansing is hidden under the rhetoric of racism or racial profiling, it is a backward step in resolving América’s incipient race relations in the 21st century; something that many preached had reached an apex and was dissipating. Let’s hope that the revival of gas chambers is not introduced as future historians prepare to write about the brown holocaust.
Brown people have been relegated to silent silhouettes and their voices have been squelched in América’s dialogue about race relations. When their voices were permitted into the conversation, it was never from a positive standpoint; today, it will take center stage but from a negative one as perceived by many, reinforcing the stereotypical myths about Mexicanos/as.
The passage of immoral immigration policy has backslid to repatriation and a modern day “Operation Wetback.” Aimed at Mexicana/o immigrants, this repugnant racist policy has snuck back into the collective consciousness of América’s politicians.
Some legal analysts argue that state legislators aware that the Obama Administration has procrastinated on pushing federal public policy on immigration will attempt to usurp the federal government’s authority in the short run. Circumventing federal policy in the long run may cost anti-immigrant policy makers their congressional seats. Stalemating by Congress will force politicians, marginalized about their particular stances on immigration, to make tough political decisions. In hindsight, it could have been avoided. In foresight, it will be catapulted onto the American scene at a time when the recession continues and scapegoats are still needed.
Policy makers in Arizona could have picked other fights like taking on mega corporations that caused the horrendous recession; instead, they chose to take on La Raza. What has become apparent is that “being a Mexican in Arizona” is now outlawed. This trend may pick up steam; namely in this state where repressive legislation has already been written and passed.
Arizona’s Governor Brewer is shaping curriculum to teach la migra techniques and methods of identifying potential undocumented workers and/or immigrants. The marketplace may suffer marginal profit loss as the demand for sun tan oil drops. White people should be careful about getting “too tanned” as they may be hassled. Linguistic classes with long waiting lines will also enter the marketplace as brown people attempt to rid themselves of those “god awful” accents. Miscegenation may enter the fray with an interesting twist. Americanization policy, or winnowing out what is considered to be undesirable cultural idiosyncrasies, with complete assimilation as an objective, may impose itself into the private lives of free people.
Creating curriculum should be easy for the Arizona guv and her cronies as they uncover vestiges of hate hidden in prejudiced minds that will now be exposed.
¡Que Viva El Cinco de Mayo! y ¡Abajo con Operation Wetback!
Dr. Ramón Del Castillo is an Independent Journalist.
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