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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA little story about "mooching" Latino immigrants.
Last edited Sat May 5, 2018, 03:46 PM - Edit history (1)
I took an Uber from work the other day as I needed to meet someone for dinner and thought it would be faster (it wasn't). Anyway, my driver was a woman from Colombia and since we were stuck in traffic, we started chatting.
She moved to the US with her husband 8 years ago. She did not speak any English and her husband spoke very little. They had nothing. She has worked her way up at Santander Bank and is now a trader and speaks almost perfect English. Her husband put himself through Suffolk Law School and is now a lawyer. He told her "only make friends with people who don't speak Spanish so your English improves because you don't want to end up cleaning floors". (her words, not mine)
Here are two young people who have only been here eight years and are on their way to the American dream. They are contributing, not taking. They are hard working, ambitious and dedicated. She was just kind and delightful and had no complaints about what she had been through, although she said it was difficult and a lot of work. These are the kinds of people the deplorables ignore and refuse to see.
There are others like them. Maybe not so successful, but hard workers and ambitious for themselves and their children. It makes me sick the way republicans see them all as people who just come here to collect welfare and sponge off the system.
Anyway, I just wanted to acknowledge people like this woman and her husband because I know there are so many more out there like them who just want to make a better life for themselves and are willing to work for it. I am so disgusted with the racism in this country and I blame Trump for stoking the flames.
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S.E. TN Liberal
(508 posts)conservatives are, by their dysfunctional nature, xenophobic.
They can not abide people who have different skin colors, languages, religions, sexual interests, ...etc.
When conservatism is finally cured, the rest of us can go about having better lives without constant fear of someone with a gun wanting to murder us. We can get heath insurance for all, incomes for all, homes for all, food for all...etc.
The only obstacle we have now to getting that better life is the eternal stupidity and hatefulness of conservatives, (see; republican't party).
SharonAnn
(13,772 posts)The disinformation campaign, stoking racism and other divisive issues, is still going strong on the Internet.
PatrickforO
(14,570 posts)parasites funding the Republicans. This is the world THEY want, because they can live in nice gated communities and not even really see the rest of us.
That's why the Republicans passed the giant tax cut for billionaires. Their funding sources, guys like the Koch brothers, wanted that. They wanted MORE money at our expense.
The know-nothing, 'ignorant-and-proud-of-it,' racist conservatism stems from the monied interests using Lee Atwater and Richard Nixon to create the Southern Strategy, which had the sole purpose of sowing fear of minorities and immigrants in white working class communities.
Couple this with Lewis Powell's 1971 letter to the US Chamber of Commerce, which laid out the strategy by which corporate interests could at the very least dilute or damage 'liberal media,' and finally the snake Reagan allowing the Fairness Doctrine to die in 1987, and viola!
You have the birth of Fox 'news,' hate-talk radio, Breitbart, Red State and so on. Decades, DECADES, of racist, divisive corporate propaganda designed to make us hate and mistrust one another so they can keep ripping off our money.
Funny, we don't hear much about Puerto Rico on here any more, but there are still people there without electrical power, without clean water, and without places to live in. They are doing their best, but alas, federal aid fell far short of what was given to victims in the continental US. Fucking Trump didn't even realize Puerto Rico was an American territory!
When their power went off, I called up my Senator, a Republican, and his staffer told me that there is concern about the money PR owes Wall Street, so he is supporting some payroll tax cuts, and the 'review' (read reduction and rip-off) of public worker pensions.
I said, "You've gotta be kidding me. In 2008 when the banks failed, we taxpayers had to bail Wall Street out for $750 BILLION - why," I asked, "aren't you working with Wall Street to get this debt forgiven so aid can flow in to those people?"
It's always about money. Those who have want more, and so we have the GOP and right wing noise machine ginning up divisive propaganda to keep us docile - with our eyes on each other and not the capitalists.
Shanti Mama
(1,288 posts)I'm curious as to why a trader at Santander Bank would also be driving for Uber. I don't doubt your story and I absolutely agree that immigrants generally work a whole lot harder than most/many born in the US. I'm just curious.
PatrickforO
(14,570 posts)For students who graduated college in 2016, the average student loan debt was over $37K and the average payment was $352/mo. If she finished a four year degree and her husband worked his way through law school, they probably have combined debt over $100K.
That's like a mortgage payment, and I tell this sad fact to business groups every time I present to them. We are taking our children and grandchildren and starting them out in a big pit of debt - right from the get go.
And, I'll tell you, that money they pay in is money lost to the community in which they live - many cannot afford to purchase automobiles or even rent a place close to where they work. And every cent they pay into a loan leaves our community and goes to DC or Wall Street. This means these young people AREN'T spending money on local goods and services.
This is why capitalism sucks - predatory practices like burying immigrants and children under mountains of debt.
Shanti Mama
(1,288 posts)Thanks for the reminder.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)since traffic is so bad trying to get home she thought she would stay in the city for a few hours and make some money before heading north. They seem like a very young couple so maybe they are saving for something. I didn't ask her, but I think she thought that instead of sitting in traffic she might as well be making money for a few hours.
JI7
(89,246 posts)And other things.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)worth a darn were the Hispanic ladies who came in the afternoon to change things, etc. They came with a smile that lit up a dreary room. They had more compassion and cared more than anyone working in that place. Without them, I don't know what we would have done. I don't know for sure they were "illegal," but don't care. We need more people who love, care, etc., in this country. I make it a point to smile at good people that I know white winger hate (their really is a hate stare that is directed at minorities in this country).
I've been disgusted with white wing hatred since high school, but especially since my first quarter in college when my sociology professor got beaten up at a civil rights protest over the weekend. He walked in with a big bandage on his head and said forget about the original lesson plan, we are talking about reality in this country. That was at a pretty conservative school in the 1960s, and was a special experience that I was lucky to get.
I've pretty much decided white wingers are the real problem in this country.
askyagerz
(776 posts)I think these are the stories that really get under their skin. Successful immigrants make them so jealous. They dont really believe in the American dream. They believe in white entitlement. Everything else is just noise.
Ilsa
(61,694 posts)Work so hard to get ahead, but their kids don't want to put in the effort and time to get the best grades, UIL achievements, scholarships, etc.
Look at the school achievement newspaper section of mid-size cities. Look at the pictures and names of the regional and state champions. Lots of names that don't look like Smith, Jones, etc.
If those minorities werent there working their asses off the jobs could go to their white kids who could put in half the effort.
Anykind of entitlement basicly comes down to wanting to be lazy and still do whatever you want as the universe spins around you.
hedda_foil
(16,372 posts)
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,988 posts)
HipChick
(25,485 posts)Old playbook
RandomAccess
(5,210 posts)I imagine the OP is about legal immigrants, BUT here's what I believe about those who come here across the Mexican border illegally --
* They desperately want to be here -- and desperation is a powerful motivator. If strong enough, it can make you risk your very life to accomplish your goal. These people risk their LIVES to come here.
* The guts, determination, courage, resourcefulness and sheer obstinate pluck required to do this is immense, and the kind of qualities Americans have always valued highly through the years. It was the stuff of the pioneer. My mother used to tell me when I was a child -- her motivation speech: "You're pioneer stock!" (So buck the fuck up was the unsaid rest of the speech) Why should we value those who demonstrate it on the Mexican border any less?
* Most of them don't have any money and don't speak English. MORE courage and guts and resourcefulness and sense of adventure and hope and optimism required. Again, all highly valued qualities for Americans.
* Their motivation is often, if not almost always, rooted in the desire to help not just themselves but their families -- the families they bring with them and/or the families they leave behind. Another wonderful, stabilizing American value.
* Once here they HAVE to behave, keep a low profile, and learn the language fast, or risk being deported. They're going to be good, law-abiding, productive workers.
And what about the law they broke to cross the border? Well, what about it? Although it's far more serious, I think of it in terms of the law I routinely break when I speed. I am a serial speeder. If I'm caught I'll pay the price. If they're caught they'll pay the price. But after a certain period of time, we ought to make it possible for them to use what they have created for themselves and their adopted country in a more constructive way. Anything less is inhumane.
Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)Remember, the original colonists were English immigrants. We have had immigrants from every country in the world. Without even bothering to check, I can state that I am sure there are 'lazy no-good whites' than there are 'lazy no-good' immigrants. (Of course to an awful lot of GOPers the Mrs. and I are 'lazy no-good bums' since we are drawing our government 'entitlement' of Social Security and Medicare.
This country is screwed.
Bernardo de La Paz
(48,988 posts)https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kansas-man-facing-hate-crime-charges-sentenced-to-50-years-in-prison_us_5aedc718e4b0ab5c3d661437
District Court Judge James Charles Droege sentenced Adam Purinton, 52, to 50 years in prison on Friday for the fatal shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in February 2017. Purinton opened fire at Austins Bar and Grill in Olathe, where he wounded Kuchibhotla’s friend, Alok Madasani, who is also from India. Bystander Ian Grillot was shot as he tried to intervene in the shooting.
PatrickforO
(14,570 posts)Let him spend the rest of his life in a cage thinking about taking that innocent man's life, just because he had brown skin.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I am tired of these racists blaming immigrants for their own failure to succeed in life.
Sophia4
(3,515 posts)After WWII, many, many, many refugees of German and East European descent who had been displaced, meaning that they lost their homes, during or after WWII, were accepted in the US. They were white. Thus they were accepted.
Now that the refugees are from South and Central America and other parts of the world in which people are not white, refugees are rejected. It's essentially a matter of race.
The refugees should apply legally to get into the US, but it is not always easy to do that. We don't have organizations processing the legal documents for the refugees from South and Central America the way we did for refugees after WWII. Yet, the conditions, while not like WWII are violent and lawless or nearly lawless in the countries they come from.
It's often a matter of race. I'm not saying that it always is. And of course many German and East European refugees went to South America and are white. But, the common perception is that people from South and Central America are not white and therefore racists do not want them to come to the US.
It's ultimately, in my view, about race.
PatrickforO
(14,570 posts)the 1970s to lay out a 'Southern Strategy,' the whole thing was predicated on racist 'dog whistles,' and stereotyping. The Southern Strategy is, if you drill down under the rock to see the squirming maggots underneath, this:
The corporate interests - the MIC, C-class people, and billionaire parasites - set this up to scare middle class white people. I remember back in the 70s when I grew up, my parents were scared to death the blacks were going to pull down everything. At times, Dad would talk about how we might need to set up barricades against rioters. We actually did have periodic rumors that race riots were planned, none of which, of course, materialized.
But if the billionaire class gets us to be scared of each other, scared of blacks, Hispanics, immigrants, the Chinese, and afraid the 'deep state' is going to take our guns away, THEN WE WON'T NOTICE THEM SYSTEMATICALLY PICKING OUR POCKETS, and transferring tax money we paid in to the government so it can provide services we need and depend on to corporate coffers instead, leaving us the poorer, and without those safety net services when we need them.
That is what it is.
If you look under all the evil rocks that beset us, racism, people dying for lack of healthcare or life-saving drugs, people going hungry, living in their cars or under bridges or in tents - if you look under the rock you will ALWAYS see one or more old, white, liver-spotted, male hands grasping for more profits.
Capitalism sucks and if we really want any kind of change, we need to force changes in corporate charters to expand fiduciary responsibility to include the workers, the consumers, the communities where the company is located, and the environment. We need to overturn the giant tax cut for billionaires and raise taxes so that the government can afford to render the public services we need.
This is why I support our brothers and sisters of color as they rise and demand social justice, and continue also to advocate for policy changes such as universal healthcare that will genuinely make our lives better.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)But the mooching meme refers to illegal immigrants, I think. The people in the OP appear to be legal immigrants.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)however most deplorables see ALL immigrants as moochers. If they got something, it's because it was "handed" to them. If they were accepted into a school, it's because of "affirmative action", blah, blah, blah. The problem is that they are all tarred with the same brush by ignorant, Trump loving white people and it's just unfair and so wrong.
Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)I think many Repubs (whether Trumpers or regular Repubs) regard legal immigrants very differently. One reason being that we all descended from legal immigrants, for the most part. And they get paid above the table, pay taxes, etc. Everything other citizens do.
I think it also depends on how they became citizens; if a refugee, Trumpers don't think we should take in refugees. The country does foot the bill for their care in the beginning, which Trumpers hate.
But it's hard to know what's in the mind of a Trumper. Thick skulls, small brains.
CanonRay
(14,098 posts)who put 8 kids through college, one is now an Army General
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)with the drivers, most of who are immigrants. They love to talk about their families and I ask them about their lives. You would not believe how many of these people have worked and sacrificed everything to give their children an education and even have done things to make their own lives better. I must say it has been an education and I am better off for listening to their stories.
Ohiogal
(31,969 posts)I, too, get extremely tired of hearing deplorables paint all immigrants as lazy moochers coming here to sponge off the government. And I also had the same experience as some others here when my mother was in a nursing home, the hardest working and most compassionate and cheerful workers were the ones who were foreign born. It breaks my heart to think that some of these fine people (and that now includes Salvadorans) who are in danger of being deported back to a country full of violence.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)That’s the name of the country in South America.
I just retired from working in administration in UC Berkeley and for 20 years I worked alongside immigrants from every country who also worked in administration. They were from all over the world, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Lebanon, India, Eastern Europe, The Philippines, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, South and Central America, Mexico, you name it. It was the thing I loved the most about my job, and there was much more to love. I loved the Faculty and the students who were also from all over the world.
The staff in the university tend to work well into their 70s because the job of taking care of the students and Faculty and the feeling that your job is important for the future of our world is so rewarding and meaningful and a huge component of that is the amazing mixture of cultures. I’m turning 70 this year and would still be working there except the times are changing and the university is having to modernize which inevitably means massive layoffs. Many of us old guard lifers have opted to retire for various reasons as the running of the university has become corporatized and people are being laid off. One reason among many for me was that though my job was pretty safe due to layoffs being based on seniority (thanks to my union - Teamsters) was to give a younger person the opportunity to not be laid off and keep their job. I consider that fair.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I will try to fix it. Thanks!
And thank you for your story. I hope you enjoy your retirement. 
lunatica
(53,410 posts)diversity as my job was! That would be great!
Blue Owl
(50,347 posts)Was a white American trust fund adult kid who was just waiting for the big payout someday. Wouldn't work, was self-entitled, bloated ego, and sounded like a Trumper the last time I spoke to him.
Cha
(297,123 posts)your Uber driver, smirky!
Feliz Cinco de Mayo!
