Posted on 05/03/2010 7:38:22 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The just passed Arizona immigration act has increased the racial tensions in America to new heights and further widened the already widening racial divide in America. A vast majority of the white people support the act whereas almost all the minorities oppose the act. This is why the opinion polls show that about 60% favor the act and about 40% oppose it; these numbers are close to the percentage of the white and the minority people in the country. The republicans are claiming that about 70% of the population is on the center right and about 20% population is on the left. However, even in the political leanings the difference between the whites and the minorities is growing. A majority of the white population is moving to the right whereas the majority of the minority population is moving to the left.
I feel that if we had racial breakdown on the basis of political leaning among the minorities then it will probably show that about 90% of the blacks, about 70% of the Hispanics and about 60% of the Asians generally favor the left leaning policies whereas the vast majority of the whites favor the right leaning policies. I feel that in the last 30 years, the biggest shift among the minorities was in the Hispanics who are steadily moving to the left of the center. This immigration act will only enhance this trend.
After the Cuban revolution, the anti communist and the extreme rightist Cubans moved to Florida. This group remained a very powerful and influential group among the Hispanics. The group was primarily responsible for giving Presidency to Bush. Even in Florida, this group is losing its influence. The biggest setback came for the group when they were unable to stop Elian Gonzalez from going back to Cuba. However, with the election of President Bush, the group got some of its lost power back. The Arizona Immigration Act will sway the Hispanic community away from the republicans completely marginalizing this extreme right group.
President Obama has strongly opposed the act. He called it misguided and also worried that it can strain the relations between the people and the police thereby adversely affecting the ability of the police to enforce law and order. Obama has also advised the democrats to encourage the blacks, Latinos and youth to vote in coming elections. The blacks are solidly on the side of the Hispanics in opposing the immigration act. This will forge unity between the two largest minority groups, thereby making the minorities much stronger.
Can this growing racial divide lead to a racial confrontation or a race war in America? In 1996 two very well known writers, Carl Rowan a black and Richard Delgado a Mexican wrote the books with almost same title, warning about the coming race war in America.
Carl Rowan wrote “The coming race war in America” and Richard Delgado wrote “The coming race war”. Even though these books became very popular but very few people believed that the race war was really coming. However, these books have become more relevant now.
We can clearly see the opposite trends in the whites and the Hispanics who are the largest minority group. The populist and extreme rightist leaders such as Sarah Palin and Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona, are becoming very popular among the whites. Similarly the extreme rightist and populist movement, the tea party is gaining influence among the whites. Such movements can easily turn fascists.
In the Hispanic community we see a completely opposite trend. Not only in America but in the both American continents, there is a shift toward left in the Hispanics. Hugo Chavez is becoming a hero for many Hispanics. He represents a new awareness and consciousness in the Hispanics that they are the leading people in the Americas.
There were many radical movements among the blacks such as the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. However, these movements never posed a serious threat of a race war in America because the black population was only about 10% of the total population at that time. However, the rise of Hispanic radicalism poses a real danger of a race war. The reasons for this are demographic trends, geographical and historical. The Hispanic population is growing the fastest and is expected to continue to grow. Unlike the blacks, the Hispanics have a geographical contiguity with the U.S.A. Among the 27 countries of the organization of America States, almost all countries except America and Canada have Hispanic majority. Historically, the whole west coast and a big part of the south west U.S.A. belonged to Mexico at one time. One can also feel a Pan Latino sentiment rising among the Hispanics. The Arizona Immigration Act has been criticized by many Hispanic leaders outside the U.S.A.
My personal experiences are also running parallel to the prevailing trends in the country. Being a minority physician in an overwhelming white community, I faced racial discrimination from the very beginning but the level of discrimination has risen in the changed situation. In spite of the racial discrimination, I was able to advocate the concepts of multiculturalism and diversity in the community. Many whites supported these concepts but that support has dwindled. The words “Multiculturalism” and “Diversity” have become less and less popular among the whites. Many white people see these words as code words for cultural invasion by the minorities. This fear of losing their way of life is primarily responsible for the support of the toughest immigration law. Many white people feel that this act will reduce the number of Hispanics who are illegally crossing the border and keep their numbers controlled. However, the Arizona Immigration Act will be unable to change the demographic trends and will only increase racial profiling, racial discrimination and will increase tension among the different races. All non white people, even those who are lawful citizens, can become victims of racial profiling and harassment by the police. They can be asked to prove their legal status anytime. Many of us have the unfortunate experience of being stopped by the police for traffic violation and finding out the different treatment of the whites and non whites by the police.
*****
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at sawrajsingh@hotmail.com or 509-962-3652.
Not only that they have something to hide if not illegally here themselves. Law abiding citizens have nothing to fear no matter what color they are.
The (legal) Mexican guy who mows my lawn hasn't heared of that...I can always tell he's here by the loud whine of his blower....
The crackpot Singh is in the middle with the red tie, without the rag on his head.
Kalifornia? They will go over the edge, but not come to their senses. Too many librobots there with too much power and they are blinded by their ambitions. The rest of the country will end up bailing them out, and our pathetic gov’t will just print more dollars.
And eventually we’ll need a wheelbarrow full of dollars to buy bread.
Yes liberals have cornered the market on white guilt and have found they just have to pull the race card and people cower...
but like the little boy who called wolf too many times...it is losing it’s power ...
That sort of thing can only go on so long before everything collapses...
They all look like crackpots to me.
So how come Singh doesn’t have a diaper on his head and a scraggly beard full of lice?
Isn’t that like gay or something in their religion?
from a 'Dr'...at a social justice center. If anyone knows racism, it is these guys. They see it in the mirror every morning.
Exactly.
Don’t you think we are near a collapse? I’ve never seen our country in such sad shape, and I’ve been around for a while.
“Yes liberals have cornered the market on white guilt and have found they just have to pull the race card and people cower...
but like the little boy who called wolf too many times...it is losing it’s power ...”
#####
Courtesy of The Clash, ca 1979. Seems now, like they were prescient:
WHITE RIOT
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
Black man gotta lot a problems
But they don’t mind throwing a brick
White people go to school
Where they teach you how to be thick
An’ everybody’s doing
Just what they’re told to
An’ nobody wants
To go to jail!
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
All the power’s in the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street
Too chicken to even try it
Everybody’s doing
Just what they’re told to
Nobody wants
To go to jail!
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
Are you taking over
or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards
Or are you going forwards?
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White riot - I wanna riot
White riot - a riot of my own
White Riot.
I wanna riot.
Yeah right, my guess is, this guy is just a crappy doctor, and uses the claim of racism as an excuse.
Barry0, the Race Baiter in Chief, isn’t helping any.
Not only that but near a flashpoint of some kind...never seen anything like this...
I think now it's more akin to a threat of harm against me, personally than anything else.
The left should take note that we are all armed here in Arizona and can defend ourselves against such a threat.
I dont think this is the least bit accurate. All manner of goofy liberal white folks oppose the law, and plenty of blacks and Asians support it. A lot of blacks are fed up with illegal immigration, which is affecting their jobs.
This guy must be a racist!
Holy Moley! That looks like a car wash where they took away the rags and substituted leaf blowers!!!
Yes, flashpoint is very descriptive of how I feel also. I haven’t felt anything even close to this since the Cuban Missle Crisis.
I’m not even sure who the enemy is anymore. It used to be clear cut, it was the Russians, plain and simple. Now it’s damned near every country in the Mideast, and Central and South America and countries I didn’t even know existed.
And worse, also from within. I don’t know what’s going to happen first another war with a foreign country or countries, or a civil war, the left against the right, which would be worse than the south against the north. At least then there were boundries.
We need another strong leader like Reagan or we are doomed.
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