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.
It's that "enemy within" we were warned about...white guilt leading to an inability to control our borders...liberal indoctrination in public education...good old fashioned communism re-packaged as "progressivism" ..(I mean who doesn't want progress?)...the cancer has mutated and nothing seems to expose and attack it...
Right.
What’s the big deal about identifying yourself? I don’t leave home without my driver’s license, insurance card, credit cards, etc.
If I get pulled over the side of the road for a broken tail light it’s the first thing a cop is going to ask me for, so I guess that makes the cop racist in their twisted way of thinking.
Seems like we’re caught in a huge catch-22. Damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
“They can be asked to prove their legal status anytime.”
Uh...no... Obviously, this writer has not read the legislation, either.
It’s time to take back the country.
Add to that I'm a pilot and aircraft owner...just got a notice about a seminar locally on "How to deal with the dreaded 'ramp check'" where the FAA can just walk up to you and ask you for all your "papers". If they find something out of order they can ground you and/or your aircraft on the spot. So intimidating they felt they needed a seminar on how to deal with it. I guess the FAA are all a bunch of jackbooted Nazi's huh? I hear fishermen out at the lake get asked for their licenses (papers) by rangers too...and on and on and on...I guess Mexicans feel somehow they are a special group that should have separate laws.
We cannot begin to think we have any kind of National Security otherwise.
2 years ago I chartered a boat for deep sea fishing. The Coast Guard radioed our captain to stop and they were coming aboard. No reason, just a random spot check. They held us up for about a half hour. Searched the whole boat for anything not meeting regulations, checked all of the fish holds for under sized fish, species of fish, etc. We hadn’t even started fishing yet. Finally they told the captain he needed to get new flares his were too old. They left us with a warning, no citations. The Captain was actually surprised to know his flares may not have been any good, and gave us an additional hour of fishing to make up for the embarassment.
Thinking about it afterwards, I realized these kinds of situations are a necessary evil we have to deal with. The Coast Guard guys were doing there job for the benefit of our safety.
That's my point too. Not a police state...just the way things need to be in a civilized society.
I know. Nice to converse with someone and be on the same page.
I really like this website, lot’s of like minded folk here, and very informative too.
Note to the dumba$$ that wrote this:
Hispanic is a language group, not a race.
I've been here quite a while...my main source for news and current events...:o)
I’ve read articles from here since around 2003, but only registered and started posting articles and comments for about a year now. Should have registered sooner, but I guess it took the current administration to get me fired up enough.
I just can’t get over what the hell is going on.
I know what you mean...was a lurker early on but this election cycle has made me more scared than I have ever been. The cold war was nothing compared to the dangers going on now. I don't think the Cuban Missle Crisis I think you mentioned was this bad...we are being attacked on so many fronts including by our own citizens now.
Yeah, at least during the Cuban Missle Crisis our country was united. I haven’t seen our country united since 911, but it didn’t last very long.
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