Posted on 08/13/2006 10:50:48 AM PDT by aft_lizard
Kansans shudder, scoff at 'reconquista'
Whispers of effort by Hispanics
to take over parts of U.S. has some worried, others chuckling
By Tim Vandenack
The Hutchinson News Michelob Ultra
tvandenack@hutchnews.com
The influx of Hispanic newcomers to southwest Kansas, most of them Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, frequently makes Evelyn Fulton wonder, somewhat darkly, what the future holds.
"I truly believe if we aren't careful, they're going to take us all over and we're just going to be standing there (thinking), 'What happened?' " the longtime Dodge City resident said.
Ninety miles away in Liberal, similar thoughts sometimes cross Candy Brock's mind. She's a stay-at-home mom now, but the former Liberal High School history teacher recalls talk among the heavily Hispanic student body of a "quiet revolution," a supposed effort by undocumented Latinos to somehow wrest control of swaths of the United States.
"I just did kind of blow it off," she said, recalling her attitude at the time. "(Now) I just wonder if they weren't letting me in on something that was true."
As the Hispanic population in southwest Kansas and the rest of the country surges - some legal, others undocumented - some Anglos here wonder what is becoming of their communities. This rural corner, once overwhelmingly Anglo, has seen a tremendous increase in its Hispanic population since the 1980s, largely through the growth of the meatpacking industry.
In fact, peek below the surface, and some speak of a "reconquista," that is, some sort of reconquest of parts of the United States - vast stretches of which once were in Mexican hands - by illegal immigrants from south of the border.
Immigrants here and many others scoff at such talk.
"Those who come, come to work. They aren't coming to conquer," said Rene Orpinel, a meatpacker who came to Dodge City 10 years ago from the Mexican state of Chihuahua searching for a better life. "That's out of question, that's preposterous."
Says Don Stull, a University of Kansas anthropologist who has studied southwest Kansas' changing demographics, says the reconquest idea is "worth a chuckle, maybe a raised eyebrow. But I don't put a lot of stock in it."
Still, with the number of illegal immigrants on U.S. soil estimated at 11 million to 12 million, whispering persists.
Fulton and Brock speak of a new political and social order here in years to come, still within the existing U.S. framework, in which Latinos hold sway. Despite the large numbers of Hispanics in southwest Kansas, Anglos still hold the vast majority of elective posts in the zone.
"They're going to take us over so slowly we may not even hear the gun go off," said Fulton, a human resources officer at a Dodge City manufacturer.
Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist - in the book "Minuteman: The Battle to Secure America's Borders," co-written with Jerome Corsi and released last month - goes further. The Minuteman Project seeks stricter controls on the U.S.-Mexico border and posts members there to deter illegal crossings.
"The goal is for illegal aliens to get citizenship for themselves and their children so that they can eventually vote to return to Mexico large sections of the American southwest," Gilchrist and Corsi write.
The two point to activities of the "radical left," particularly two U.S. groups that hearken back to the indigenous population that roamed what is now northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest.
SW Kansas in Mexico
Almost 200 years ago, from 1821 to 1836, what now is southwest Kansas belonged to Mexico, specifically the portion south of the Arkansas River and west of the 100th meridian, which runs north and south through eastern Ford County.
"If you were at (what is now) Garden City, as soon as you crossed the river south, you were in New Spain," Kansas State University historian Jim Sherow said.
Spain controlled the Kansas swath until recognizing Mexico's independence in 1821, when the territory fell to the new nation.
Now, of course, that piece of real estate flies under the U.S. flag, along with California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and parts of other states that belonged to Mexico before Texas' independence and the Mexican-American War.
Nonetheless, Sherow notes that for some, the current U.S.-Mexico border can be somewhat artificial.
"In terms of economics and family structure, that border may as well not be there," he said, alluding to border residents with ties on both sides.
Charles Truxillo, a University of New Mexico Chicano studies faculty member, takes that notion a step further and theorizes about the emergence of a brand new nation in decades to come that is made of the United States, Southwest and northern Mexico. He calls it "La Republica a del Norte," or the Republic of the North, and cites the distinctive traits of the Mexicans and Mexican-Americans on the two sides as a spur to its birth.
Still, historical ties notwithstanding, others remain skeptical that revolution is on the way.
Stull said research still maintains that the children and grandchildren of immigrants typically speak unaccented English and feel more of a connection with the United States than their ancestral nation. He suggests concerns among natives "that their world is being transformed in ways they can't control" might be at play in the debate.
Jose Sanchez, meanwhile, a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Mexican state of Michoacan, attributes talk of a reconquest to fear-mongering, ignorance even. Sanchez, who notes that his Anglo friends visit Mexico more than he does, works as an accountant at a Dodge City meatpacker.
"You become Americanized," he said, referring to the typical transition for many immigrants here. "You see all the benefits of living in this country and understand all the negatives of the country and government you came from."
08/13/2006; 02:34:26 AM
As a previous resident of Kansas, and having owned a large insurance agency, bailbonding office, and private investigative agency, in Liberal, I can attest to being told many times by the old ones that "this is our country. We are going to take it back. We do not have to fire a shot. Soon, we will be more than you anglos, and then we vote and you are no more."
I grew up in Dodge City and the city has changed remarkably, the city may not have always been the best looking town but it looks now like a bad version of the barrios in LA now, whites are moving to the outskirts and the city looks more and more rundown even though it consistantly has low unemployment and numerous jobs. It really sickened me the way it looked when I visited in February, it even made me a little sad.
It has about 50% white, maybe more, but it wont be long before it is a majority hispanic city, that to me though isnt the issue the fact that more than half of its hispanic population is more than likely an illegal transient population is whats ruining the city.Even many of my hispanic friends from there are getting disgusted at what the city is turning into.
I am a Kansas Republican Commnitteman. I can tell you that in our area since the last election the Democrats have been able to somehow been able to register illegal aliens so they can vote. The Republican state representative has always won handily in the past, but this time she stated the influx of these illegals is going to cost her the election.
I tend to doubt that 50% of those hispanics are legal. People generally settle in one area, get a job, put down roots and stay. Perhaps 20% are. Of course I'm guessing. Perhaps you had a rather sizeable long term hispanic populace.
This issue isn't going to be resolved. One way or another, through amnesty and or continued open borders, this nation will soon be more than 50% hispanic.
When that happens, there will no longer be one nation in the Americas that will be able to boast white self-rule.
That day is coming. Your kids and grand children will have to deal with it.
Imagine a group of anglos talking about taking over Mexico. You'd have the press and everyone else outing it for a racist plot. Talk of hispanics taking over the U.S. is looked at as a romantic notion.
Good luck.
If I remember right Dodge has had a Democrat state representative for years from the North side of town, the side that has part of the countryside and southern parts of town has had a Republican rep, is the south in Danger of being lost now?
I don't know about southern Kanss, but I can tell you there are areas of Johnson County, which have been traditionally Republican which will go Democratic.
Dodge has had a sizable hispanic population since Dodge City was founded, however not quite like it is now.
If they think it is so Damn funny, why don't they bring their smug asses down to Houston and actually witness the Reconqista in progress.
We really need to build that fence. I just hope when we finally get around to it. It's not on The eastern shore of the Mississippi.
They are witnessing it in process, take a visit up there, you will see.
Lot of truth in that statement.
if we aren't careful, they're going to take us all over and we're just going to be standing there (thinking), 'What happened?'
exactamento
it sure seems that way to me too
Southwest Kansas once belonged to Mexico on paper, and only on paper. The "indigenous population" was of course Native American, and gave no allegiance to either nation.
Dodge City, Garden City, Liberal are all cities in KS with BIG meat packing operations, and these are the places where illegal aliens tend to congregate.
Mark
Reminds me of that "Obsession" DVD when the woman responds to the question "why don't people want to beleive what is going on here?" And her answer was "because if the did, then they would have to do something about it."
Seems to me that it's the same question and the same answer in this matter.
Morning, actually afternoon for you folks. Denver is bright and sunny today. Typical summer weather. Things are going along as normal out this way. The politicians act like they are smarter than the rest of us and the like. I noticed at the car wash this morning a lack of employees. Colorado passed some new laws which recently went into effect and are considered the toughest in the nation. I suspect many of our illegals have gone to other states where it is easier to get along. Not sure, but, something is different. Maybe it is just summer...
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