According to a recent WSJ/NBCNews poll, two-thirds of Americans are in favor of the new Arizona illegal immigration law, even though practically the same percentage feel it will lead to discrimination.
You know, it's always been an easy thing to say you're for an infringement on your rights for the better good when you know damn well you'll never have to worry about it. No one, and I mean no one, whines louder than white Americans when their rights are perceived to be infringed upon. We who were born in this country and fortunate to have the correct skin pigmentation take our rights for granted, which is why sadly too many of us who've never had to worry about it carelessly say it's okay for others.
What if the immigration issue in this country involved Canadians, who in most respects look and sound like white Americans? Do you want to guess what the reaction would be by these same supporters of this law when they're asked to produce proof of citizenship?
What good would it do to have a law like this when nearly everyone looks the same?
4 comments:
The results of that poll are not surprising. The same could be said of California back when Prop 187 was on the ballot. All the Republicans had to do was roll stock footage of Mexicans hopping a fence (they really did) over and over again and all of a sudden anyone with brown skin was the enemy.
I'm not sure about the drivers license thing...it's been awhile. My point is that white people would not like to routinely and randomly based on someone's definition of reasonable suspicion to have to prove their citizenship and I stand by that. The uproar would be enormous.
What does this new law provide or enable that wasn't already possible?
We have an immigration problem. With this law we still have an immigration problem but now we also have a civil rights problem.
It allows the state to take action against a problem that the feds are not.
Zeb, looks like your post attracted some anonymous attention!
Although Anonymous is right... due to the Real ID act you must have photo ID to renew your license. That means that once every decade you have to present a photo ID, with plenty of time to prepare.
But Anonymous, how often do you take your National Identity Papers with you when you go swimming? For a walk around the block? Sitting on your front porch? Think about it.
I think that your original post hits on something that is primarily (but not uniquely) a republican phenomenon--"not unless it happens to me."
- Gays are bad (unless your daughter is gay, Cheney)
- Universal health care is bad (unless you get cancer, Specter)
- Gov't handouts are bad (unless you're a shareholder in a subsidized industry, Cheney again!)
- Etc.
In this case, the only thing that makes it palatable to Conservatives is the fact that it won't happen to them, 'cause they're white.
Time for hispanics to flex their growing political weight!
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