Monday, April 10, 2006
Dallas Immigration Reform Protest
If you haven't seen it yet, Michelle Malkin has photos from the Dallas protest. I guarantee these are not photos you will see in the local media! They include photos of Black Panthers, the Mexican flag atop the US flag, and Che signs calling whites honkies who came here illegally. Now while these photos should rightly give you pause, these are the works of individual racists and reconquistas that are not necessarily representative of the majority.
What I saw on the news last night, though, was much more disturbing precisely because it was representative of the views of the majority: a huge, maybe 30 foot wide banner, carried by many, that said, in foot high letters, "Today we march, tomorrow we vote." That is a threat. Pure and simple. And we had better heed that threat, because if we grant these criminals voting rights the first thing they will do is retaliate against all the politicians (local on up) who voted against them.
These people are criminals, by definition. Their presence here indicates in how much esteem they hold our laws. Their marches are meant as a political threat and intimidation. Their demands are a slap in the face of all those who did the right thing and immigrated legally--and those legal immigrants and naturalized citizens are rightly, justifiably, angry at these cheaters.
It's not the "immigrant" part, it's the "illegal" part!
Updates: I hadn't heard this one yet--there's going to be a Day Without An Immigrant boycott-type action scheduled for May 1, according to FOXNews.com.
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Woman Honor Thyself is reporting on the insane doublespeak coming out of California's PTA.
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Ed has several posts on the opposite side of the debate. He calls my side "anti-immigrant." And then there's this
Sure, this may be solving the problem of illegal immigration by legalizing it after the fact. But better late than never.Which begs the question, "Why?"
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LGF has more photos from the Dallas march and links to an article that says ANSWER, an international communist organization, is behind the immigration marches. The Che posters show that there is a link for at least some of the protestors.
Labels: Culture
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Confused Students March for "Immigrant Rights"
Right now, across the country, high school students are walking out of their classrooms and marching for "immigrant rights." But, in the United States, immigrants already have rights. So, what are we really witnessing when we see these students march?
Sadly, we are seeing proof that too many high school students don’t know the difference between legal and illegal immigration. But it’s not surprising, because their teachers and the news media call illegal aliens ‘immigrants’ and ‘undocumented workers’. The students don't know that legal immigration means Americans are making conscious choices about who they admit for citizenship, and that illegal immigration is simply an invasion.
The students who are walking out of school and protesting today should really be asking themselves why their cities and states encourage illegal immigration by offering benefits to illegal aliens. That’s a slap in the face to every legal immigrant who waited in line for their chance to come to America. Offering amnesty to illegal aliens cheapens American citizenship: It's like offering a K-Mart "Blue-Light Special" on a valuable treasure.
My name is Michael Class. I live in the Seattle area with my wife and two children. I am a retired "dot-com" executive who just couldn't sit by and let the mis-education of America's youth go unchallenged anymore. I'm tired of seeing America's next generation being fed a curriculum of guilt and shame.
I was appalled at how some teachers presented American history to my own children. My son and daughter learned that Thomas Jefferson had slaves - before they learned that he wrote the document articulating our rights and duties as free people. European settlers killed Native Americans with blankets infected with smallpox, they found out. That “fact” upstaged the stories of courage, perseverance, and curiosity that defined the pioneers. My children knew that more than a hundred thousand people died when the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan, but they were not made to understand the moral context and the enormous scale of the conflict called World War II in which the atomic bomb story fit.
"Don't say illegal aliens," my children were told in the classroom. "It's offensive."
I wrote, photographed, and published a book designed to set the record straight, to teach the real lessons of American history, and to prepare our children for the future. My book is called Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame.
In the book, my real-life son, twelve-year-old Anthony, time-travels to 1907 and meets his immigrant great-grandfather at Ellis Island. Anthony listens as officials question the new arrivals and document their intentions in the United States. Anthony witnesses the personal impact of immigration policy: He sees some people turned away at America’s door, causing families to split up.
It's a harsh lesson: The purpose of immigration policy is to discriminate, to make choices about the people we want to admit to the United States.
Even when admitted to the United States, Anthony learns that life in the new land is anything but certain. Anthony’s great-grandfather masters the language of America - English - and works his way through school, only to end up in the trenches of World War I, and then back in America during the Great Depression. Eventually, he starts a business, rises from poverty, and raises a family.
To tell the story of America's earlier immigration experience, I used advanced digital photography to insert Anthony into historical photographs. And I didn’t stop with family history: Anthony meets famous American heroes and witnesses pivotal events of the 20th century. Anthony is pictured in the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis with Charles Lindbergh, on the moon with Neil Armstrong, in the laboratories of Thomas Edison and Jonas Salk, and on Normandy beach on D-Day. Throughout the book, historical accuracy rules: Even Anthony’s conversations with America’s heroes are based on things they really said.
While writing and photographing the book, I spoke with relatives of famous scientists and inventors, Holocaust survivors, award-winning biographers, and others who could help me ensure that the facts of the book were both accurate and vivid. The book includes more than 500 footnotes.
But the book goes beyond a simple recitation of historical facts: the book presents the moral lessons of American history. The chapter about Lindbergh’s flight is really about choosing one’s destiny. The story of Lou Gehrig is one of a virtuous life. The chapter about Thomas Edison is really about business. The story of Apollo 11 is about wonder, taking risks, and courage. The story of Dr. Jonas Salk and the cure for polio is really about dedicating one’s life to a higher purpose. Anthony’s observation of D-Day and the liberation of the death camps during the Holocaust is a testament to the reality of evil and the need to fight it.
When Anthony meets his immigrant great-grandfather at Ellis Island, it’s really a story about what it means to be an American. Anthony’s great-grandfather says: “I became an American because I believe in America, and it’s my belief in America that makes me an American.” Anthony comes to realize the simple truth of the statement, and remarks: “America is an idea as much as it is a place. I am no different than my great-grandfather and all the immigrants who came to this land: I can only be an American by choice.”
It's not an easy book. The book challenges the reader to see the modern world in the light of the lessons of the past. Anthony compares the people and events of the past with the people and events of his own time. Anthony discusses the nature of good and evil, right and wrong, war and peace, what it means to be an American, honor and discipline, success and achievement, courage and destiny, marriage and family, God and purpose.
I hope that you will read the book, remember the truth, and share it with your children.
We can't afford to raise a generation of Americans who do not value their country, their heritage, and their place in the world. As Abraham Lincoln said: America is the "last best hope of earth."
Thank you.
Michael S. Class
Web Site: www.MagicPictureFrame.com
Blog: www.magicpictureframe.blogspot.com
Michael,
In one of those cosmic coincidences, I read a recommendation by a homeschooler for your book just yesterday!
Thank you for stopping by my blog and for your comment. I certainly will look for your book!
ah thanks for the link..great post btw...this immigration issue will be the death of some of us...argg!
Why are immigration laws all of a sudden supposed to be different for so-called minorities. They can't even protest in English much less provide for themselves.
WHT, you are quite welcome for the link. And thank you for the compliment. Certainly, I hope that the immigration issue is not literally the death of us! Personally, I would welcome all legal immigrants--they make our country vital and rich in many ways. But the illegal immigrants of every nationality are potential security threats and have already broken our laws.
Anonymous,
I do not appreciate your comment. Nor the fact that you don't have the guts to own your comment. I'm going to let this comment stand, but I repudiate the bigoted nature of the comment. It in no way reflects my views.
There are thousands of businesses with jobs and millions of willing workers. Our current immigration laws make it difficult to match them up. That's a problem that walls won't solve. Without immigration, population in the US would be declining. That's a problem that sending illegal immigrants home won't solve. Find ways to increase legal immigration and the problem of illegal immigration will largely take care of itself.
Ed,
Thanks for your visit and for your comment!
As we have been discussing on your blog, we are in some agreement on the immigration issue.
Come here legally, and I will be the first to welcome you.
Karen, you said that the banner reading "Today we march, tomorrow we vote" is a threat. That assumes the only people at the rally were illegal immigrants. There were probably tens of thousands of American citizens taking part in the rally. Latinos vote in smaller percentages than other ethnic groups. The banner was a rallying call to change that. All Americans should welcome and praise get-out-the-vote efforts. That you see it as a threat shows just how big the divide is in our country.
Ed,
A banner of that size is meant to be seen on air and carried in newspaper photographs. It's purpose, therefore, is as a message to the people who were NOT marching.
Google the phrase on the banner. Number one: Breitbart says it is a "warning". Number two Thinklings shows it is an empty threat. Numbers three and four have the same article as on Breitbart. Number five doesn't really address the point. Number six is the breitbart story again.
There are millions of Latino citizens in the US. Many watch television and read newspapers, but weren't present during the rally. If the banner rallies them to vote, then more power to them. Get-out-the-vote efforts should be welcomed, not feared.