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May 22, 2006

Alas, My Conservative Friends

Sometimes I just have to shake my head at my conservative friends and their inability to look at things rationally. Such is the case whenever I receive a forwarded political email.

The following one just popped into my inbox today from a very dear friend.

Subject: Something You Won't Read About In the Papers During the Immigration Debate

As you all listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration there are some things that you should be aware of.

My wife is in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socio-economic and income levels. Most of the schools you are hearing about South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc., where these students are protesting are also Title 1 schools.

My wife tells me that 100% of the students in her school and other Title1 schools are on the free breakfast, free lunch program. When I say free breakfast I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll... but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. She estimates that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones. (But not enough money for food & essentials - something wrong with priorities here?)

The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids.

She was ordered to spend $700,000 on her department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; her budget was already substantial. She ended up buying new computers for their computer learning center. Half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America.

She has had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas"--whores--and throwing things that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care etc... etc... etc... Is it any wonder they feel entitled to not only be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To my bleeding-heart liberal friends who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs. Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc… etc… etc... For me--- I'll pay more for tomatoes.

We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it. Does anyone in their right mind really think they will leave and return voluntarily? There are many hardworking Hispanic/American citizens that contribute to our country and many that I consider my true friends. We should encourage and accept those Hispanics who have done it the right and legal way. It does, however, have everything to do with culture. A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate... and an American culture that has become so weak and politically correct that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

If this makes your blood boil, as it did mine, forward this to everyone you know. Sure thought provoking.

The most obvious response is that the author of this message is blind to his own racism, and so are the people who are forwarding it around the Internet (it was third generation when I received it, and obviously had been cleaned up after multiple previous generations of forwarding).

There is just enough truth to what has been written to get the unthinking worked up into a tizzy, but it doesn't stand up well if you really look at it. To assume that only illegal immigrant children are responsible for this behavior is ridiculous (though if you read between the lines you can tell that the blame is being laid on all Mexican immigrants). The sort of disrespect for authority and lack of appreciation cited by the author is a problem throughout our entire society. If anything, based on the newly arrived immigrants I know, the Mexican immigrants displaying this behavior are more likely to have learned it from the angst-ridden, media-saturated, poorly fed, neglected kids who were already here than to have brought it with them.

My kids went to Woodburn schools for several years. In Woodburn, so many of the students are low income that breakfast and lunch are provided free of charge to ALL students and none are allowed to pay, so my children participated in the program along with their low-income classmates (I would imagine day care is provided at the high school, as well - and ought to be if we want these girls to get a diploma so they can earn enough to be independent of the welfare system). The children are required to take a full meal, including food they don't want and so they throw it away uneaten. But federal requirements of the program create that and many other problems which must be addressed at the federal level. They are certainly not the fault of the children or their parents.

Anyway, I pass this on to you because its author specifically spoke to "bleeding-heart liberal friends." As always, I think it is a good idea to understand the perspective of others in hopes that a way can be found to reach out to them.

Posted by Becky at May 22, 2006 04:15 PM

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