As we wrote here last week, America’s current shit storm, aka the immigration policy debate, is hitting Charlotte. County Commissioner Bill James intends to propose tonight that the Department of Social Services be ordered to hand over a detailed list of all undocumented immigrants who have applied for DSS help. Seeing that it would be completely illegal for DSS to do so, James’ proposal has no chance of passing. But we doubt that getting approval from the Commission was James’ goal in any case. His “get tough on immigrants’ babies” stance (he’s opposed to undocumented workers’ American-born children getting Medicaid’s help for health care expenses) is no doubt intended as an election reminder that the GOP stands foresquare against illegal immigration. Frankly, it reminds me of the days in the South when politicians would rile up the hicks just before election day by distributing flyers decrying race mixing. Backward minds and shriveled souls love being reminded that someone is lower on the totem pole than they; and there are always politicians who are willing to roll around in that kind of slop.
If you would like the opportunity to cut through the political nastiness and learn more about immigrants’ situation and how it affects us all, you may want to check out Brother Towns, a film being screened across the state by the NC Council of Churches. Here is a link to the film’s excellent trailer. And here is some more info:
Today we hear a lot about immigration, but we don’t always have the chance to hear directly from the families at the heart of the story. Brother Towns is a story of two towns linked by immigration, family, and work: Jacaltenango, a highland Maya town in Guatemala; and Jupiter, Florida, a coastal resort town where many Jacaltecos have settled.
Brother Towns chronicles a story of how and why people migrate across borders, how people make and remake their communities when they travel thousands of miles from home, and how people maintain families despite their travel. Because we are all immigrants, this is a universal human story, and a quintessentially American one. All of us understand family.
Brother Towns is also a story of local and international controversy. News of undocumented immigrants is familiar in nearly every community across the U.S., and citizens must choose how they respond to this issue.
The film will be shown Thursday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m. at the Levine Museum of the New South, 200 E. Seventh Street. Admission is $3 per person.
This article appears in Oct 5-11, 2010.
“Backward minds and shriveled souls love being reminded that someone is lower on the totem pole than they; and there are always politicians who are willing to roll around in that kind of slop.”
Mr. Grooms:
That is the most perfect description of bigotry I have ever read. While I often, thought not always, agree with you, that statement is an absolute bulls eye.
Thanks again, Frank Griffin (don’t know why you’re hiding behind “Billy Boy” since you use the same tired old cliches and phrasing as before) – but anyhow, thanks again, Frank, for your insightful, informed, logically argued commentary. It’s always a pleasure learning from your vast store of knowledge. Hope you’re satisfied with your life as an internet troll (aka “angry white nerds with modems”) – and congratulations on being part of one of the most negative results of the information age, namely free access to comment space for losers and wankers.
Logic and rational thought have never been Frank’s strong suits.
I’m sure those illegals will be lining up outside the emergency room for care knowing they’ll be deported the second they walk out.
The dumber you are the more simple the world seems to be, isn’t that right Frank?
It’s not the immigrants at fault, it’s our politicians for not changing the immigration laws. Obviously, law-breaking is now the norm so it would make sense to me that the LAW needs to be changed rather than criminalize these people who for the most part are simply trying to make a better life for their family. Once upon a time Prohibition created a bunch of lawbreakers overnight and spawned an underworld of moon-shining, boot-legging and related criminal activity. It wasn’t the people who had suddenly changed, it was the law put in place. Laws aren’t always our friend.