Will Latinos be the ones who finally wake up this country?
LEIGH POMEROY
500,000 in the streets of L.A. 300,000 in Chicago. Finally, someone is starting to stand up to the 535 in Congress and the half-dozen in the White House. No, it's not the students. It's not the unemployed and soon-to-be unemployed manufacturing workers. It's not the disenfranchised blacks.
In fact, many of those in the streets are not U.S. citizens at all.
But they are American citizens: They are citizens of the Western Hemisphere. They believe in democracy. They believe that working and supporting their families and living the American dream are something worth demonstrating for.
What happened to the rest of us?
We just sit in front of our TVs watching football, "American Idol", NASCAR, the shopping channel, baseball, "Survivor".
Survivors — yeah, that's what we are, just surviving. Getting by. Letting it happen.
We say the war is bad, but what can you do about it? We say health care is getting worse and more expensive, but what can you do about it? We say energy prices are going up, but what can you do about it? We say wages can't buy what they used to, but what can you do about it?
We say the federal deficit is going through the roof, but what can you do about it? We say the government is spying on its citizens, but what can you do about it? We say global warming is going to cause a lot of problems for our grandchildren, but what can you do about it?
Our Latino immigrants have one central issue: They want to make a better life for their kids and they don't want to be thrown in jail for trying.
This past week they knew what they could do about it and that was to take to the streets. A novel idea? Hardly! In fact, it's one that the insurgents who founded this country would be proud of.
To the citizens and noncitizens of Los Angeles and Chicago who demonstrated this last week: Unlike President Bush and his misguided attempts to reform the Middle East, it is you who are giving this country a true lesson in democracy.
For more on this issue from Vox Verax, see "Illegal immigration: The GOP tries to distract... again" (above).
500,000 in the streets of L.A. 300,000 in Chicago. Finally, someone is starting to stand up to the 535 in Congress and the half-dozen in the White House. No, it's not the students. It's not the unemployed and soon-to-be unemployed manufacturing workers. It's not the disenfranchised blacks.
In fact, many of those in the streets are not U.S. citizens at all.
But they are American citizens: They are citizens of the Western Hemisphere. They believe in democracy. They believe that working and supporting their families and living the American dream are something worth demonstrating for.
What happened to the rest of us?
We just sit in front of our TVs watching football, "American Idol", NASCAR, the shopping channel, baseball, "Survivor".
Survivors — yeah, that's what we are, just surviving. Getting by. Letting it happen.
We say the war is bad, but what can you do about it? We say health care is getting worse and more expensive, but what can you do about it? We say energy prices are going up, but what can you do about it? We say wages can't buy what they used to, but what can you do about it?
We say the federal deficit is going through the roof, but what can you do about it? We say the government is spying on its citizens, but what can you do about it? We say global warming is going to cause a lot of problems for our grandchildren, but what can you do about it?
Our Latino immigrants have one central issue: They want to make a better life for their kids and they don't want to be thrown in jail for trying.
This past week they knew what they could do about it and that was to take to the streets. A novel idea? Hardly! In fact, it's one that the insurgents who founded this country would be proud of.
To the citizens and noncitizens of Los Angeles and Chicago who demonstrated this last week: Unlike President Bush and his misguided attempts to reform the Middle East, it is you who are giving this country a true lesson in democracy.
For more on this issue from Vox Verax, see "Illegal immigration: The GOP tries to distract... again" (above).
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