Raise torch of liberty, not riot shields
April 16, 2006
The image is frightening.
A handful of riot police -- shields tucked tightly over their chests and wearing helmets that look like throwbacks from the Nazi regime -- are eyeing a group of peaceful demonstrators on the left.
This was a snapshot from Fort Myers last Monday, when Lee County spent at least $400,000 in taxpayer money in conjunction with an immigration reform protest march. The bill included $315,791 for riot gear consisting of a helmet, face shield, baton and gas mask.
Central Florida might have to picture this May 1, when immigrants and advocates gather for a statewide demonstration pushing for reforms that would legalize hundreds of thousands of illegal workers and families in Florida.
The perception -- or is it reality? -- is fairly obvious:
America is under siege.
Immigration reform has become the Great Divide in our country, never mind the little mess going on in the Middle East. It is increasingly clear that it's an "Us Against Them" debate, with few folks willing to find compromise, if not compassion, in their hearts.
A loud segment of this nation literally wants to build a wall around our borders to keep illegal aliens from touching our precious soil. A recent Time magazine/SBRI poll indicates that 62 percent of the respondents favor stopping illegal immigrants from entering the U.S. "by whatever steps necessary."
The voices of dissent resonate in Central Florida, too. A March 26 column -- in which I suggested some provisions for amnesty and a reasonable approach to securing our borders -- evoked 24 voice mails alone. Have a listen:
"A foreign country is invading our soil. If I, a mainstream average white person, doesn't feel my country is protecting my culture from foreign intrusion, then I will be tempted to join an insurgency."
"What they call the immigrants now, we used to call them wetbacks. They have to go back, every one of them."
There's more racist drivel, but there's no point in spreading their vile hatred.
What pains me most is this: It's clearly not just the white-hooded yahoos salivating now that they have a topical agenda to raise their voice. America seems to have lost its patience -- and memory apparently -- when it comes to our history as a nation that embraces the disenfranchised.
A good friend's grandparents arrived illegally from Romania in 1929. Living in New York, they slept with their windows open, fearing immigration officers would come busting through their doors; they didn't go to hospitals because of the potential entanglements in the paperwork.
Closer to modern times, Florida's Republican Sen. Mel Martinez recalled recent conversations with Cuban-Americans, wondering why he was lobbying hard for a compromise immigration-reform bill that Martinez still has high hopes for, once Congress reconvenes.
"We can be sanctimonious as hell," said Martinez, a Cuban-American. "It makes me very, very sad."
Are Mexicans somehow lesser humans?
Somewhere in this mess I hope there can be a reasonable way to come together.
Demonstrators need to drop the Viva Mexico! rally cries and flags. A little humility wouldn't hurt. "This is not about Mexico," Martinez said. "It's about America."
On the other side, we can secure our borders without building unsightly fences. We can find some way to squeeze in a portion of the estimated 12 million illegal aliens without causing undue strain on our economy and resources.
Most important, we can prove that this is the greatest country on this planet, simply because the word opportunity resonates throughout our history.
A good way of showing that is to extend open arms to those who deserve the privilege of stepping onto American soil, instead of bringing in Storm Troopers for reinforcements.
Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-george1606apr16,0,3665482.column?coll=orl-opinion-headlines
|