The New Racism

It’s been awhile since I’ve reported to this blog. It’s not for lack of trying. We are working day and night to complete our green live/workspace, leaving little time to write. However, I’ve been wanting to write about a very important issue that all should be aware of.

It seems that institutional racism is back in vogue in this country. Anyone desiring to immigrate to this country is the target. This is wrong for so many reasons.

Cities across the country, some 40 or more as I write, are passing new laws making it illegal for immigrants to rent a home, work a job, get a license for whatever activity they want to participate in, and do things that citizens in this country do every day. Fortunately, courts are striking down these laws almost as fast as they appear. But, their appearance is an ugly and horrible thing.

In this age when America is hated worldwide, we should be accepting immigrants as fast as we can. These are people who want to be part of America. These are people who love this country and want to contribute. Immigrants want what citizens want—to live the American dream.

I’ve heard all the arguments against accepting more immigrants into our society. All are laughable, and lead to one conclusion. The real reason to turn people away is racism and bigotry. Immigrants don’t look like us, so they must be sent away.

It can’t be that immigrants are a burden on our society. No one crosses the border and heads straight for the welfare office. It can’t be that immigrants represent a new army of terrorists. To the best of my knowledge, we’ve never suffered a terrorist attack from Canada, Mexico, or Eastern Europe. It can’t be that immigrants take jobs away from everyday Americans. Our country's unemployment numbers at the time of this writing are incredibly low.

Racism is the only reason that makes any (non)sense. This is a terrible thing for many reason, but I’ll just highlight one.

Immigrants come to this country because they want to be Americans and make a better life for themselves. Want to make another American-hating foreigner? Arrest an immigrant and deport the person and see whether they’d like to be American or hate this country.

Which brings me to the only solution that will work in my view. Unconditional amnesty. Grant citizenship to the millions of immigrants residing in our country and contributing to it economically and culturally every day. Give these people what they deserve and we’ll all benefit.