Monday, August 12, 2013

Xenophobiaphilia

Hello sports fans. So yeah, I've been sporadic of late. Sorry bout that. I'm not promising anything, as depression and exhaustion suck donkey hide, but I'm going to try to get back to my Monday update schedule.

Today's pile o' crap comes to us via email, in the form of a lovely chain letter:

This is a heads up/wake up call for the average American citizen. If the manner and way this country and states within it are being governed is upsetting and you want change to occur, then get up and let's stand together and do something about it... 
Are we prepared  for this revolution within our own  beloved  USA?

Pic came with the email.
"You  old white people.   It is your duty to  die."
HISPANIC  LEADERS SPEAK OUT
 
Augustin  Cebada,  Brown Berets; "Go back to  Boston!   Go back to  Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims!  Get out!  We are  the  future.  You are old and tired.  Go on.  We   have beaten you.  Leave like beaten rats. -you  old white people.  It is your duty to  die.  Through  love of having children, we are going to take   over.
 
Richard   Alatorre,  Los Angeles City Council. "They're  afraid we're  going to take over the governmental  institutions and other  institutions.  They're  right.  We will take them over . .  . We are here to   stay."

Excelsior, the  national  newspaper of  Mexico , "The American Southwest seems  to  be slowly returning to the jurisdiction of  Mexico  without  firing a single shot."

Professor  Jose Angel Gutierrez, University of  Texas; "We have an aging  white  America.  They  are not making babies.  They are  dying.  The  explosion is in our population . .. . I love  it.  They  are shitting in their pants with fear.  I love  it."

Art Torres, Chairman of the  California Democratic Party, "Remember 187--proposition to deny taxpayer  funds for services to non-citizens--was the  last gasp of white   America in  California .."

Gloria  Molina, Los Angeles County Supervisor, "We are politicizing every  single one of these new citizens that are becoming citizens of this  country..... I gotta tell you that a lot of people are  saying, "I'm  going to go out there and vote because I want  to pay them  back."

Mario Obledo,   California Coalition of Hispanic Organizations and  California State  Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare  under Governor Jerry Brown,  also awarded the Presidential  Medal of Freedom by President Bill  Clinton, " California is going to be a Hispanic state.  Anyone who  doesn't like it should leave."

Jose  Pescador Osuna, Mexican Consul General, "We are practicing 'La  Reconquista' in  California."

Professor  Fernando  Guerra,  Loyola  Marymount    University ; "We need to avoid a white backlash by using codes understood by  Latinos . . .  "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHEN I WAS YOUNG:

When I  was young, I  remember hearing about the immigrants that came   through Ellis Island ..  They wanted  to learn  English.  They wanted to breathe free.   They wanted to become  Americans.  Now too many  immigrants come here with demands.   They demand to be  taught in their own language.  They demand  special  privileges--affirmative action.  They demand ethnic   studies that glorify their  culture.

~~~~~~~~~~~

HOW CAN  YOU  HELP?:
Send copies of this email to at least ten  other people, 100 would be even better.  Help  us get the word  out.

Remember  when  you vote that we need someone in the  White House who will balance the  budget and control  illegal immigration.  If we make all  illegals legal, then we have lost our country forever.    Liberalism will have won and you will have a one party  system  forever.  Redistribution of wealth will be  the law.  It is  called socialism.  Our  country is heading in the wrong direction  and we are  doing it to ourselves without serious   protest.     

ALL  AMERICANS SHOULD BE DISTURBED, VERY DISTURBED  BY  THIS.  WHAT A SHAME, THAT NOT ENOUGH  AMERICANS HAVE THE  BACK BONE TO STAND UP AND  SAY,  "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH".  IT IS  TIME  WE TOOK OUR COUNTRY   BACK!

If you are too Politically Correct  to pass this on -Then you, my friend, are Americas biggest  problem.


Well, wasn't that a fun bit of fear mongering?  The first thing to be aware of is that this list was compiled in 2006. So it's easily 7 years out of date. The second thing to be aware of is that the various quotes are largely out of context, or false. Which is not to say that these people didn't say these things, but, as I've mentioned before, context is everything.

Third, if you'd like a complete break down, have some Snopes. Yeah, that's the ever wonderful site taking this point by point like I usually do, providing context for all and disproving some.

Due to the awesomeness of Snopes, I will not be taking this point by point. Suffice it to say that this is essentially fear for its own sake, playing off extreme views and highlighting the most inflammatory bits.

So if I'm not breaking it down, what's the point of this?

To knowledge-ify! (I can make up a word if I want. Yes, yes I can. If Barney Stinson can do it, then a journalism major can.)

First off, here's the 2010 census results, emphasis on race. Hit up page six. It can be a bit confusing, because they changed the way it works for the most recent census. Here's how it works: There was two sets of boxes, one for those claiming Hispanic or Latino origin, one for those who weren't. To be clear, that means that in the set for "Hispanic or Latino origin" 53% were white. Full stop.

In both category, those who self-identify as what we think of as Hispanic or Latino fall under Other Races. So in the Non-Hispanic or Latino Origins category, white folks are sitting at 76%.

But hey, lets straight up compare: ~50.5 million respondents claimed Hispanic or Latino origin. And remember, of those, only 37% are what we think of as Hispanic or Latino.

258 million responded as not having a Hispanic or Latino origin. That's more than five times as many people. So no, we're not exactly in danger of Latinopocalypse.

Stepping over to the other side of the question, what about illegal immigrants? Well, there's between 8 and 11 million. And, as the Council on Foreign Relations notes, most of those won't seek to naturalize. The CFR believes that it will be 2030 before the voting population of Hispanics and Latinos doubles. That's almost two decades.

Where does that sea of numbers leave us? Well, for starters, the fear mongering crap can go blow. There's nothing up there to indicate that them damn fererners are going to take over the country anytime soon. Now, by 2050, the white population is projected to be less than half the total population, but that's 37 years away.

"Oh Jaysis, save us!" whimpers Strawman Schmoe.

If you agree with the Strawman, shame on you. Not to play a tired old card too hard here, but we're a nation of immigrants. All of us (except the Native Americans) came from somewhere else originally. And I've mentioned before that shutting down or more tightly restricting legal immigration is a horrible idea.

Bottom line, here? Yep, there's a decent sized population of Hispanic/Latino peoples around these here parts. And yeah, that number's going to get bigger in the future. But frankly, the only reason to be afraid of that is if you happen to be a white supremacist.

1 comment:

  1. Mary C. Newcome-HatchAugust 13, 2013 at 5:16 AM

    Well done! Interestingly, I have had to use snopes.com ALOT lately. (two "ly" words in one sentence, is that allowed?). Ever since Congress went into recess there has been many outright false posts and emails, it makes one think that those jack-a's are helping spread them.

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