The More Things Change...
"Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us, instead of our Anglifying them." Ben Franklin, 1751, as quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 11, 2006.
Cherokee County, Georgia is about 35 miles North of the City of Atlanta. It is one of the newest bedroom communities in Metro Atlanta and suffers all the woes associated with that status. Schools, roads, sewers are needed. Long time residents clash with the city refugees building McMansions on what was pasture land when their taxes rise to pay for new infrastructure.
Over the past month the old and new guards have put aside their differences to focus on what is really important, attacking the "damn Mexicans." (In North Georgia all Hispanic people, if referred to derogatorily, are Mexicans. Guatemalan just doesn't roll off the tongue. And they all look alike you know.) The County Commission has enacted two ordinances. First, it is now a crime for a landlord to rent to anyone who hasn't proved that they are a citizen or have resident alien status. Second, the County cannot spend any money to communicate to anyone in a foreign language unless the communication is mandated by state or federal law or is regarding a major government function: education, courts and health care. Both measures are largely symbolic given facts on the ground. Most rental units in the County are in its two cities, Canton and Woodstock, neither of which is bound by the County ordinance. Most government communication in foreign languages is the result of state or federal laws or involves education, courts or health care.
Cherokee's message to Mexicans by passage of the ordinances seems to be "you're welcome to plant and harvest our fields. Framing, drywalling and landscaping McMansions is OK too. You can maintain what you build. But make sure you're out of town by sundown. Oh, while you're here, keep your mouth shut. None of that jibber-jabber allowed among the polite folk in the County."
There's of course nothing new here as demonstrated by the quote of one of our Founding Fathers at the top of the post. African slaves, Irish potato famine refugees, Chinese railroad laborers, Okies, southern migrants in northern factories during World War II. They are all "Mexicans" to those that get somewhere first.
3 comments:
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Good post, and one that I missed the first time around. Anyone who has read the comments section of the AJC's many "blogs" knows this attitude all too well. No matter how innocuous the original subject, the discussion always seems to quickly devolve into harangues about "Mexicans" and how they are "ruining everything".
Just finished reading all three of your SEO meme posts. Great job on all of 'em but then, I can't say I don't feel that way about 99% of your posts -except for a couple that kind of confuse me. LOL The immigration/illegal faction is one that virtually everyone living here -with the sole exception being someone who is 100% native American -should think about and realize somewhere in each of their family trees is at least ONE ancestor who was once a "foreigner" of some type. Three of my grandparents were immigrants, my maternal grandmother was born here but her parents were immigrants. Ok, so they came through in the "legal" manner but their reasons for coming here were basically the same as those of the people classified as "illegals" today - employment, bettering themselves in some way. I do believe if people want to come live here, they should be required to at least try to learn the language -English -and to understand the laws too. But that doesn't come about overnight either so, there does have to be some assists in place for them. Other than that, why should they be denied entry unless they have a strong criminal history they wish to hide?
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