Don't Let Racism Enter Debate On Illegal Immigration

Everyone has an opinion on illegal immigration, and those ideas vary from every extreme to all kinds of shades of gray in the middle. All of these ideas are acceptable and appreciated when debating this issue. It's the basis of our democracy. What's troubling, though, is that racism underlies some folks' take on immigration, although they will never admit it, and it can cloud the debate.

Right here in Highlands County there are many points of view on illegal immigration. Some folks want illegal immigrants loaded up and carted away, while others believe citizenship for everyone already here is the best answer. Others believe there should be a process for citizenship for illegal immigrants who have been living here for a long time. Most of these are legitimately based arguments worthy of debate. But something else is going on.

Racists have grabbed hold of this issue as well. They can hide behind the legitimate debate and disguise their disgusting intentions, but most people are not fooled. It doesn't take much in-depth discussion to figure out people's motives on this issue. Most racists are not smart enough to hide what's in their hearts for long.

For a lot of people, the argument comes down to how it affects them personally and professionally. Agricultural producers are more likely to support some kind of "guest worker" allowance that will provide them affordable labor. Other people believe illegal immigration keeps our citizens from finding jobs. Other believe these immigrants are preyed upon by American business people. But other people just don't like someone with a different color or culture to live here.

Why are some people so infuriated when they hear someone speaking Spanish in public? How does that affect them in any way? For some, though, that seems to be the breaking point. They rant and rave about people speaking a different language in "America."

Immigrants have been speaking different languages here since the first immigrants arrived on the Mayflower. The Native Americans couldn't understand a word they said. Since then, Italians, Polish, Russian, German, African, Chinese and every other language and culture imaginable came to our country. The ones from the old country spoke whatever language they grew up with. Some learned English, but most spoke broken language until their deaths. Their children, however, learned both languages. Within two generations, they all spoke English. It's how it has always worked.

Let's discuss illegal immigration intelligently. We can disagree, even vehemently, but leave the racist part out of it. Of course, some racists don't even believe they are racists. It's up to the rest of us to know the difference and not let that kind of hate enter the discussion.