For reasons which will become clear, it was difficult to watch cinematic depictions of the battle at the Alamo and know which side to root for.
#1 son once declared while studying the portion of American history which dealt with Texas' struggle for independence from Mexico and its subsequent absorption into the United States, "I feel so conflicted!"
My maternal grandparents were "illegal immigrants" from Mexico. They crossed the Rio Grande into Texas and settled in Ozona where they lived the remainder of their lives and raised a family of first generation Mexican Americans.
I've been told that my grandmother never went back to visit Mexico because she was afraid she would not be able to get back into the States. My grandfather worked on local ranches as a vaquero all his life. They paid taxes and were very active in the community. They required their children learn English and pursue higher education, and although my grandmother would never speak English, it was commonly believed that she understood it quite well.
I am neither proud nor ashamed of my ethnic heritage. My Mom married an Anglo, we lived up north, and never learned to speak Spanish at home. I do not particularly identify as being Mexican-American other than flying a Mexican flag from my front porch on Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo, making tamales for Christmas, or irritating a racist neighbor by drawing attention to my ethnicity. I've told my sons in the past that if anyone gives them grief about their ethnic heritage to tell them, "lay off or we'll tell our relatives not to mow your lawn."
The fact is my grandparents were in violation of the laws of the United States. There is no way around that. Should they have been deported? Probably, but I'm glad they weren't and that I had the opportunity to grow up in this country.
Signed,
Conflicted
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Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - daryl d
I cannot believe that both Democraps and Repubicans tried to shove amnesty in our faces. While I don't think deporting every illegal immigrant is the solution, a blanket amnesty was an insult to true citizens.
2 - RJ
Amen, daryl d.
Here's an interesting map.
Red states had 2 Senators voting against this bill*
Blue states had 2 Senators voting for this bill
White states had Senators who split their votes
It's pretty clear that the South and the MidWest did NOT want this bill passed...
*South Dakota had only one Senator who was able to vote, and he voted against this bill. The other Senator is ill, and his non-vote had the effect of opposing the bill.
3 - Dr Dreadful
My mother-in-law grew up in LA speaking Spanish as her first language - her parents were first generation Nicaraguan and Puerto Rican immigrants. But she married a white guy and somehow managed to raise all three of her kids as monoglot English. My wife still can't believe she owes virtually all her knowledge of Spanish not to her bilingual mother, but to living in an area with a large Hispanic population.
4 - moonraven
Day by day Mexicans are taking back at least the part of the US that was grabbed from Mexico--by repopulating it.
It's going to continue, no matter how many fences are built by the folks they are supposed to keep out.
If you have not learned Spanish, I suggest you start learning it now.
5 - Clavos
¡Que viva La Raza! (En Aztlan)
6 - Lumpy
Day by day mexicans who come to the US are learning good american capitalist values and getting the oppprtunities they crave and ultimately bringing the viral concept of free labor and free capital back to infect mexico. Oh and they are learning english too.
7 - troll
gak - !
you're right Lumpy...the glass is half empty
8 - Anapurna
Capitalism is as natural as breathing to humans. Socialism and Communism can be imposed by force or by foolishness, but the urge to struggle to improve your lot will overwhelm them eventually.
9 - Dr Dreadful
Capitalism is as natural as breathing to humans.
Wrong. Capitalism as an economic system is a relatively new arrival. It was a product of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, and as such is a uniquely European concept.
The vast majority of societies and civilizations throughout history have not practiced capitalism. It is no more "natural" to humans than driving a car is.
10 - Lumpy
Capitalism is just an extension of barter through the medium of money. It started when the first cromagnon hunting team agreed to sell mammoth meat for arrowheads to a neighboring tribe.
11 - troll
(or was that when the first gal agreed to ball for beads - ?)
12 - Dr Dreadful
No, Lumpy, that's just trade. Capitalism is the idea of private ownership and the quest for profit as ends in themselves.
13 - Zedd
Lumpy,
Capitalism is not bartering. You just made that up didn't you? I'm sure it sounded good to you and you thought you had a gem (snicker).
Capitalism is an economic system. Bartering over a buffalo tooth, while living in a communal system doesn't make you a capitalist. It simply makes you someone who is bartering at the moment.
14 - Lumpy
Ignorance and arrogance are a dangerous combination, zeddy.
One for one trade of goods for goods is simple barter. That was not the example I gave. My example was the trade of resources for manufactured items which would presumably then be traded to others for other needs. That adds up to engaging in trade for profit and that's capitalism in a nutshell.
15 - Zedd
Lumpy,
I was responding to #10. Capitalism is just an extension of barter through the medium of money. It started when the first cromagnon hunting team agreed to sell mammoth meat for arrowheads to a neighboring tribe.
Perhaps we are discussing two different posts. In this post you speak of a single instance of trade, actually the first trade for potential human beings. That does not comprise of a system of capitalism. You would have to discuss what type of society they live in to determine that. Is there a sense of private ownership in that culture for instance...
Remember we first had small bands which were highly communistic, Capitalism is rather new on the "economics evolutionary chain" as the Doctor has stated.
16 - Zedd
Lumpy
I forgot to say that I like Zeddy. It's cute!
17 - Lumpy
You and the doctor can state anything u like, zeddlet, but it doesn't change the basic dynamic of human civilization which is based on exchange of goods and swrvices and the struggle to enrich and advance oneself with more mammoth hides more women and more goats. It's not based on pooling resources and working for the common good. That's a communistic fantasy with no basis in the real world now or ever.
18 - Zedd
Lumpy,
What you say sounds good but its not really true.
We'll just move on.
19 - Christopher Rose
Whilst I'm in agreement with Lumpy in basic terms, I can't agree with his second point, that "pooling resources and working for the common good... is a communistic fantasy with no basis in the real world now or ever".
Pooling resources is often simply more efficient, working for the common good is both altruistic and more efficient too.
"Me first", aka raw capitalism, may be a more basic instinct but if we lived our lives by such impulses, the world would be a far uglier and less cultured place than it is. Driving would be way more dangerous too...
20 - STM
Speaking of immigration ....
The Wallabies beat the All Blacks 20-15 tonight at the MCG.
It'll be a black night across the ditch in New Zealand tonight.
Suck eggs, for once!
(NZ joke:
Q: What's a hindu?
A: lays iggs, bro.)
21 - troll
Con - 'blessed are the peace makers'...doesn't refer to hand cannons
22 - Arch Conservative
Yeah well I doubt that "blessed are the peacemakers" was intended to mean "it's ok to let others screw you over as long as they do it peacefully."
I really wish there was a peaceful solution to the illegal alien problem troll, but with each passing day it is becoming more and more apparent that there never will be.
Oh and I HAVE NEVER EVEN ONCE in all of the time I have been posting on BC used a bible quote to counter someone else's argument and bolster my own so I would appreciate it if they wouldn't be used against me as if I am someone hypocritical bible thumper.
23 - STM
You are right troll ... I think I should make peace with all the New Zealanders in the office who just heard me jumping up and down and saying, "Get that up yers!".
Next week though.
24 - STM
Back to topic: It is my country, after all, not theirs ....
25 - troll
Con - in this case I'm only against your call for violence when you say to another commenter: *I hope you're among the first they shoot.*...and I enjoy quotes from the Book(s)