As the unwitting poster child for both racism and social change with the possibilty of what human beings are capable of, Alabama has an interesting history regarding race issues and social change.
While George Wallace did and said some things that we would all rather forget, it is my belief that with the proper opportunitites and successful public relations that is the province of the marketing trolls, the great state of Alabama can collectively roll up its sleeves and get on with the business of revamping its image here and abroad.
It has often been said that chaos, upheaveal and an inordinate amount of drama often proceeds great change.
Alabama, aren’t you lucky. In recent news the issue of immigration has been at the forefront of the media’s attention with a few of your favorite sons providing some entertaining and disturbing sound bites.
“They were coming in here like thieves in the night and taking our jobs and tax revenue,” said Republican Rep. Micky Hammon, who also sponsored the new law.
Mr. Hammon also provided us with some wonderful insight via a brief video on YouTube.
During the course of this video, he shares his thoughts on HB56 which in his words is designed to deter immigration. He mentions that while Arizona got the ball rolling (relegalizing racism) they put some “Alabama Flavor” on it by taking it a step further and making sure that folks who are here illegally have to possess ID for every aspect of their lives (how thoughtful).
In addition, there are now laws on the books that make it illegal to rent or lease to anyone suspected of being here illegally.
And finally, no sytem of domination could be complete without limiting the way you transact business and make a living (E-Verify) and limiting the access to education of young people. Alabama, we have some serious work to do.
Alabama, you have a wonderful opportunity to right so many of the wrongs that the country either correctly or incorrectly has assigned to you in excess of fifty years.
To turn this around, we have to remember why you are severly limiting educational, housing and employment opportunities. If it is to create jobs this is not a bad idea. Has this occurred ? Perhaps, I am too hopeful or optimistic having lived in California for some time and having to endure an unemployment rate of 10% for three years can most definitely alter your perspective.
We are being told that the only reason kids in schools are being questioned regarding their immigration status is for statistical reasons.
Statistics are great if they are used to better lives and not ensure domination and fear. Part of the statistical gathering involves questioning young children. Imagine living in a strange country with people who look and speak differently asking questions about your parents and living arrangements.
Stats gathered from a frightened and confused eight-year-old is definitely something to regard as accurate and noteworthy.
This is why so many school age children stay home and are afraid to go to school. If the choice is get an education or be deported along with your family what would any innocent eight-year-old do? That is quite a buttload of responsibility.
Instead of penalizing people for their “status” why not take all of this collected data and decide how to educate the masses, create jobs and offer tax incentives for businesses that hire people who obviously don’t want to work.
If you have never done back breaking manual labor then shut your gravy hole about what people are willling to do to provide for their families. It is highly ironic that all of the undocumented business picked up steam so close to the 2012 Presidential Election.