Being against illegal immigration doesn't make you a racist.

I am not a member of La Raza. I am very involved in the immigrant rights movement. I spend quite a bit of time with members of La Raza (who help organize and advocate).

I have from the beginning of this thread distinguished between people who are against illegal immigration because it breaks the law-- and people who express or spread racist ideas.

I will repeat the title of this thread "Being against illegal immigration does not make you a racist".

Stereotypes that question the loyalty of American citizens based on their ethnicity is an example of racism.

There are Latinos (particularly students) who express extreme ideas-- especially those who are angry about what is happening. Those that are US citizens have every right to do this, and there are extremists of every ethnic group.

The group MeCha is a student group, and an example of people who often go over the line to extremism. La Raza has publically disavowed this type of extremism.

La Raza is a very active civil rights organization that has a very long record. This record includes prominant American thinkers, and testimony in front of Congress.

If you want to slander the Hispanic community, slandering La Raza is a good place to start. But these are just lies.

I repeat my challenge (since truth is a defense against a charge of slander)... There is a very big record. Give me one instance, in all of the Record of La Raza where they support the extremism you are accusing them of.

The group MeCha is a student group, and an example of people who often go over the line to extremism. La Raza has publically disavowed this type of extremism.

I am sorry to hear about what happened to your mother.

Cyclo,

I am sorry, but no I can't make this connection, nor will I.

You are making a connection between one bastard and all illegal immigrants.

It is an understandable part of human nature to make such a connection, but it isn't rational. There are many people who suffer hit and runs by American citizens, I doubt the fact it was an American citizen who hit their loved one makes them feel any better... and people harbor anger toward many other groups because of similar stories.

Do you really want to bring a personal family tragedy into this discussion?
If it were my mother, I would prefer to keep her out of this debate. And, I was trying to offer my sincere sympathy. By using a personal tragedy to make a generalization about illegal immigrants you put me into a situation that I would rather not be in.

I assure you that most illegal immigrants have not been the cause of hit and run accidents.

The use of a tragedy involving one's mother as bait makes me uncomfortable.

Fine, I am not disagreeing with you.

The use of a tragedy involving one's mother as bait makes me uncomfortable.

I also know of a person killed by an illegal that ran a red light, no insurance, no nothing. He went back to Mexico.

Also, I would venture to guess there have been dozens, if not hundreds of illegals and other innocents killed by smugglers driving vans with bald tires, many others have died in trucks, overcome by heat exhaustion. I have heard multiple times of wrecks, sometimes one car, sometimes more, where a van loaded with 6 to 15 immigrants, many killed, the vehicles traveling 80 or faster.

Come out to the Southwest and you will hear of it happening all the time.

Where is YOUR compassion, ebrown?

ebrown_p wrote:

The use of a tragedy involving one's mother as bait makes me uncomfortable.

I also know of a person killed by an illegal that ran a red light, no insurance, no nothing. He went back to Mexico.

Also, I would venture to guess there have been dozens, if not hundreds of illegals and other innocents killed by smugglers driving vans with bald tires, many others have died in trucks, overcome by heat exhaustion. I have heard multiple times of wrecks, sometimes one car, sometimes more, where a van loaded with 6 to 15 immigrants, many killed, the vehicles traveling 80 or faster.

Come out to the Southwest and you will hear of it happening all the time.

Where is YOUR compassion, ebrown?

okie wrote:

I also know of a person killed by an illegal that ran a red light, no insurance, no nothing. He went back to Mexico.

Also, I would venture to guess there have been dozens, if not hundreds of illegals and other innocents killed by smugglers driving vans with bald tires, many others have died in trucks, overcome by heat exhaustion. I have heard multiple times of wrecks, sometimes one car, sometimes more, where a van loaded with 6 to 15 immigrants, many killed, the vehicles traveling 80 or faster.

Come out to the Southwest and you will hear of it happening all the time.

Where is YOUR compassion, ebrown?

Well, if such is to used as an argument ...

25% of all criminal investigations in my county (situated more or less quite in the middle of Germany) are against non-Germans, about 40% of the most dangerous accidents on the autobahns happen related to foreigners ...

My father in-law was hit by a driver who ran and was later caught. He was an illegal and ran because he had been drinking and as usual didn't have a license or any insurance. Good thing my father in-law is retired Navy because he had medical insurance to cover his minor injuries. The guy who hit him was released on bond and never came back for his trial. Who knows where he is now, but I know he is laughing at the law and the fact that he won't be caught and do jail time for committing yet more crimes besides being here illegally.

Do most of them at least have insurance, Walter? And if I understand correctly, traveling between countries in Europe is more akin to traveling between states here. It is totally expectable, legal, and probably typically with insurance.