The Global Struggle Against "Imperialism and Capitalism"

Is the illegal immigrant argument about race or politics?

Loaded question.

Consider this 2007 video from Sanchee H.S. history teacher Ron Gochez at a La Raza rally at UCLA.

"Stolen, occupied Mexico... at the forefront of a revolutionary movement, La Raza. Our commandante, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez", et. al. "40 million of 'our people' north of the Rio Grande." Most of whom have lived here for generations, as Americans.

The argument is not about immigrants. It's not about Hispanics. It's about whether said immigrants have the desire to participate in the culture and polity of the United States of America and the benefits that become possible with that assimilation, or whether instead they would rather be used by political groups who co-opt them to achieve their political goals, using racial divisiveness and hate-mongering to advance a political agenda.

I think this is largely what we find so offensive about the protests to Arizona's SB1070, and so many of these protesters displaying Mexican flags (not to mention kids getting hammered for wearing U.S. flag regalia on May 5). The protesters on the left and in the MFM play the race card against something that isn't racial, it's political, it's an ideological argument, for or against the concept of national identity and borders.

Gochez is an a idiot but he's an honest idiot in a way, he isn't crying racism so much as he's declaring you have a bit of a problem with supporting capitalism (the "imperialism" bitch rant is the dishonest part and he plays it like the racist card. I'll bet in his warped analysis of history he interprets U.S. sovereignty in the southwestern United States as "imperialism"). His goofy discourse of "history" will completely fail to recall the other nations that were on the stage, hello, Spain. Do not ask him about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo or the Gadsden Purchase, I doubt he studied his history that well.

via Rosetta at H2. Also the "race vs. politics" I gleaned from a discussion with co-blogger LauraW and another blog friend.

posted by Dave In Texas at 04:17 PM

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