Political correctness - Part trois

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Bill Glasheen
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Political correctness - Part trois

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Once upon a time, an arrogant and liberal North looked down its nose at The South, and chastised it for how blacks were treated.

Southern man
better keep your head
Don't forget
what your good book said
Southern change
gonna come at last
Now your crosses
are burning fast
Southern man


- See Southern Man - Neil Young

And well what do you know... What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

This is what happened when desegregation and court-ordered school busing made it to Boston.

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My my, New Englanders. Don't forget what your good book said!

Southerners began to chuckle. And soon, they grew into their own shoes.

See Forrest Gump - Sweet Home Alabama

And so now history repeats itself. Be careful what you wish for; your wish very well may come true! 8O

- Bill
* POLITICS
* JUNE 18, 2010
Border Fight Creeps North
A Proposed Crackdown on Illegal Immigration Divides Nebraska Farm Town

FREMONT, Neb.—A vote Monday brings to a head a two-year battle over immigration that has divided residents here.

The split over a proposed city ordinance to crack down on illegal immigration has spilled over into churches, coffee shops and grocery stores in this agricultural center 35 miles northwest of Omaha—a long way from the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Dave Weaver for The Wall Street Journal
Kristin Ostrom (left) and Krista Kjelegaard, members of One Fremont One
Future, take calls from listeners during a morning radio show Thursday.


Public officials in the once-homogeneous city of 25,000 have been asked not to speak on the topic, casting an odd veil of silence over the city. Mayor Donald "Skip" Edwards declined to be interviewed, saying only that "I'm not going to put myself in a difficult spot."

"The mentality and the atmosphere has changed" here, said Michelle Knapp, a resident and vocal opponent of the ordinance, sitting at a quaint Main Street coffee shop. "It's fear."

Fremont's special election follows on the heels of a strict law recently signed by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer making it a state crime to be in the country illegally.

While immigration has long been the purview of the federal government, states and cities like Fremont are increasingly taking matters into their own hands in the absence of a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration policy.

"If you're having flooding, you're not going to wait for the federal government to sandbag," said Jerry Hart, a resident and lead proponent of the Fremont ordinance.

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Since its founding in 1856, Fremont has been almost all white, with many residents of Swedish and German descent. Over the years, big meatpacking companies like Hormel Foods moved to town as the industry was consolidating and being pushed from urban centers to the rural Midwest. In the 1990s, the area's Hispanic population began to grow.

Today, about 1,100 immigrants, including some who lack proper documentation, call Fremont home, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group. Manicured lawns, lilac bushes and restaurants like the Nifty Fifties are now punctuated by Mexican restaurants and tiny tiendas that sell yucca and plantains.

In June 2008, a now-retired city council member proposed an ordinance that would prohibit harboring, hiring or renting to undocumented immigrants. It would give local police more power to inquire into a person's immigration status.

The following month, residents packed the Fremont High School to debate the issue. In a vote the night of the debate, the city council split four-to-four on the proposal. Mayor Edwards cast the tie-breaking vote against the ordinance, saying at the time that he had consulted with the Nebraska attorney general and determined that immigration matters should remain in federal hands.

Disappointed by the outcome, proponents gathered more than 3,000 signatures to put the issue on a ballot for a special election. The city sued in state court, saying the ordinance would be unconstitutional. In April, the Nebraska Supreme Court concluded the measure should be put before voters.

Out-of-state groups have joined the fight. Kris Kobach, an attorney and law professor from Missouri, has been lending legal advice to Fremonters who want the ordinance. Mr. Kobach has also helped other small cities pass similar ordinances, and he helped write the Arizona law.

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On the other side, the Nebraska affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has threatened to sue if the ordinance passes. Opponents warn that passage would lead to costly litigation the city can't afford.

After the city council vote in 2008, tensions escalated. Some started calling Fremont "Frexico" and accused immigrants of bringing gang activity and disease to town, claims that are hotly contested. Alfredo Velez, owner of Tienda Mexicana Guerrero, said somebody shot out his front window with a BB gun.

Backers of the ordinance say it will protect Fremont from becoming a "safe-haven for illegal aliens," according to a flier with an American flag being distributed across town.

Ordinance backer Edward Robinson, a farmer who lives just outside Fremont, said over a plate of enchiladas at a local Mexican restaurant that he applauds Fremont for taking action because the U.S.-Mexico border "is a portal that is so dangerous today."

Other residents, including immigrants, say the proposal would make Fremont one of America's least welcoming towns.

Earlier this week, a group of Fremont residents in a newly formed group, One Fremont One Future, gathered about 200 people in a grassy park to show their opposition to the ordinance.

The Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce recently passed a resolution opposing the proposed ordinance, saying it would impose high costs on businesses that they can ill-afford, "especially in this uncertain economy."

The city said in a fact sheet the ordinance would cost Fremont at least $1 million a year to implement and enforce. The city also said it would likely have to raise taxes and cut jobs to pay for the increases.

"It's the wrong solution," said longtime resident Don Hinds, owner of a commercial investment business in the city. It would be a "tremendous burden on landlords, city officials and the police department."

Write to Lauren Etter at lauren.etter@wsj.com
- WSJ
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Glenn
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Post by Glenn »

I'm too young to remember the desegregation turmoil of the 1960s, but I definitely remember the forced busing turmoil of the mid-1970s as a grade-schooler in the South. I remember being with my parents at protests against forced busing, the police breaking them up, my mom narrowly avoiding getting arrested when the officer confronting her became distracted by a fight nearby, and us ultimately moving out of Louisville, where busing was enacted, to a smaller town where it was not. As I recall, if we had stayed in Louisville I would have been bused two years out my twelve years in school, not likely enough to make a difference in my education, likewise two years in better schools probably did not do much for the disadvantaged kids in the long run.
Bill Glasheen wrote: Southerners began to chuckle
Can't say I recall much laughter about this issue though.

The proposed Fremont ordinance is hardly surprising, this is a staunchly conservative/Republican state...and as a result the issue has gotten very little press around here. If only 200 people out of 25,000 showed up to an opposition rally, I'd say the ordinance will likely pass at the polls.
Once upon a time, an arrogant and liberal North looked down its nose at The South, and chastised it for how blacks were treated.
Danged Republicans, even back then as an upstart new party pushing for black rights and the end of slavery they were causing problems. :wink:

My how party platforms can change.
Glenn
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Bill Glasheen
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Post by Bill Glasheen »

Glenn wrote:
My how party platforms can change.
I like to remind people of that when they're so glib with their stereotypes of Republicans and Democrats. It's the young ones who obviously never paid attention in history class that I can tie in knots. I almost feel like a bully when I do it.

Almost... ;)

Busing affected my education, and in a most paradoxical way.

Our family of 8 went through private school (parochial and prep) for all but 1 year of the grammar and high school of these 8 times 12 years. (None of us went to kindergarten...) My parents did that for us because education mattered to them. And judging by how far we all went, I'd say that their investments paid off.

I hated my high school (in Newport News) and never knew why. Only when I asked to go to Philips Exeter (and got in) did I begin to get it. In my first prep school, I was surrounded by whites who were avoiding busing. I never realized the attitude of arrogance and entitlement until I ended up in a place where being smart and working hard were the only things that mattered. It was a major culture shock for me - in a very good way.

When you get treated like hell not because you don't come from the right family, but because you truly are being a jerk, well... That's a very good thing. ;)

- Bill
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f.Channell
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Post by f.Channell »

Most of these situation are more about economics and lost jobs than about race.
Sans Peur Ne Obliviscaris
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Glenn
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Post by Glenn »

f.Channell wrote: Most of these situation are more about economics and lost jobs than about race.
Yes and no. Economics is definitely playing a role in the events in Fremont. The WSJ article obliquely mentions the meat-packing industry but does not connect the dots. After the farm crisis of the 1980s, the meat-packing industry expanded into several counties in the Great Plains in the 1990s helping bring about an economic rebound for the region (particularly for those counties in which the plants opened). The jobs generated by these plants attracted migrants; including immigrants, legal and illegal, and sizeable Hispanic populations developed. And the plants came to rely on the immigrant labor, to the extent that they accept periodic federal raids for illegal immigrants...and the fines incurred when they are caught having employed illegal immigrants...as an acceptable cost.

While the companies are comfortable with this situation, the surrounding communities have not always been as accepting of the changes experienced nor of the perceived loss of jobs to immigrants, particularly during a recession. In part it is a reflection of competition for jobs, in part it is scapegoating. Competition is competition, but it is easier to target a group of people who are different and to channel the emotions of economic insecurity against them. Regardless, the result is that the portion of the public favoring the ordinance is at odds with the corporate and governmental leaders over it. And it sounds like the governmental leaders might be more in favor of the ordinance if not for the fiscal impact it would have.

This case in Fremont is an extreme example of a community struggling with these complex issues. It's part economics. It's part race (or other differences). It's hardly unique to Fremont though.

Trivia facts:
Fremont, Nebraska is named for the first Republican presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, who ran for the new party in the 1856 election and came in second to the Democratic candidate Buchanan. Lincoln, Nebraska is of course named after the second Republican candidate, who won the 1860 election. Lincoln was the last 3rd-party candidate (which the Republican party was at that time) to win a presidential election, with his victory putting the final nail in the coffin of the declining Whig party and elevating the Republican party to the top-two status with the Democratic party. The elections of 1860 also gave the abolitionist Republicans control of both the presidency and congress. Realizing the implications of this, the southern states began seceeding soon thereafter.
Glenn
AAAhmed46
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Post by AAAhmed46 »

Obama needs to seriously watch this. Oh he's probably aware, but doesn't care. The banks will keep getting bailed out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTur ... nVJAkhGyjQ
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Bill Glasheen
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Post by Bill Glasheen »

AAAhmed46 wrote:
Obama needs to seriously watch this. Oh he's probably aware, but doesn't care. The banks will keep getting bailed out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheYoungTur ... nVJAkhGyjQ
Adam

This is a very interesting phenomenon. And it deserves a separate thread.

- Bill
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f.Channell
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Post by f.Channell »

Lincoln's racial views are usually mis-understood as well.

http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n5p-4_Morgan.html

F.
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