Immigration Reform – It’s Time. It’s Fair.

by Ruth A Sheets

I just watched the new documentary film “Dream Now.”  Four young immigrants who were brought to America by parents when they were children are now hoping to make a place for themselves in their new country.  The problem, of course, their parents came here illegally.

Supposedly, there will be a vote in Congress this week, described as “massive immigration reform” and “a complete overhaul of immigration.”  I suspect that neither is an accurate description.

The folks in power, and many Americans in general, want to be sure that anyone who came here without permission will have to pay, hopefully for the rest of their lives for their criminal invasion of our precious shores.  We can’t have amnesty because that will lead more undesirables to come here.

In the past decade or so, since this has again become such a huge issue, I have heard people complain that illegal immigrants didn’t wait in line to come here as they should have. Those illegals who are here should go back where they came from and get in line like everyone else.

What a bunch of nonsense!  The people “back home” who did get permission were

often folks who knew someone who knew someone who could get them in.  Does that make them more worthy than someone who braves the Arizona desert to make a better life for themselves and their family? 

Marco Rubio, Senator from Florida has set himself up as some kind of champion for immigration.  However, he wants to make it as close to impossible for people who are undocumented to become citizens.  The hypocrisy is that Mr. Rubio is a member of the priviledged class, the anti-Castro element from Cuba who have had a red carpet path right from the island to American citizenship.  Are the Cuban immigrants more worthy than the Chinese immigrant who thought she was coming here for a decent life and found herself illegal when she arrived?

We are obsessed with building and maintaining the fense across our Mexican border.  Why are we so frightened of our neighbors to the south?  The terrorists who perpetrated 911 did not come through Mexico. 

I don’t believe we can be reminded often enough that this is a nation of immigrants.  All of us are immigrants, even the Native Americans who came 20,000 years ago.  Most of our ancestors did not come here “with permission.”  Many were brought here in chains as either slaves or prisoners.  Others snuck in on ships or planes.  Many came through Ellis Island, sometimes the result of an arbitrary decision by a sympathetic official.      

 

What do these folks have in common?  They and their descendants who still live here are Americans  and share some common values and practices.  They work to make better lives for their families.  They want their children to have better opportunities than they have had. 

Guess what? The undocumented immigrants want the same things.  They, too, want to be part of this crazy, wild, sometimes out-of-control experiment that is The United States of America.  Let’s make it possible for them to do so.  Set up a five-your waiting period when the adults can learn about our history and government, pay taxes, commit to this nation.  Their children should be able to become citizens within 2 years so they can help their parents earn the money necessary to pay the fees which Congress will surely require.

Let’s get over the fear that the “illegal immigrants will take all our jobs and leave us unemployed."  It is not the immigrants who will do that.  It is the people who own the businesses that hire as few people as possible, pay as little as they can, and accumulate obscene profits who will do it. but that’s another story.

Overwhelmed

by Ruth A. Sheets

I just checked back and saw that this is near the anniversary of the founding of the leastheardfrom blog.  I also noted that I have not made a contribution to the blog for a few months. That is really pathetic. It is not that I have nothing to say. There is a lot going on that screams for comment.

I realized as I sat down this evening that I am overwhelmed by the avalanche of dislike and disdain that some elements of America have aimed at the vast majority of Americans. 

I had hoped that with the victory of President Obama in November that some civility would seep into the work and rhetoric of Republicans. I  thought they would notice that the country is crying for some degree of unity.  Boy, was I naive!  If anything, the anti-Obama talk and the smear tactics Republicans crafted for 2012 are still in force.  The Republicans are still in “oppose everything” mode.

Sensible gun regulation should be a no-brainer, after the mass killings and the ongoing gun violence.  However, Republicans, along with their NRA handlers are doing their best to see that no changes in gun laws happen.  Well, not exactly, they want more people to own and carry guns, even in our schools.

Immigration reform should have been at the top of the Republican agenda since they received fewer than 30 percent of the Hispanic vote in November.  Nearly four months after being sworn in, this congress still has not even begun to seriously look at the topic. They want more and bigger fences before they do anything for the people involved.

Republicans whine that they are not perpetrating a “war on women.”  They even send their squad of token women out for interviews on shows that claim to present a balanced  view of the issue.  While these women gush that they have everything they need, Republican legislatures are significantly limiting women’s reproductive choice and equal pay. Men in the military are allowed to dismiss cases against convicted rapists, just "because."   

Our Republican “friends” are determined to limit Social Security and Medicare because it supports the folks they refer to as “The Takers” while of course, the Republicans are “The Givers.”  Even President Obama is caving and willing to stop cost of living increases for seniors to placate Republicans who have no intention of allowing the rich to pay their fair share.

The Republican assault on education continues. Vouchers, charter schools, funding cuts all undermine our real public schools. Then, in Atlanta, the teachers who cheated on the state tests so their kids could get more funding and resources were imprisoned with bails that murderers and rapists rarely see.  Isn’t it nice we don’t have to seriously look at the relationship between low scores and poverty?  It’s teachers who are to blame for all that.

Our Supreme Court talks of “racial entitlements” and complains that same-sex marriage is just too new to be ruled on effectively.  They didn’t seem to have any trouble giving the money-soaked corporations opportunities to influence our elections anonymously, calling these corporate players,  “persons.”  What about the real persons who just want their relationships to be recognized?

So, possibly like you, I am overwhelmed.  I am appalled that we taxpayers support Republicans in congress who are not working for us.  They can’t give up cherished biases for the good of the country.  In fact, I suspect that most elected Republicans have no idea what “the common good” is.  The sad part is that I am not sure how much more aware Democrats are.  They too have their handlers for whom they must perform. 

Where does that leave those of us who do know what “the Common Good” means?

 

The Poverty Trap

by Ruth A. Sheets

Poverty is the lack of sufficient resources necessary to meet basic needs for oneself and one’s family.  Estimates of the number of people living in poverty in America vary, but they run from ten to twenty-five percent depending on the definition used.

Americans are very uncomfortable talking about poverty.  The topic was hardly mentioned during the 2012 campaign.  If such a large portion of the population is in a particular group, it would be expected that the subject would come up often as the votes of this group would be courted.

The votes of the poor are not courted as the votes of members of a particular religious group, ethnicity, race, or social group are courted.  The reason, poor folks are not expected to vote.  And, if they do, their vote is assumed.  The white poor are Republican and the minority poor are Democratic.

Lately, bills have been introduced in state legislatures to even further limit sufferage of people in poverty through voter I.D. laws.  This is just one of many ways of keeping poor people from complaining about their situation. 

Republicans and some others would have us believe that people are poor because they want to be.  They are too lazy.  They don’t work hard enough.  They don’t know how to take care of what they have.  They don’t manage money well.  You know all the lines. 

Most people don’t realize that poverty is a trap.  Once caught in it, a person or family can rarely get out without significant help.  Then, if they do get some help, they are called “takers” in a tone of voice that communicates very effectively the esteem in which they are held. 

People in poverty see the material goods everyone is expected to have, so they work impossible hours at spirit-breaking jobs to acquire those things for themselves and their kids.  They are told that education is “the way out,” but their schools are places that no one with money would want to enter on a bet.

Because people living from paycheck to paycheck cannot accumulate much money at a time, they fall victim to appallingly unregulated predators like Rent-a-center,” check cashing companies, sub-prime lenders, and housing rental agencies.  These companies charge extraordinary fees which keep those who are already desparate, in permanent debt, in substandard housing, if they have a home at all. 

Some Americans like to claim that the United States is the best at everything.  Well, I don’t know if we are the best at poverty, but we are pretty good at it.

Home of the Brave?

by Ruth A. Sheets

The last five words of the National Anthem are “the home of the brave.”  I know that the poet was specifically referring to military courage, but I suspect that most Americans, whether or not they have a military bent, would like to see themselves as brave.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about courage.  It seems to me that it does not take courage to do what everyone else in your group is doing.  You get support of numbers.  If it is a popular action or stance, it’s even easier.  You’ll even be given the words to say.

It doesn’t take courage to be racist in America even if you call it something else.  A knee jerk hatred of President Obama or blaming poor people for their condition and plotting to cut programs which enable them to survive is not brave.

It doesn’t take courage to oppose all tax increases, even small rate raises for the richest among us,  because we Americans don’t seem to mind getting a lot and not paying for it.  We buy the myth that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.”  We allow ourselves to be convinced that the wealthy just worked harder and smarter than anyone else, so deserve all they have.

It doesn’t take courage to filibuster these days in our Senate because you don’t even need to show up.  Most of the time, no one knows who even brought the filibuster.  All business can be blocked by Senators who don’t want anyone to know who did the blocking.

It doesn’t take courage to stand up in front of the media claiming that the way to protect our kids in school from gunmen is to have armed teachers and guards in all our schools when you have a powerful lobbying organization behind you.  No one who counts in your world will tell you just how stupid that idea is.

So, where is courage in America these days?  I have been despairing for some time, but I find that when I look around, courage shows up in all kinds of places.  The sad part for me is that those places don’t seem to include government, whether local, state, or federal.  A current fashion seems to be sowing fear wherever possible.  Then, folks in power, usually conservatives, legislate to relieve those invented or exaggerated fears to increase their own power.  Where is the courage in that?

Courage is people who are willing to take risks for folks who at that moment cannot help themselves.  If we are indeed the “home of the brave,” we need to be out there standing with and for those who need us to help them overcome.                               

What’s with Men These Days?

by Ruth A. Sheets

Most of the legislatures throughout the country now are male dominated.  After the 2010 election when disgruntled Democrats and others sat home in some sort of protest that everything they had wanted did not come to pass, we women found ourselves under attack.

There has been a lot of talk of a “war on women,” and it appears to me that this talk has it right.  Male legislators push through bills that restrict nearly everything related to women and control of their bodies.  Sometimes, they do it as Virginia’s Governor has, when people’s attention is focused on something else (the fiscal cliff).  Now, in VA, not only do women who want to choose abortion have to go through an ultrasound first, the clinics where they can have the abortion safely performed are facing laws to modify facilities which have nothing to do with safety, provision of information, or quality of care.  The goal is to shut down the clinics, of course.

What are the jobs most under attack by Republicans as costing too much and not worth the cost? Teachers and other government workers (jobs where women predominate).   Most governors back down from cutting and limiting support for police and fire fighters and other higher-level workers, predominantly men.  Interesting!

There have been a few victories for women and their supporters.  At least three major anti-women candidates were defeated in November.  Women have again begun to pay attention.  More women than ever before are serving in the US Congress.  All these are positive, but certainly not enough.

It seems that men are getting more scared of women than ever.  Perhaps it is that they see women moving forward in most jobs.  Women have passed men in number at most colleges and universities, including programs for training ministers.  Women are proving competent and creative when it comes to business.  Do men in power fear they will have to share that power with the other half, the half they were brought up to see as inferior because their primary task is raising children, and we know how much our society values its children.

What do we women do?  Well. . .  

we stay alert to what is going on,  

we fight where we can,

we support each other, , 

we keep demanding reproductive rights no matter the obstacles, then we break the law if we have to, 

we work to help talented women keep abreast of the skills in their field while they take some time to get their/our kids off to a good start,

we try to get progressive and moderate men on our side to see that making life better for women benefits them too,

 

Let’s get radical in 2013.

A Worthy Resolution

by Ruth A. Sheets

I am currently in my 18^th year teaching in one of the poorest school districts in the state of Pennsylvania.  Poverty and its implications are a constant shadow which my students and their families must face every day.  Parents here try to get for their kids all the things that other kids have:  iPhones, Droids, X-boxes, etc., even if it means a big financial sacrifice.

What I know from being here is that having things, even the things that more wealthy people have, does not necessarily provide the advantages one might expect.  Learning how to text, access FaceBook anywhere, and playing “Call to Duty” may provide something of a common language, but the drive for success as determined by the society at large does not necessarily accompany these shared activities for poor children.

I have very intelligent, creative students who could match ability with anyone.  Despite the daily challenges just to get through, they must also find time to babysit for younger siblings, help out older relatives, volunteer in their churches.  These tasks are not rated highly as extra-curricular activities.  They often take a lot of time and effort.  They rarely win points on college applications, if a student even feels worthy of going to college. 

Our district has cut out nearly everything that enhances life and builds self-esteem.  That is, except sports.  Basketball and football are big, so if a student has athletic ability, there are options.   Music and the arts, even though all kinds of research shows high value in these areas for students are now gone.  There is some effort to get private funding to add these as after school activities, but where does that leave those baby-sitting, elder care-giving, volunteering students?  They still miss out.

People on the outside looking in think of poverty as a personal choice, a desire to be lazy, a lack of commitment to a job, to be a “taker” as many Republicans would call it.  Not true, of course, but if the society can keep this understanding of poverty alive, it means that little or nothing has to be done for poor folks.  Teachers can be blamed for low test scores.  Parents can be blamed for not taking care of their kids properly.  Mismanagement of cities and school districts can be blamed for a lack of resources.  No one has to really look at poverty and what it actually does to individuals, communities, and societies.  No restructuring is required.  No middle or upper class people will be expected to address poverty and their role in it.

If people understood poverty even at its most basic level, the “Fiscal Cliff” nonsense would not even be looming.  The tax loopholes would have already been closed.  The wealthy would be paying their fair share.  Capital gains would be properly recognized as income.  Businesses would be striving to produce quality products and not be dumping their junk in poor communities, the quality of the environment in poor neighborhoods would not be permitted to deteriorate.

To rethink poverty is too much work.  There are no instant fixes.  We need someone in power with courage to reimagine what we as Americans can do to seriously eliminate poverty .  This is a worthy New Year’s Resolution, but whose resolution?

Good Guy with a Gun?

by muon

Yesterday another fatal shooting occurred not far from where I live. I don't know if the victim was a good guy or bad guy by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre's standards. I just know he was a 24 year-old man and left behind a family. The shooting took place in an alley surrounded by rowhouses that had children in them. At least 10 shell casings were found at the scene. We're talking Wild West here, with only house windows between the gunplay and innocent kids.

I'm certain George Zimmerman thought he was a good guy with a gun. He wasn't. He was a murderer. So was Michael Jock, who evoked the Stand Your Ground law after shooting an unarmed man in an argument about pizza.

The policemen I know (and I know quite a few) would all rather NOT have "good guys with guns" on the street. The only thing that separates a good gunslinger from a bad gunslinger is a quick judgment call before pulling the trigger. In that half second, they appoint themselves judge, jury and executioner.

With that thinking, in our society, they're ALL bad guys.