The hateful nonsense has gone far enough.
By this we don't mean the massive demonstrations on both sides of the immigration debate, the pressure on elected officials in both parties, the public education campaigns, the voter registration efforts and all other constructive forms of civic and political involvement. These are all positive and uplifting developments. And we need more of them.
What we're talking about are some of the more vicious and vile forms of expression – sparked by the immigration issue – making their way around the Internet, polluting talk radio airwaves and even corrupting video games. It goes beyond those televised images of hooligans setting the Mexican flag on fire, as was done by border vigilantes in Tucson.
These days, no matter where you look, it's almost impossible to avoid seeing or hearing something racist or ethnocentric that is meant to insult, criticize or intimidate immigrants – especially those from Mexico. Restrictionists are fond of saying they have no problem with immigrants, only illegal immigrants. It's a nice sound bite. But in the real world, those spewing hate often don't stop to ask people about their legal status. From the sound of it, they just don't like foreigners or anyone different from them.
There is the vulgar poem bouncing through cyberspace. The verse is supposed to be written in the voice of an immigrant and contains such lines as this: “We have hobby. It's called breeding. Welfare pay for baby feeding.”
Then there's the disgusting video game being sent in e-mails, where players use a mouse to try to shoot a family of Mexican immigrants running across the border. It comes with sound effects and images of splattered blood.
Tragically, there have also been real acts of violence, including at least one in our neighborhood. The Ontiveros family in Jamul is cleaning up after arsonists destroyed their Mexican restaurant. The fact that anti-Mexican graffiti was left at the scene, and that someone called the restaurant and made threatening comments about Mexicans, prompted Sheriff's Department officials to categorize the incident as a hate crime.
Obviously, this outrageous and cowardly act is in response to the immigration debate and the protests, perhaps even the waving of Mexican flags.
Hate often begins with fear. Some people see those sorts of images and they become fearful, and that fear leads them to do destructive and evil things that, in turn, bring fear into the hearts of others.
Members of the Ontiveros family plan to re-open their restaurant, and when they do we hope it will continue to prosper. But the scars will remain.
Gov. Schwarzenegger said it best in the uplifting message that he's spreading around the country in speeches and newspaper op-ed pieces. One of our nation's greatest challenges is finding a way to attack the problem of improving our immigration policy while not attacking immigrants.
