“This is yet another example of how a complete lack of contact with the people affected by a policy (how many of these individuals have ever actually met a family with [undocumented] immigrants among its members?) tends to generate unabashed and completely unjustified resentment of the affected group. This lack of human contact allows otherwise decent folk to turn real people into abstract ideas by displacing their humanity with a nasty label. Undocumented immigrants cease to be people when we can simply call them “illegals.” We convert them from complex human beings into mere wrongdoers and freeloaders with a loaded label. And the human wreckage that follows from harsh immigration policies thereby gets lost in an abstract mixture of nationalism and enthocentric resentment, because they will never have to meet the people whose lives are shattered by overbearing immigration enforcement.”
—

Letters To My Country: Ignorance On Immigration Reform In New York 

Everyone interacts daily with undocumented individuals, we call them friends, students, coworkers, family members, business partners, service workers, neighbors, community members, religious brothers and sisters, etc… Furthermore, there are plenty of people who knowingly interact daily with undocumented individuals, find them amicable, hardworking, etc.. and still say things like, well times are different, we can’t burden future generations/ society, I wish it wasn’t so but… [bullshit excuse intended to mask their bigotry] I find the latter a lot more pernicious than the former, at least with the former you have the illusion that they’ll change their position if only they knew more about the undocumented.

This is a great read.

Aug. 25 2012
Via letterstomycountry
#immigration #politics #new york
52 notes

Notes

  1. anindiscriminatecollection reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  2. rockycore reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  3. leftistshuffle reblogged this from thenoobyorker
  4. gloriouss reblogged this from thenoobyorker
  5. vwcg reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  6. mctumblovin reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  7. rantsforhumanity reblogged this from thenoobyorker
  8. williamjh reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  9. george-allan reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  10. hurdcomet reblogged this from lahoops
  11. lahoops reblogged this from thenoobyorker
  12. thenoobyorker reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  13. mi-vida-la-diversion reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  14. luna-is-drunk reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  15. nothingjustwatchingtv reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  16. liberalyouth reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  17. leftistnaija reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  18. trotskitty reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  19. dirkstridrs reblogged this from letterstomycountry
  20. This was featured in #Politics
  21. letterstomycountry posted this