Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Less Traveled Roads: A Prejudiced Journey

I grew up in Haskell, Oklahoma during the 50s and 60s. The town of my youth was segregated in all manners: school, church, and most businesses. As a matter of fact, I graduated from high school in the last all white class in 1965. The sign outside the local coin-operated laundry had a door for Whites and one for Colored. It was not speaking of how to wash clothes!

I lived a block from the railroad tracks and a large cotton gin. Beyond the tracks was N****r Town as I was taught to say. I liked to play on the cotton bales at the gin and many times was joined by my darker skinned neighbors. I found we could play together and have fun until adults came around and then it was stopped. I was prejudiced because that was my training, but "they"did not seem that different.

Believe it or not my journey down a less traveled road did not really begin until I saw the movie, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" I was faced with the same questions that Spencer Tracy confronted. As a matter of fact my wife and I discussed whether or not we would allow our future daughter to marry a black person. I finally said, "Yes as long as he wasn't from OU."

As I grew older my new road was getting wider and I noticed more and more people travelling together. But two years ago the road narrowed again and I came to another fork.

The Mexicans are coming!

I was caught totally off guard by recent events. Oklahoma passed 1804 to prevent "illegals" from coming in and now we want to make "English" the official language. After all, we need a law to prevent illegals from getting medical care or education. We can't cut our taxes if this keeps up! Let them go to Arkansas or back to Texas.

1. When the immigrants landed at Ellis Island, were they legal? Could they speak English? As I understand my geography in many coastal places,like New York City, there are several generations of Italian, Polish, Jewish and others that never speak the "official language" and never did.

2. The Statue of Liberty has the inscription: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddles masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door." Of course we enlightened no longer believe this. What is all this business about letting our light shine?

3. I work in construction and I can tell you that we are successfully getting rid of our Southern immigrants who had stolen the jobs of the English speaking citizens. We now have a shortage of workers. Seems my fellow citizens have not been as needy for work as we thought. Prices in construction shot up about $15 dollars a square foot because of labor shortages. Not copper, steel, or cement. Those that left were had a great work ethic . Many on our job sites did not speak english but they worked. Everyone on our job sites now speak English (both of them!)
But I guess we are keeping out the bad seed or as the silly statue said "the wretched refuse."

4. Comedians have noted: We are lucky that the real Native Americans had no immgration policy when our immigrant forefathers came over with another language.
Maybe they did! We just killed them and took their land.

This is a less traveled road. It almost sounds too liberal to be for letting those that want better lives "yearning to breathe free"to come among us. It is not wise to be seen as liberal, but I do not like going deeper into segregated life. Rich against poor. Blue State- Red State. Conservative Engish-speaking versus people who think and speak different.

Guess Whose Coming to Dinner? Watch that movie if you get the chance.

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