Yesterday, Secretary Ben Carson, in his first remarks to the HUD staff, referred to African American’s who came over in slave ships as immigrants. This is a direct quote from his speech. He turned from talking about true immigrants from Ellis Island, those who fled their motherlands for a better life, to slaves. “That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity,’’ he said. “There were other immigrants who came here in the bottom of slave ships, worked even longer, even harder for less. But they too had a dream that one day their sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, great grand sons &granddaughters, might pursue prosperity and happiness in this land.”
Ok…. Couple things….. Firstly, yes, the Americas have been a land of opportunity for many immigrants stretching all the way back to Plymouth rock and Christopher Columbus. But for every dream that they fulfilled and opportunity gained, there was one taken away from someone else. Especially during the formative years of this nation. We cannot ignore the ugly parts of our nation’s history. It’s tantamount to ignoring the fact that your child was adopted and never telling them. Yes, you love them. Yes, you’re happy with the way it turned out. HOWEVER, you cannot selfishly ignore the story of their birth.
Secondly, though Secretary Carson tried to get technical on us by saying that the ACTUAL definition of the word immigrant was merely someone who comes to live in another country. The problem with this association, however, is in joining Ellis Island Immigrants to Slaves entering the country on slave ships is the rosy hopeful picture it paints.
Thirdly, they did not work here for their dream. They were forced to work. Those who were stolen from their land, language and loved ones; dreamed of escape.Those who did not DIE on those ships were tormented and displaced. I don’t think their children’s and grandchildren’s bright future were on their minds. AND IF IT WAS…. they would have been severely mistaken, for their children and grandchildren and even great grandchildren had a very long and difficult road to the bright future Secretary Carson is talking about. Their children and possibly grandchildren were still slaves like them. If their grandchildren weren’t slaves then they quite probably had Jim Crow laws and segregation and unequal opportunities awaiting them….
The main problem I have with this is that words are powerful and the lack of words is powerful too. Here in Texas in 2010 we were informed that the issue of slavery was to be reduced severely in our history books. By 2015, we saw that become a reality. Slavery was scantily mentioned as listed as a minor cause of the civil war. Segregation and the KKK were all but ignored. Now even when I went to school, not much was said about slavery. Most of what I know I have gleaned from my own research. BUT I did learn about it and it’s terrible effects, it’s rebellions and it’s heroes. I’m not saying that you should dwell on it because that isn’t healthy either. You must acknowledge it though. Not whitewash it or sweep it under the rug.
I see this becoming more and more of a trend. Teaching kids about our First Nations and Native Americans while glossing over their near annihilation and the crushing of their people, culture and lands. Allowing many to believe that Mexicans and Tejanos were not part of those First Nations. The rhetoric is that Mexican = immigrant not indigenous. This is largely false. Several states WERE PART OF MEXICO. I have taken three years of Texas history and the forcing out of Mexicans from their land is not something that is fairly represented. Land and people were stolen to build this country on the backs of slaves….. so I can live here and type this out to you, Dear Reader. We live here, we enjoy it. The least we can do is honor the ones who died first so we could have it. Before a single revolutionary war soldier died, a native did. A Mexican did. An African American did.
Likewise Jim Crow and Juan Crow laws. Lynchings, segregation, false accusations of crime to justify murder or confiscation of land was happening well into the 1940’s. My grandmother was 11 in 1940.This was not that long ago, people. Look up the Porvenir Massacre in 1918 when the Texas Rangers acted like vigilante death squads and rounded up Mexican boys and men from ages 16 – 72 and shot them all to death. In 1920, the Mexican government and American government realized this was getting out of hand when a Mexican father and his two sons were lynched over a land dispute. The two governments worked together to stop this vigilante action. Again, my grandmother was born a mere 9 years after that.
What does this have to do with us now? Slavery is over and segregation banished! We just had a black president! I’ll tell you. In 2009, a little Mexican American girl by the name of Brisenia Flores was shot in the face at point blank range in her own home along with her father and both died. Her mother was also shot but not mortally wounded and had to watch her child beg for her life and her pleas be ignored. The white anti-immigration vigilante men were accompanied by a woman vigilante who organized the murders. She was going to rob them and use the money to fund and anti-illegal immigration civilian unit. To her and the gun man, Brisenia was not a child, her humanity had been taken away from her. she was a thing, a Mexican, possibly an immigrant. Not a bright happy child with a bright happy future. She was an obstacle. From 2012-15, border patrol vigilantes were becoming so dangerous and such an obstacle that actual policemen and border patrol were becoming afraid of them. One officer gave a report on 2015 of being “forced” to arrest one such vigilante he surprised one evening who put a gun in his face and told him to get back across the border. Now, let me ask you how many other people can get away with pointing a gun in an officer’s face?…. I’ll wait. It was not until several incedents like this one that local police were “forced to crack down on civilian patrol groups though they understood their frustration” I kid you not! That was the official statement. In 2015, many immigrants who served our country in the military overseas returned home to find that they were being deported not given citizenship or residency as promised. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/served-country-now-cant-live/
There are countless other stories like this done to Non – immigrants. It seems that those of us who either had no control over living here or were originally here are getting the brunt of the current attacks. We cannot change history. No one can return or unharm slaves. For sure no one is giving back any of this land. So what can we do? We can learn. We can educate ourselves and our children. Learn about the struggles. Learn about the fight. Ask questions! Don’t accept whitewashing of the past or retelling of history. Learn about not just the bad things but our victories and heroes. Our ancestors that beat the odds. We can recognize when history is repeating itself only if we know our history!!
I say this specifically to Chicanos and Mexican Americans. Often, because our grandparents hid their struggles from us, we were unaware how difficult it was for us just one or two generations back. Whether from shame or pride, many don’t speak about it. Being Mexican in the South wasn’t always as easy as it is now. Our history books sure didn’t tell us either. We are unaware that our people went through segregation as well. Our people were lynched and hated and lied on too, like our African American brothers and sisters. We were tricked and strong armed and forced off our land too, like our Native American brothers and sisters. We too, rose up from the ashes like a phoenix. Some of us grew up disconnected from our culture because of it. It was a cardinal sin in the 50’s and 60’s to be too Mexican. Right around the time our parents were being born or were children. So their parents made a choice. Either defy that, or raise their kids to be accepted. Many thinking it was the only way they could succeed. It wasn’t their fault, it was their life. The world they grew up in. It was their reality. I have so many first and second generation Mexicans who blame people like my grandparents for essentially whitewashing their families. The problem is, they weren’t there! Their people were still in Mexico where it was ok to be Mexican. Not here where they needed to assimilate or be ridiculed.
To African Americans, I can not understand your struggle. But I empathize with it. I know what it is like to have your people maligned and your ancestors misunderstood. I stand in solidarity with you to clear up these misconceptions. Slaves should not be called immigrants with hope. They were captives filled with dread.
To Native Americans, again I can not understand your struggle. Though I share your blood, I don’t your culture. I see the fear. I see the blind eye turned to what was truly a genocide of the original peoples of this land. I see the rise of broken treaties and broken promises in Standing Rock. I see our people being cast aside yet again. I stand in solidarity with you. Native Americans and Mexicans and South Americans and Central American Natives are the main reason we are not all immigrants.
It’s ok if your ancestors were immigrants. It’s something to be proud of. They fought for a better life for you! You are all of their hopes realized. If you are mixed, then honor the Immigrants AND honor the Natives. If you are of African American decent, then honor the strength that it took your ancestors to get you here. Realize that it isn’t about wallowing in the past. This isn’t about blaming the current generation of white people for things their ancestors did. This isn’t to spread hate or bad feelings. It is about honoring the past, learning from it! Make much of our heroes. Teach your children the things that the school system can’t or won’t. Don’t let those important stories fade away. Make something of yourself. Stand for others. Make an imprint of your own. Those are the best ways to honor their legacy.
Be a decent human being. Respect everyone’s humanity. Don’t look at labels, words, and groups and forget about the people in them. Once you do that, you are more capable of hurting them. Stripping people of their humanity was often the first step towards many of the injustices of the world. Honor the past, love people today, and work towards a brighter future.
Love,
Mrs.Sauce
LifeOfLovey 