Hi, Victor,
Thanks for sending that article about Fugitive Slaves in Mexico. I
for one was not aware that many slaves prior to the end of the Civil War sought
refuge in Mexico, and that Mexico for the most part refused to extradite
them. Since my father, who was from Jerez, was so bigoted against blacks
and asians, I am surprised that American black slaves were protected by Mexico.
That sympathy may have come from their stuggles with Spain over the abuses
suffered by the landless Indians and Mestizos, and they viewed Anglos with the
disdain they viewed the Spaniards. Maybe it was also just to get back at
Americans for the previous invasion of Mexico.
Speaking of my father, my recent diggings further back into his lines who
lived around Tepetongo, Zacatecas and its environs such as Marecito,
Salitrillo, Salitral, Estancia, turned up records that show that two of his
lines (Suriano and Quijas) on his paternal side were mulatos or mulatos
libres. Wouldn't he have been chagrined to learn that?
You asked what might be behind the attitudes of the Spanish-surnamed border
guards, and all I can say is that they have taken up one of the few careers
allowed them by the Anglos, since they naturally fit in with their knowledge of
Spanish. However, like many civil servants with overwhelming workloads,
they may be suffering from "burn-out". Those places are usually filled with
unrelenting lines of people waiting for service. These Mexican-American
border guards have as their goal a comfortable retirement that their long labors
in that frying pan promise, but it is a long hard road to get there. The
Anglos can step back because that is what they always do in difficult
situations with Mexicans. The Mexican-American guards are caught
between the pressure of dealing with the multitudes of illegal aliens clearly
breaking a law that is on the books and trying to please their superiors, who
are mostly often unsympathetic Anglos or they would see how their subordinates
are treating people.
The Mexican border guards are on the front lines more than their Anglo
co-workers, and I imagine they take their stress out on the Mexicans who are the
hapless ones to be there. I can imagine that the border guards' attitude
is one of "what kind of lie is going to come out of this one's mouth", "these
people come here time and time again and are never prepared", "are they going to
gang up and make a run for it across the fence or bridge and endanger me and
themselves and others", "are they carrying weapons or drugs", etc. It
is a huge hassle for them, and being American they have grown up rushing to get
things done efficiently and in a casual way that leaves little room for the
slower pace and formalities of interaction between strangers that Mexicans are
used to.
I do believe that a lot of the hurdles recently set up against Mexican and
Haitian immigration are racially based. Many
powerful racist Anglos are using the threat of terrorism to limit
immigration by brown and black people. As for the legislators, I guess
they are under the pressure to act as some of their powerful constituents
demand, no matter how idealistic their campaign promises were to improve human
rights for all.
I often feel helpless about the violations against human rights world-wide,
so instead of giving gifts to relatives and friends for Christmas, I send in as
much as I can afford to activists like Amnesty International, etc. I only
need to pick up their newsletter to read about the most abominable abuses, many
the result of American oversight, and see that there is so much to be done in
this fight for human rights in many places all over the world.
Emilie Garcia
Port Orchard, WA ---
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 7:48
AM
Subject: [ranchos] Re: Dialog of the Dead
--> with the Living
Emilie,
The group has been rather quietly lately so
I'm using this opportunity
to make an additional comment on the "Dialog of
the Dead" play. I
understand that it might not be directly related to
genealogy but
since Joseph brought up the subject I hope nobody will
complain.
I have previously expressed an opinion about one experience
that could
be common among some of us that are in pursuit of our
genealogical
roots: the contrast between finding our dead relatives
and finding
our living relatives. Relations with our dead are so
easy; they do
not prejudge us; they do not make any kind of demands; we
just embrace
them as part of ourselves regardless of what, where or who
they were
and that's the end of it. Relations with the living,
particularly
those distant living relatives that we rediscover thru
our
genealogical endeavors, can be and often are very complicated.
And,
aren't we all related at some point back in time?
Our
prejudices and misconceptions of life usually get in the way and
it isn't
easy accepting each other when we have such divergent views
of the world
that surrounds us. We may share common genes but our
outlook on life
has been shaped by our experiences and is continually
being influenced by
external forces. Our actions stem from our
individual "perception of
reality" and our sense of belonging.
I agree with the views expressed
by some members here about how great
and lovable this group and our virtual
fellowship is but there's no
denying that "it's a jungle out there" in the
real world. There's just
too much polarization and that is reflected in so
many aspects of our
societies.
Take for example the US
immigration debate. The underlying motivation
for every migrant, either
today or five hundred years ago or five
thousand years ago, has always been
to improve one's life and/or get
away from a bad situation. That has
been the norm since who knows
when, even before countries existed as we
know them today. On the
other hand, immigration laws are of more
recent creation and can be
reformed and adapted to the needs and purposes
of each country. What
I find ironic is that some of the most
vociferous anti-immigration
proponents like Colorado state congressman Tom
Tancredo or radio talk
host Michael Savage, are themselves sons of
immigrants. And I don't
mean from 10 generations ago but 2 and 1
generations ago respectively.
How selfishly intolerant and xenophobic can
humans really become is
amazing! Even California's governor, who has
openly suported
anti-immigration movements like the minute-man project is
an immigrant
himself. What is their implicit message? OK, now
that we're in close
the doors (and build a wall) behind us for anyone else,
particularly
those dark-skinned little mexicans from south of the
border. American
pie slices getting too thin?
Now the saddest
part. I have witnessed how Hispanics wearing the
official uniforms of
the US immigration authorities and behind the
desks at the border offices
deal with Mexicans and other foreigners
who go there and ask for a permit
to enter the United States. Have
you ever being treated as a 2nd
class citizen? Can you imagine
imagine yourself in both sides of this
equation? What's really
surprising is that Anglo-Saxon looking
immigration officers hardly
show the kind of prepotency and disdain towards
Mexicans as those with
the Hispanic surnames on their tags. How can
this be explained? Have
they been brainwashed in the name of homeland
security or is this
just our human nature? Who is really behind those
anti-immigration
voices infusing into your minds so much venomous and
hateful rhetoric?
Just to end. I want to share with you a link
that shows another
historical aspect of people migrating to find a better
life. But this
time in reverse. Not from Mexico into the US but
out of the US and
into Mexico.
http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/hiddenhistory/Pages1/tyler.htm
How
many of you were aware of this reality?
Victor
México
---
In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Emilie Garcia"
<auntyemfaustus@h...>
wrote:
>
> Victor,
>
>
As usual your observation is as astute as always. I did identify
with
some of the debaters, those that took the middle road. I think
we all
need to get together and advance our situations by sticking
together and
not going off on tangents to the extremes, such as the
Aztlan group.
It is unfortunate that those in that group do not
realize that people like
Pat Buchanan stir the Anglo populace up by
making it look like that fringe
group speaks for us all, and that we
are all into "Reconquista" which
brings up to the Anglos the specter
of armed brown hordes seeking to
re-conquer the land. We are slowly
re-conquering anyway, due to the
American economy being so dependent
on cheap Mexican labor in
manufacturing, agriculture and services. We
just need to tone down
our resentments and work towards ensuring that
this country remains the
bastion that it has been for human rights for
everyone. We can't
afford to take any backward steps. We must
acculturate, but because
of the proximity to Mexico and our mostly
Native origins, they can't expect
us to give up our ethnicity as
rapidly nor as completely as other immigrant
groups. This will take
several generations to accomplish, if
ever.
>
> Emilie
by Date 
-