Just under three months ago, an article exposing John Tanton as the white nationalist founder of the modern day anti-immigrant movement appeared on the front page of a Sunday edition of The New York Times.

Soon after, Tanton’s name quietly disappeared from the board of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an organization he founded in 1979. Tanton’s health issues were cited as the reason he left the board, but many believed increasing scrutiny of the group’s ties to Tanton was the real cause.

I thought for a split second that he might catch or correct himself, but no he just kept on going, as if he did blacks a favor. Berry, who repeatedly mocks black speech inflections and Spanish-language accents, probably did not even realize that he had given away the image that he holds of black people. That it was appropriate to mention that he could do without drug dealers and welfare queens, while at the same time discussing the efficacy of hanging of black people really just shows how delusional these people are.

A few months before that, he proudly said that he was so happy to see budget cuts in education because he frankly did not want to pay to educate poor Mexican kids. He also said that immigration activists (or as he calls them illegal coddlers, and generally people like me) should be hit in the nose because that generates a tear response. (The comment was promptly scrubbed from the archived podcast, frustrating any complaints to the FCC regarding the incitement of violence.)

Today, he said that black people (yes all of them) are not politically mature enough to undersand that Obama can be criticized. Nevermind the harsh rebukes of Obama by Cornel West and Tavis Smiley.

Berry likes to posture himself as a brave commentator who won’t be bound by political correctness, but he is really just a small, ignorant redneck who learned to read and brush his teeth and probably a little ‘rithmetic…a little. No titles, radio programs or ratings will ever change that.

A few months ago, when he sent his “Berry Brigade” to confront us at a press conference, three grandmothers showed. So he’s impotent as well.

In the world of conservative talk radio, most allegations of racism or racial bias are dismissed as exaggerations or as a way for a special interest group to gain some sort of political power by inventing something that did not really happen. So when an incident was labeled as hateful and was actually acknowledged it piqued my interest.

Beck was referring to an incident that had happened on the ten year anniversary of September 11, right here in Houston, Texas. According to his commentary, an employee at a sandwich shop drew pictures of the World Trade Center attack on a to-go box and handed it to a Muslim patron, saying, “Happy 9-11. Allahu Akbar,” a phrase meaning God is Greatest, and also a phrase co-opted by terrorists.

This admission on the part of Glenn Beck was eye-opening for me. I had tended to believe that these conservatives continuously denied the existence of racism because it was in their own interest. Instead, it appears that they really believe that racism only comes in the form of open name-calling.

This perspective is fully lacking in the understanding of institutionalized racism, and the racism that simply is kept under the covers. It appears that from Beck’s perspective, if someone does not directly use a racial slur, it really just does not count.

In an upcoming campaign, Houston United, a local coalition of different organizations, is working to shed light on the true nature of racial profiling. The group shares this example:

“Carlos has been a businessman, a church deacon and a responsible head of household for this family. He had been in the United States for over 10 years. Three weeks ago, Carlos changed lanes without putting on his blinker. He got stopped by a police officer in the Memorial area of Houston. Carlos was arrested for not having a valid Texas Drivers License since the State of Texas prohibits this type of license for undocumented immigrants. Carlos was then turned over to ICE authorities; he awaits deportation. In the meantime, his family has suffered an immense emotional and economic blow and his church is horrified that one of its most active members is now in a federal immigration detention facility.”
Incidents like these are now common-place, with Latinos continually feeling over-policed with respect to traffic and under-protected with respect to real crimes.
There is a real perception that law-enforcement openly targets Latinos for traffic violations, since they seem to have the attitude that they could also increase the deportation numbers. Undocumented, documented and native-born Latinos are all feeling the effects of Sheriff Garcia’s decision to support Secure Communities (and yes he volunteered for 287-g before Secure Communities was apparently mandatory).
These effects do not even consider the cause for the massive amounts of immigration to the United States. Anytime a country exploits another country by only exploiting cheap labor and refuses to invest anything which could spur development in that country, it is an act of organized racism called imperialism.
As far as we know, neither those maquiladora owners nor those law enforcement officers have openly used racial epithets (at least recently). Even so, these policies have a far more profound effect on our everyday lives than a guy in a sandwich shop calling us names.
We do not need conservatives to acknowledge these other forms of racism. They never have, but when people in and from our own community, like Sherriff Garcia, refuse to acknowledge the truth about racist policies, and when certain supposed civil rights groups and the Democratic Party continue to support him, regardless of these policies, then we know that our community is in real trouble if we do not look for alternatives.

One of the biggest dramas that played out over the past week was outlandish commentary by a controversial comedian, Katt Williams. Katt Williams had been among my favorite comedians, despite, or perhaps because of, his many controversial remarks.

Overnight a barrage of internet postings denounced some racist rant that Katt Williams, who is black, had spewed against Mexicans and Chicanos. It surprised me, as it may surprise you, that I really did not pay much attention to it…at first. In fact, I didn’t bother to investigate what he had said. I wondered how bad it could be, but I also thought that there was much more important things to worry about than a few words by an entertainer.

I ignored it the first day. By the second and third day the online outrage continued, with more and more people denouncing Katt Williams as a racist. A boycott was announced. Still, I didn’t pay much attention, because I figured that it could not have much of an impact on serious issues at hand. Our schools are falling apart; our families are being broken apart by ICE; and some people are letting a joker get them upset.

Finally, another day passed, and I saw one of my favorite authors post an opinion editorial. Then I saw a young lady post a YouTube video about the situation. I decided not to ignore it any longer.

What I saw Katt Williams say did not shock me. It is not that what he said was inoffensive, but much of what I had already read had prepared me for the worst.

Challenging the historical fact that these lands were taken by the United States by force, Willams taunted, “”… it appears to me, y’all like it over here a lot… If y’all had California and you loved it, then you shouldn’t have given that mothaf*cka up. You should have fought for California, goddamnit, since you love it.”

He went on to the oldest of slights, “So if you love Mexico, bitch, get the f*ck over there,” oddly acknowledging in the same breath that blacks had often been told to go back to Africa.

Critics were quick to point out that we did not “give up” California, but rather that the United States was quick to take advantage of the toll that Mexico had taken in kicking out other colonizers a few years before the US invaded. In fact, California was lost in a bloody, bloody war, and was not “given up.”

Others pointed out that Williams was pouring fuel on a very hot fire in that his comments were made in Arizona, one of the most anti-Mexican states in the country, and a breeding ground for KKK and Nazi type groups. Williams, they said, was using the same language that these groups used in their rallies.

Some suggested that he had broken unwritten rules of minority solidarity, and others wondered aloud where the black community was to denounce of their own lost souls.

As for me, I remained amazed at the number of people that responded so quickly and loudly to this comedian, someone with no formal power or position. In essence, it reminded me of something that I had overlooked in those first few days of the news breaking, and frankly something that I had forgotten about. In this celebrity-driven culture, it is often the celebrities that have the power to inspire action and reaction in the people. In the end, I just wondered where our celebrities were hiding during all of this mess.

From early 1942, when Germans began deporting Polish Jews to killing centers, the situation of Judenrat leaders became morally unbearable. There were incidents where Judenräte were forced to prepare lists of deportees, while the Jewish ghetto police, which by this time usually operated directly under German command, was forced to assist in the actual evictions

I guess they were just enforcing the law? I wonder if stuff like this still happens today.

Most people suppose that Fernandez is a supporter of the Mexican people. He certainly makes enough money off of us. However, I’m not convinced. He also played for the Republican National Convention in 2000 at a time when Republicans were becoming radically anti-Mexican.

I understand that for some, questioning Vicente, is like questioning Jesus, but let us take a look at his decision in the context of the political situation in Arizona, and for that matter, the whole country.

SB1070

SB1070 is one of the most onerous laws ever passed in the United States. The law requires local law enforcement officials to enforce federal immigration law, laws for which they have no authority, no training, and often no desire to enforce. The law lends itself to racial profiling. In one version of the law, police officers were obligated to check the immigration status for anyone whom they suspected of being undocumented…under any circumstances.

This could mean that a victim of rape, robbery or assault could essentially be deported for having reported such a crime. Such a policy would have led to lawlessness in our community. Eventually, some of the provisions were changed, and still others are being blocked by the Supreme Court.

Incidentally, similar measures could be coming to Texas.

It is these policies that the compañeros in Arizona are warning the country about, and this is why they are urging the boycott on Arizona, and on companies tied to such legislation like Budweiser.

Enter Chente

Vicente Fernandez, in one of his most famous songs, calls himself “The Son of The People.” I find it hard to believe that a true son of the people, especially after having made so much as a result of the people’s loyalty, could make a deal with a company and a state that has treated the people, our people, as animals. It makes me believe that he is a son of something other than the people!

The main group protesting Budweiser, Arizona and now Fernandez is a group known as Puente. They are urging people not to be tricked by a hypocrite like Fernandez.

They bring up some very good points. Why would you spend your money with a company, a singer or a state that turns around and uses that money to harm your community? Not only are you giving up the struggle, but you are buying the ropes with which they are hanging you.

The Boycott Theory

Many activists and organizers excuse the undocumented from the struggle for their own rights. They say that the cost of deportation is too high or that the undocumented people are too busy trying to put food on the table. I am not one of those people who accept those excuses. History has proved that the most successful struggles are those in which the people who are most affected stand up for themselves. What if Zapata or Villa or Cuauhtémoc had said that the cost for resisting was too high? Where might we be?

Even for those who believe in the excuses, there is no excuse for failing to participate in this boycott. All we have to do is NOT buy Budweiser, Arizona or Vicente Fernandez.

Reportedly, Fernandez wants to console the people through song. I hope that there is no part of our community which is dumb enough to be sung to death. For the rest of us, we won’t allow our money to be used to buy the ropes which will hang us.

Aún así, Fernández ha hecho un contrato con Budweiser, una corporación que tiene enlaces fiscales con el Senador John McCain, un gran amigo de la ley notoria de Arizona SB1070.

Activistas pro-mexicanos, como los que trabajan con el grupo Puente, actualmente están promoviendo un boicot contra Budweiser, y ahora están organizando una protesta contra el concierto de Fernández.

No te dejes engañar por un hipócrita como Fernández. No dejes que te cuelguen con tu propio dinero. Hasta los bueyes peleen cuando los quieres matar. Si Fernández actúa contra el bienestar de nuestra gente, tú debes de actuar en contra de él.

¿Palabra De Ley O De Buey?