About a week and half ago I was watching a movie about a fictional major earthquake in L.A. The main family in the movie had a maid that was depicted by a Hispanic woman. I got to thinking about how we have gone from seeing African American’s largely depicted as servant workers to those of Hispanic heritage. I see this as being a major reflection of the culture we live in. Thus, leading me to ask, is brown the new black?
It seems that racism is alive and well in our culture. This time it is spawned out of a dissatisfaction for those who come here from our neighbors to the South to seek a better life. To live the American Dream. We call them “aliens”, “immigrants”, etc. What strikes me as interesting about all this is that weren’t we all immigrants at one time in this country? Didn’t we invade land that was occupied by Native Americans? It is sad to think that we want to send those of a Hispanic background back to where they came from and yet we had no problem coming here and setting up shop. Didn’t we infiltrate the culture of Native Americans? Now, we want to make English the official language of the USA. We worry because we may soon have to be the ones who need to learn a different language. During this election cycle, immigration has thus far been a mute issue for the Democrats but has been a major point of discussion on the Republican side. Mike Huckabee is one of many who would like to build a fence on the US/Mexico Border.
I saw this new racism at its best when I worked for my former employer. It was a check cashing/payday loan company. We would have Hispanics come to cash their daily checks from a temporary work agency and we would be advised to charge them a higher fee to cash the check because they didn’t know the difference. Unfortunately, I bought into this kind of racism and would try to charge them as much as I could get away with so our store numbers would go up. I became increasingly sick of what I saw myself and the company I worked for doing. This played a major role in my decision to leave the industry almost a year ago. These were people who were poor and didn’t have much as it was. Most of there paychecks as it was, was being sent back home to to their families in there Native lands. And here we were, the rich corporation trying to essentially steal from them.
In my church we have scripture that states, “God, the Eternal Creator, weeps for the poor, displaced, mistreated, and diseased of the world because of their unnecessary suffering. Such conditions are not God’s will. Open your ears to hear the pleading of mothers and fathers in all nations who desperately seek a future of hope for their children. Do not turn away from them. For in their welfare resides your welfare.”. When we don’t want to take advantage of them, many would like to turn away from them. But, I believe we are called to care for them. My church recently came out with a Statement on Immigration that is powerful and I am proud that my church, Community of Christ, has made such a stand!
This is essentially a new kind of racism. We feel proud because we give them jobs and yet they are jobs that pay such a low wage. We feel proud that we would even given them the opportunity to go back home and wait there turn to legally come here. I don’t remember our ancestors waiting their turn back in the 1700’s. It seems as if the racism of today is a silent form of racism which is really scary. I don’t hear or see many publicly sticking up for our brothers and sisters of Hispanic heritage.
So, is brown the new black? Yes, but it may be worse than it was. This new racism is subtle and discreet. Harder to detect and yet easier to support. So, I urge you to stand up for our Hispanic friends as well as any other nationality in America that is rejected. This is supposed to be the land of the free. Let’s all do our part and point out this new form of racism when spotted. Remember, in “in their welfare resides your welfare”. Take a stand. Being silent is a form of support.
To go along with this post here is a music video for a song that recently touched me. It is from one of the few liberal country singers in Nashville. The song is “City of Immigrants” and is the latest single from Steve Earle.
