Would you mind not using so much bold highlighting? I think Sam has requested this of you a couple of times. There's other people that have told me they have a hard time with it affecting their eyes making it eye straining when they read it so they've skipped it.
Wouldn't it be more appropriate to post the date and time of the article you want to bring to attention again instead of duplicating and informing that it's a 'duplicate?'
It would be more considerate to post the link' to your other articles you've posted in other threads.
I used the date and time and notice how you immediately posted stating yours is a 'duplicate'. How funny!
It would save all this quoting and taking up space especially since it appears you might be modifying articles to cross-post.
Just a friendly request.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: explora,
I'm sure it's the usual suspects that gang up and whine about me every chance they get with you and to you. That being said, I always post the DATE AND THE LINK TO MY ARTICLES and if the time is available I post that as well.
However, you posted DIRECTLY beneath the ARTICLE and then proceeded to DUPLICATE it a few posts down. I'm sure you realized it was a duplicate because it has theboldedtext that you and your cyber buddies PM each other about so you can all be on the same page when lodging a complaint against me to SAM .
Just a friendly request:
If you have read an article previously posted, (which you obviously did because you posted directly below the article in question) don't duplicate what you are aware has already been posted it will save bandwidth and that unnecessary eye strain your friends complain about.
Just a Friendly Suggestion:
FYI: those pictures that you post that over extend/distorts the natural margins, are quite irritating and unnecessarily forces readers to scroll from left to right just to read them.
If you use standard American width 8-1/2 x 11 they won't distort the width of the thread.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Beverly,
Originally posted by Beverly: January 29th, 2008 @ 12:49pm by Jayme West/KTAR
A mini-van full of illegals rear-ended a Homeland Security SUV this morning on I-10.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety said the overloaded van was heading west when it was involved in a 3-vehicle chain-reaction crash near the Elliot Road off ramp.
Beverly, there is no way of asking you anything is there? Whatever or whoever asks you to kindly refrain from doing something or if you could kindly change the way you post to make it easier for others to read, you think you are just above everyone, sticking your nose up in the air. There is no gang against you, you obviously have a an issue when someone says something negative towards your posts, you get very defensive and do whatever annoys anyone even the more. You are obviously an attention seeker and the only way you can get yourself heard is being a nuisance of yourself. If you want to be heard and get your points or interest across to others, you should do it in a proper manner and listen to those who have given you advice about your postings. We don't say it just to annoy you or gang up on you, we are saying it because it is hard to read etc Sam has asked you too, and he is definitely not in anyone's gang.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- God Bless America - God Bless Immigrants - God Bless Poor Misguided Souls Too
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 1.800.787.3224 (TTY) Anonymous & Confidential Help 24/7
Family of roofer facing immigration charges booted from house
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo by Mike Springer/Daily News staff The house at 21 Jefferson St. in Milford, owned by Daniel Tacuri who has been charged with numerous counts of hiring and harboring illegal immigrants, could be confiscated if he is found guilty. By Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff GHS Tue Jan 29, 2008, 10:21 PM EST
Story Tools: Email This | Print This MILFORD - Health officials Monday ordered the family of an illegal immigrant facing federal charges temporarily out of their 21 Jefferson St. home after it was discovered they were living without heat, hot water and electricity.
"It was for their protection of their own health, especially where there were children involved - that would have been done in any case," said Public Health Director Paul M***uchelli. "Your basic essentials for healthy housing aren't there."
Roofer Daniel Tacuri, an immigrant from Ecuador, was arrested on a criminal warrant for harboring and employing illegal immigrants, during a predawn December raid of his home by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents.
He is being held without bail at a Rhode Island prison, and is scheduled to be arraigned today in Worcester's federal courthouse on the 39 charges from his recent indictment.
Advocates for the family say Tacuri's illegal immigrant wife Maria, the couple's 4-year-old son Jonathan, and four other residents of the Jefferson Street home are struggling to get by.
"They don't have any heat, they don't have any food," said Beatriz G. Almeida-Stein, Ecuadorean counsul in Boston, who has been working with Maria and the family. "She's in a very bad situation because she doesn't have the money. She doesn't have any income, nothing."
A grand jury charged Tacuri, 32, with 20 counts of harboring illegal immigrants, 18 counts of employing illegal immigrants and one count of making false statements.
The Fire Department called the Board of Health Monday after Maria Tacuri called to get help when frozen pipes burst in the family's basement.
Health Inspector Steven Garabedian and Assistant Health Inspector Loriann Braza-Pallaria, who translated for Spanish-speaking Maria, discovered the conditions and ordered the residents not to stay in the house until heat, hot water and electricity are restored.
"It was cold. How cold was it? Too cold to stay," Garabedian said.
Officials offered help to find a place for the family to stay until the problems are fixed, but they said they had somewhere to go, Garabedian said.
Maria Tacuri and the couple's son stayed with friends Monday night, but may not be able to stay there for long, Almeida-Stein said.
"Everybody in Milford is afraid, all the Ecuadoreans are very scared," Almeida-Stein said. "Nobody wants to help her, they don't want to get near to her with her husband in jail and all the problems."
Two of Daniel Tacuri's nephews - ages 13 and 16 - were living in the three-story Jefferson Street home, Almeida-Stein said. They are two of the 15 illegal immigrants, including Tacuri, who were arrested during the raid, she said.
"They just got back a couple days ago," Almeida-Stein said. "I tell (Maria), they should go to school, they should do something."
The ***** could live with family in Brockton, she said.
Daniel's brother Antonio Tacuri, who is scheduled for a deportation hearing, has a Feb. 24 court hearing that he plans on making, Almeida-Stein said.
Daniel Tacuri, whom prosecutors say became an immigration fugitive after being caught entering the United States near Brownsville, Texas, in 1998, is also known as Daniel Tacuri Llivichuscha and Daniel Tacuri-Cila.
Almeida-Stein said an immigrant association she founded is meeting Saturday and "I'm going to propose to see if we can help," the family.
Danielle Ameden can be reached at 508-634-7521 or dameden@cnc.com.
This page provides a basic overview of the vocabulary of international migration statistics and concepts. Unless otherwise indicated, we are using the latest United Nations definitions. The full 1997 UN report, entitled Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration, is available online. Because these terms may be used differently by particular countries, non-governmental organizations and international bodies, we encourage you to cross-check these definitions against country-specific sources.
Asylum: Protection granted by a state to refugees. (Source: Webster's Dictionary)
Asylum-seekers: Persons who file an application for asylum in a country other than their own. They remain in the status of asylum-seeker until their application is considered and adjudicated. See also foreigners seeking asylum.
Border workers: Persons commuting between their country of usual residence (which is usually their country of citizenship as well) and their place of employment abroad.
Brain Drain: The emigration of a large number of a country's highly skilled and educated population to other countries that offer superior economic and social opportunities (Source: Population Reference Bureau).
Citizens deported from abroad: Citizens returning to their country as a result of deportation procedures against them in another country.
Citizens in transit: Persons who arrive in their own country but do not enter it formally because they are on their way to another destination.
Citizenship: The country in which a person is born or naturalized and in which that person has rights and responsibilities (Source: United States Immigration and Naturalization Service).
Contract migrant workers: Persons working in a country other than their own under contractual arrangements that set limits on the period of employment and on the specific job held by the migrant (that is to say, contract migrant workers cannot change jobs without permission granted by the authorities of the receiving State).
Country of usual residence: The country in which a person lives, that is to say, the country in which he or she has a place to live where he or she normally spends the daily period of rest. Temporary travel abroad for purposes of recreation, holiday, visits to friends or relatives, business, medical treatment or religious pilgrimage does not change a person's country of usual residence.
Dependants: Immediate relatives of the principal migrant who are normally admitted in the same migration category as that person. Although the definition of immediate relative varies from country to country, the spouse and minor children of a principal migrant usually qualify as dependants.
Diplomats and consular personnel: Foreigners working under diplomatic permits for foreign embassies or consulates established in the receiving country. Also, citizens traveling under diplomatic passports in order to work in their country's embassies or consulates abroad or in order to return from a posting abroad.
Domestic employees: Foreign persons admitted for the specific purpose of providing personal services to the foreign diplomatic and consular personnel in the country.
Employment: See foreign migrant workers.
Employment-based settlers: Foreigners selected for long-term settlement because of their qualifications and prospects in the receiving country's labor market. However, they are not admitted expressly to exercise a particular economic activity.
Entrepreneurs and investors (as settlers): Foreigners granted the right to long-term settlement in a country on condition that they invest a minimum sum of money or create new productive activities in the receiving country.
Excursionists (also called "same-day visitors"): Persons who do not reside in the country of arrival and stay for just a day without spending the night in a collective or private accommodation within the country visited. This category includes cruise passengers who arrive in a country on a cruise ship and return to the ship each night to sleep on board as well as crew members who do not spend the night in the country. It also includes residents of border areas who visit the neighboring country during the day to shop, visit friends or relatives, seek medical treatment, or participate in leisure activities.
Family-based settlers: Foreigners selected for long-term settlement because of the family ties they have with citizens or foreigners already residing in the receiving country.
Foreign border workers: Foreign persons granted the permission to be employed on a continuous basis in the receiving country provided they depart at regular and short intervals (daily or weekly) from that country.
Foreign-born population of a country: All persons who have that country as the country of usual residence and whose place of birth is located in another country.
Foreign business travelers: Foreign persons granted the permission to engage in business or professional activities that are not remunerated from within the country of arrival. Their length of stay is restricted and cannot surpass 12 months.
Foreign diplomatic and consular personnel: Foreigners admitted under diplomatic visas or permits.
Foreigners admitted for family formation or reunification: Foreigners admitted because they are the immediate relatives of citizens or foreigners already residing in the receiving country or because they are the foreign fiancŽ(e)s or the foreign adopted children of citizens. The definition of immediate relatives varies from country to country but it generally includes the spouse and minor children of the person concerned.
Foreigners admitted for humanitarian reasons (other than asylum proper or temporary protection): Foreigners who are not granted full refugee status but are nevertheless admitted for humanitarian reasons because they find themselves in refugee-like situations. See also asylum-seekers, refugees and foreigners granted temporary protected status.
Foreigners admitted for settlement: Foreign persons granted the permission to reside in the receiving country without limitations regarding duration of stay or exercise of an economic activity. Their dependants, if admitted, are also included in this category.
Foreigners granted temporary protected status: Foreigners who are allowed to stay for a temporary though possibly indefinite period because their life would be in danger if they were to return to their country of citizenship. See also foreigners seeking asylum.
Foreigners have the right to free establishment: Foreigners who have the right to enter, stay and work within the territory of a country other than their own by virtue of an agreement or treaty concluded between their country of citizenship and the country they enter.
Foreigners in transit: Persons who arrive in the receiving country but do not enter it formally because they are on their way to another destination.
Foreigners seeking asylum: A category that encompasses both persons who are eventually allowed to file an application for asylum (asylum-seekers proper) and those who do not enter the asylum adjudication system formally but are nevertheless granted the permission to stay until they can return safely to their countries of origin (that is to say, they become foreigners granted temporary protected status).
Foreigners whose entry or stay is not sanctioned: This category includes foreigners who violate the rules of admission and stay of the receiving country and are deportable, as well as foreign persons attempting to seek asylum but who are not allowed to file an application and are not permitted to stay in the receiving country on any other grounds.
Foreigners whose status is regularized: Foreigners whose entry or stay has not been sanctioned by the receiving State or who have violated the terms of their admission but who are nevertheless allowed to regularize their status. Although most persons regularizing their status have already been present in the receiving country for some time, their regularization may be taken to represent the time of their official admission as international migrants.
Foreign excursionists (also called "same-day visitors"): Foreign persons who visit the receiving country for a day without spending the night in a collective or private accommodation within the country visited. This category includes cruise passengers who arrive in a country on a cruise ship and return to the ship each night to sleep on board as well as crew members who do not spend the night in the country. It also includes residents of border areas who visit the neighboring country during the day to shop, visit friends or relatives, seek medical treatment, or participate in leisure activities.
Foreign migrant workers: Foreigners admitted by the receiving State for the specific purpose of exercising an economic activity remunerated from within the receiving country. Their length of stay is usually restricted as is the type of employment they can hold.
Foreign military personnel: Foreign military servicemen, officials and advisers stationed in the country. Their dependants and domestic employees are sometimes allowed to accompany them.
Foreign population of a country: All persons who have that country as country of usual residence and who are the citizens of another country.
Foreign retirees (as settlers): Persons beyond retirement age who are granted the right to stay over a long period or indefinitely in the territory of a State other than their own provided that they have sufficient independent income and do not become a charge to that State.
Foreign settlers: See migrants for settlement.
Foreign students: Persons admitted by a country other than their own, usually under special permits or visas, for the specific purpose of following a particular course of study in an accredited institution of the receiving country.
Foreign tourists: Foreign persons admitted under tourist visas (if required) for purposes of leisure, recreation, holiday, visits to friends or relatives, health or medical treatment, or religious pilgrimage. They must spend at least a night in a collective or private accommodation in the receiving country and their duration of stay must not surpass 12 months.
Foreign trainees: Persons admitted by a country other than their own to acquire particular skills through on-the-job training. Foreign trainees are therefore allowed to work only in the specific institution or establishment providing the training and their length of stay is usually restricted.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or man-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. (Source: "Guiding Principles on Internal Displacements" issued by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in 1998)
International civil servants: Persons working for international organizations located in a country other than their own. They usually reside in that country under special visas or permits. Their dependants and domestic employees are generally allowed to accompany or join them.
Jus Sanguinis: Literally meaning right of blood, it makes descent from a family member the primary determinant of citizenship. (Source: United States Immigration and Naturalization Service).
Jus Solis: States that a person is granted citizenship through place of birth. (Source: United States Immigration and Naturalization Service).
Long-term migrant: A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year (12 months), so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. From the perspective of the country of departure, the person will be a long-term emigrant and from that of the country of arrival, the person will be a long-term immigrant.
Migrants for settlement: Foreigners granted the permission to stay for a lengthy or unlimited period, who are subject to virtually no limitations regarding the exercise of an economic activity.
Migrants having the right to free establishment or movement: See foreigners having the right to free establishment.
Migrant workers: See foreign migrant workers.
Migration for employment: See foreign migrant workers.
Nomads: Persons without a fixed place of usual residence who move from one site to another, usually according to well-established patterns of geographical mobility. When their trajectory involves crossing current international boundaries, they become part of the international flows of people. Some nomads may be stateless persons because, lacking a fixed place of residence, they may not be recognized as citizens by any of the countries through which they pass.
Principal migrant: Within a family group, the person who is considered by immigration authorities to be the head of the family and upon whose admission depends that of the other members of the family.
Project-tied migrant workers: Migrant workers admitted by the country of employment for a defined period to work solely on a specific project carried out in that country by the migrant workers' employer.
Refugee: Any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside of the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it. (Source:UN Convention Related to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol) (See refugees)
Refugees: Foreign persons granted refugee status either at the time of admission or before admission. This category therefore includes foreign persons granted refugee status while abroad and entering to be resettled in the receiving country as well as persons granted refugee status on a group basis upon arrival in the country. In some cases, refugee status may be granted when the persons involved are still in their country of origin through "in-country processing" of requests for asylum. Refugee status may be granted on the basis of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol or pertinent regional instruments.
Remittances: Monies earned or acquired by migrants that are transmitted back to their country of origin (Source: United Nations Population Information Network).
Repatriating asylum-seekers: Citizens returning after having attempted to seek asylum abroad. In principle, this category includes persons who return after their asylum cases have been decided negatively as well as persons who may not have been able to apply for asylum but who stayed abroad under temporary protection for some time.
Repatriating refugees: Citizens returning after having enjoyed asylum abroad. Both refugees returning under internationally assisted repatriation programs and those returning spontaneously are included in this category.
Replacement Population: The population that is necessary to offset declines in the general population, the population of working age, as well as to make up for the ageing of a population. (Source: United Nations Development Program).
Resettlement: Permanent relocation of refugees, internally displaced persons or others that have been displaced to a new place that allows them to establish residence. Refers to both international and internal relocations. (Source: United States Immigration and Naturalization Service).
Returning citizens: See returning migrants.
Returning migrants: Persons returning to their country of citizenship after having been international migrants (whether short-term or long-term) in another country and who are intending to stay in their own country for at least a year.
Same-day visitors: See excursionists and foreign excursionists.
Seasonal migrant workers: Persons employed by a country other than their own for only part of a year because the work they perform depends on seasonal conditions. They are a subcategory of foreign migrant workers.
Settlement: See migrants for settlement.
Settlers: See migrants for settlement.
Short-term migrant: A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least three months but less than a year (12 months) except in cases where the movement to that country is for purposes of recreation, holiday, visits to friends or relatives, business, medical treatment or religious image. For purposes of international migration statistics, the country of usual residence of short-term migrants is considered to be the country of destination during the period they spend in it.
Stateless persons: Persons who are not recognized as citizens of any State.
Students: See foreign students.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR): The average number of children women are having today. Also, the average number of children that a woman would have during her lifetime given age-specific fertility rates for a particular year. (Source: Population Reference Bureau).
Tourists: Persons who do not reside in the country of arrival and are admitted to that country under tourist visas (if required) for purposes of leisure, recreation, holidays, visits to friends or relatives, health or medical treatment or religious pilgrimage. They must spend at least a night in a collective or private accommodation in the receiving country and their duration of stay must not surpass 12 months.
Trafficking: When a migrant is illegally recruited, coerced and/or forcibly moved within national or across national borders. Traffickers are those who transport migrants and profit economically or otherwise from their relocation. (Source: International Organization for Migration).
Trainees: See foreign trainees.
Usual residence: See country of usual residence.
Visitors (from abroad to the country): Persons who do not reside in the country of arrival and who are admitted for short stays for purposes of leisure, recreation, holidays; visits to friends or relatives; business or professional activities not remunerated from within the receiving country; health treatment; or religious pilgrimages. Visitors include excursionists, tourists and business travelers.
Xenophobia: An unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange. (Source: Webster's Dictionary).
Copyright @ 2007 Migration Policy Institute. All rights reserved. MPI · 1400 16th St. NW, Suite 300 · Washington, DC 20036 ph: (001) 202-266-1940 · fax: (001) 202-266-1900 source@migrationinformation.org
This message has been edited. Last edited by: explora,
To Beverly and Explora: I just read your exchange in this thread concerning bold text. I want to assure Beverly that I personally do find too much bold text hard to read - that others also find the same is just confirmation - some bold is okay, even good, but too much of it is just tough on the eyes when one is reading a couple of hundred posts at a time, like I do, and like some visitors to the board surely do. Please go easy on the bolding! - Sam.
Originally posted by Sam U. of ILW.COM: To Beverly and Explora: I just read your exchange in this thread concerning bold text. I want to assure Beverly that I personally do find too much bold text hard to read - that others also find the same is just confirmation - some bold is okay, even good, but too much of it is just tough on the eyes when one is reading a couple of hundred posts at a time, like I do, and like some visitors to the board surely do. Please go easy on the bolding! - Sam.
Hi Sam:
I responded to your request in the other thread. I have no problem with toning it down per your request. I'm sure that its the usual suspects complaining who like to harrass me that keeps , about any and everything I post and how I post it.
O/T: Thanks for the addition of this icon, it's my favorite of all of them.
It's so convenient I can post it as a simple response, since I'm perpetually and personally attacked by the usual suspects, the only variation being their use of one of their multiple screen names.
Have a good night Sam!
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Beverly,
Thursday, January 31, 2008 By Father Jonathan Morris
"¢ E-mail Father Jonathan
As part of an orchestrated strategy to protest immigration policy, Mexican immigrant Flor Crisostomo, 28, has defied a deportation order and has found sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago.
The church's pastor, Rev. Walter Coleman, has defended his recurring choice to provide shelter for illegal immigrants running from the law: "I fear God more than Homeland Security."
Ms. Crisostomo says she is "taking up the torch" from her friend Elvira Arellano, who, for over a year, evaded law enforcement by hunkering down in the same church. Ms. Arellano's use of holy grounds to play a blatant cat and mouse game with immigration officials elevated her profile as the martyr leader of the immigrants' rights movement. In August of 2007, Ms. Arellano announced she would be leaving her safe haven in order to lead a rally in Los Angeles. She was arrested at the rally and immediately deported to Mexico.
The most salient element of this story is the political and moral quandary of a church providing material and moral sanctuary to illegal immigrants who are refusing deportation orders from the United States.
RelatedColumn Archive Chicago's "Sanctuary" Church Strikes AgainBill Clinton's Analogy Revisited: Barack Obama vs. Jesse Jackson Today Marks the 35th Anniversary of Roe v. WadeCandidates Should Put Their Political Philosophy on the TablePrimary Elections: No Superheroes, Please Full-page Father Jonathan Archive Is this Chicago church justified in bucking the law and harboring Elvira Arellano and now Flor Crisostomo?
The answer is unequivocally "no." In fact, the Adalberto United Methodist Church, and Rev. Coleman are doing a disservice to all migrant workers "” legal and illegal "” and to the long and harrowed traditions of appropriate civil disobedience and political sanctuary. As a church, they are confusing political activism and subversive tactics with humanitarian aid and social justice.
I will explain.
As in many of the cases we examine in this column, we can assume the Chicago church's mistake is not one of ill will, but rather of skewed ethical thinking, of bad moral logic. When you listen to the pastor speak, his sincerity is evident:
"It's unfortunate we have to do this. This church has other priorities, like helping the poor in this neighborhood, but God didn't give us a choice. When God says do this, we say, 'Yes, sir!'"
It is understandable that Rev. Coleman would come to the conclusion that God wants him to help these women in this way, if you accept his line of moral reasoning. Rev. Coleman argues that because God's laws are superior to man's laws, in the case of unjust law, we have the right to disobey civil authorities. Applying this logic to his own case, he says that because immigration policy in the United States is unfair, these women are doing the right thing in snubbing the law. He goes even further, suggesting he himself has a moral obligation to support them in their display of "civil disobedience."
But Rev. Coleman's logic has gaping holes. Yes, the moral law (God's law) is prior and superior to civil law, but this does not give citizens the right to disobey every unjust law. If, for example, Rev. Coleman were convinced government tax policy unfairly burdens the rich, or the poor, or the middle class, would he be morally justified in not paying his taxes?
Acts of civil disobedience must be evaluated in the same way we assess the right to "conscientious objection." We have the right, and even obligation, to disobey legitimate authority when we are commanded to do moral evil. But the principle of conscientious objection does not give us a license to be our own moral legislators, picking and choosing the laws we will follow based on their varying degree of moral perfection. As long as a law does not oblige us to do evil, our responsibility to respect legitimate authorities prevails over other concerns.
I can think of no better example to illuminate this point than the Gospel story in which the disciples ask Jesus about the necessity of paying taxes to the unscrupulous Roman authorities. Jesus' response left no wiggle room for creative interpretation: "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." He then handed the disciples a coin and pointed them in the direction of the local IRS office. This is a perennial invitation by the greatest social reformer of all times to work for justice and redemption within the context of the law.
My critical analysis of this particular case in Chicago should not be mistaken as a sign of my satisfaction with our immigration status in the United States. Indeed, our de facto system is hypocritical and unjust. We make immigration processes slow, complicated, and expensive. Then, to compensate for the market's apparent demands for more manual workers, the government turns a blind eye to a porous and dangerous border, then rewarding illegal crossing with massive quantities of irregular employment. Finally, the government gets tough, and plays catch and release, and then catch and release again, and again, and again.
The apparent winners in this hypocritical system are companies that depend on cheap labor and all of us consumers of their inexpensive produce and services.
The first of many losers, on the other hand, are immigrants who live in constant fear of unpredictable crackdowns, while all the time being subject to inhumane living conditions. And the list of other losers goes on and on... border states, public health and education systems, skilled laborers, border patrol agents, etc.
So what do we do?
As concerned citizens we must convince Congress and the new president to fix a broken system. Satisfactory solutions will take into account the right of every human being to leave his homeland (emigrate) in search of a better life. But they will also necessarily respect the right and obligation of every sovereign state to regulate this immigration at sustainable and safe levels. Success depends on statesmen rising to the challenge of balancing these two principles. In practice, this requires mobilizing groups of conflicting interests to sacrifice in the short term for the common good of our country.
But our zeal for reform must never admit turning a church into a public hideout for people running from the law. It is a crusade of lawlessness that tarnishes the good reputation of the millions of honest and hard-working Mexican and Latino people to whom the United States of America is deeply indebted.
As a pastor, and as a good neighbor, I would give food, water, clothing and medical aid to anyone who came knocking at my door, and I certainly wouldn't ask for any government documentation. But what's going on these days in a church in Chicago is quite another thing.
This article is part of a regular blog hosted by Father Jonathan Morris on FOXNews.com. You can invite new readers by forwarding this URL:www.foxnews.com/fatherjonathan.
Supermarket settles discrimination claim Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 8:16 am
CHARLOTTE (AP) "” A supermarket has agreed to pay a total of $40,000 to three former employees who accused the store of discriminating against non-Hispanic workers.
The former employees filed the complaint last year, saying they were forced out of their Compare Foods jobs in 2004 because they were not Hispanic. Two of the employees were black and one was white.
Compare Foods lawyer Phil Van Hoy said the company treated the workers fairly, arguing that a company with lots of Hispanic customers is allowed to have employees that can communicate with them.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorney Lynette Barnes said Compare couldn't prove that it was necessary job qualification to speak Spanish or relate to Hispanics. The company agreed to the settlement in federal court this week.
The grocery store chain was founded in Freeport, New York, and now has 50 supermarkets in seven states.
A History of Mexican Americans in California: INTRODUCTION
In 1846, the United States invaded and conquered California, then part of the Republic of Mexico. This event, one aspect of the 1846-1848 U.S.-Mexican War, led to U.S. annexation of California through the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mexican American history in California had begun.
But if the Mexican American era in California was new, the roots of the Chicano1 experience stretched back some three centuries to 1519 when Spaniards and their Indian allies carried out the conquest of the Aztec Empire in central Mexico and established what they called "New Spain." Exploration and colonization spread from Mexico City in all directions. This eventually included settlements throughout the northern frontier in the areas now occupied by the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and of course, California.
Hispanic settlement of what is now California began in 1769 when the Presidio and Catholic mission of San Diego were established. By 1823, 20 more missions dotted the California coast from San Diego to Sonoma, along with several military presidios and civilian communities. With few exceptions, the settlers and their descendants stayed close to the coast. There were few extensions into the California interior.
The California economy was based on agriculture and livestock. In contrast to central New Spain, coastal colonists found little mineral wealth. Some became farmers or ranchers, working for themselves on their own land or for other colonists. Government officials, priests, soldiers, and artisans settled in towns, missions, and presidios.
Socially, a combination class-caste system developed, although it lacked the rigidity of that in central New Spain. Most residents belonged to the lower and lower-middle classes, but some colonists arrived with or attained upper-class status, mainly through ranching or the acquisition of land grants. They reflected varied backgrounds "” peninsular (born in Spain), criollo (born in New Spain of pure Spanish ancestry), Indian, Black, mestizo (of Spanish and Indian ancestry), mulato (of Spanish and African ancestry), and zambo (of Indian and African ancestry). Most colonists were of mixed racial backgrounds, and the process of mestizaje (racial mixture) continued in California, including mixture with various California Indian civilizations. Many mestizos strove, sometimes successfully, to become identified as pure-blooded Spaniards because racial identity affected socio-economic mobility. Whites generally held major government positions, church offices, and private lands, while mestizos and Indians were concentrated at lower levels of the social structure. However, many people with mixed blood did succeed in becoming ranch owners and leading Californios, which sometimes brought an accompanying change of ethnic identity.
For the most part, Spanish California developed in relative isolation despite nominal central government control through appointed officials. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, central government control was even further diminished. In particular, Mexican independence opened the California door to trade with other countries, especially the United States. In the early 1820s, Anglo-Americans2 developed an intensive trade with California via sailing ships around Cape Horn. The Old Spanish Trail, established in 1829 to link Los Angeles and Santa Fe, New Mexico, became the first major northern Mexican interprovincial trade route. Moreover, it linked California to the Santa Fe Trail between New Mexico and the United States.
Trade with the United States began the process of economic detachment of California and New Mexico from central Mexico. Ships brought hides and tallow from California in exchange for manufactured goods from both the United States and England. Increased trade led to increased demand for consumer goods, and therefore, greater dependence on the United States as the primary source of supply. Along with a burgeoning economy, California also experienced periodic revolutions, as large landowners vied for political supremacy, and the Mexican government made intermittent, sometimes unpopular, efforts to tighten the reins
One of the most dramatic and significant events of the Mexican period occurred in 1833, when the Mexican government secularized the missions. This meant that vast mission landholdings were taken over by the government, which in turn awarded them as land grants to Californios. Soon huge sprawling ranchos became the basic socio-economic units of the province. While upward mobility remained difficult, some Mexicans succeeded in making the transition into the California elite, particularly with the help of these land grants.
During the 1821-1846 period, Anglo-Americans began to settle in California. Many of these settlers, particularly those who had come by ship, eventually married Mexican women (usually of the local aristocracy), became Mexican citizens, and obtained land grants. In contrast, Anglo overland pioneers who settled in the Sacramento Valley of northern California brought their families, stayed to themselves, and resisted integration into Mexican society. It was this group that ultimately rebelled in 1846 against its Mexican hosts and formed the short-lived secessionist Bear Flag Republic, which disappeared during the U.S. conquest of California.
1 Chicano: a term for Mexican Americans or U.S. residents of Mexican descent. - Ed.
2 Anglo-American: a term sometimes used to describe non-Hispanic White residents of the U.S. (informally, "Anglo"). - Ed.
Agua Mansa Cemetery, Colton, San Bernardino County
A History of Mexican Americans in California: THE MEXICAN WAR
In 1846, the U.S-Mexican War erupted. Tensions between the two countries had been developing for years over the obvious U.S. goal of expanding to the Pacific coast. The United States had made several offers to purchase all or part of northern Mexico, offers that Mexico rejected. In 1842, the United States revealed that it was prepared to use force to take what money could not buy, when the commander of the Pacific squadron invaded and captured Monterey, the capital of California, and returned it with apologies.
On the other side, Mexico's antagonism toward the United States was exacerbated by annexation of Texas, a former Mexican province that had revolted in 1835. The Texas rebels had extracted a battlefield treaty from Mexico recognizing the independence of Texas, but the Mexican government had never ratified it. To Mexico, therefore, U.S. annexation of Texas was grand theft and unconscionable aggression.
The precipitating incident of the war came in April 1846, when small units of Mexican and U.S. soldiers clashed in disputed territory between the Nueces River (the Texas boundary recognized by Mexico) and the Rio Grande (the boundary claimed by Texas). The incident provided a pretext for an annexation decision already made by U.S. President James K. Polk, who ordered invasion by U.S. troops. Fighting in northeastern Mexico was followed by the landing of U.S. forces at Veracruz and an advance overland from there to Mexico City. Simultaneously, other U.S. forces occupied the province of New Mexico and then marched to California, most of which had already come under U.S. control as the result of a naval invasion and the Bear Flag Revolt.
The initial U.S. occupation of California occurred without bloodshed, but Mexican armed reaction ultimately broke out in both New Mexico and California. Mexican patriots, mainly citizen volunteers, were victorious in 1846 in battles at Los Angeles, San Pasqual, Chino Rancho, and elsewhere. But eventually they had to submit to the trained and better-armed U.S. forces. By early 1847, the United States had established control over California and the rest of northern Mexico, and proceeded to absorb this territory. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the United States and Mexico confirmed the land transfer.
A History of Mexican Americans in California: POST-CONQUEST CALIFORNIA
No sooner had the treaty been signed than the first major post-war influx of Anglos began, fueled by the discovery of gold in 1848. The 10,000 Californios (pre-conquest Mexican Californians) soon found the territory swamped by Anglo-American migrants and foreign immigrants. The latter included Chileans, Peruvians, Basques, and Mexicans, particularly miners from the Mexican province of Sonora. However, despite this Latino immigration, the Spanish-speaking population of California fell to 15 percent by 1850, and to four percent by 1870.
Northern California received the major thrust of the Anglo gold rush migration, while southern California remained heavily Mexican. This ethnic contrast was one factor in the debate over the possibility of dividing California into two states, as happened in the case of New Mexico and Arizona. However, the coming of the transcontinental railroad to southern California in the 1870s spurred a land boom and the state's second major population explosion. By the 1880s, Anglo settlers were also numerically dominant in the southern part of the state.
The presence of a Mexican majority in 1848 contributed to a promising start for good ethnic relations in California. Californios participated widely in the early post-conquest government, and provided eight of the 48 delegates to the 1849 state constitutional convention. There they won such transitory victories as a provision that all state laws and regulations be translated into Spanish. In southern California, where Californios remained a majority in some places until the 1880s, they continued to be elected to local and county positions, and a handful held state offices or seats in the legislature.
However, the rapid establishment of a heavy statewide Anglo majority quickly rendered Mexican Americans politically powerless at the state level. As a result, they could not prevent enactment of inequitable and sometimes discriminatory laws. For example, the legislature placed the heaviest tax burden on land, an abrupt and decimating shift from the Mexican system of taxing production rather than land. Although this tax also hurt Anglo landowners, it seriously undermined the Californio economic position, based primarily on ranching. The Foreign Miners' Tax of 1850, a $20 monthly fee for the right to mine, was applied not only to foreign immigrants but also to California-born Mexicans, who had automatically be come U.S. citizens under the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The state anti-vagrancy act of 1855 was so obviously anti-Mexican that it became known popularly as the Greaser Law. Possibly the most blatantly anti-Mexican law was the 1855 act negating the constitutional requirement that laws be translated into Spanish. Finally, there were growing vigilantism and squatter violence against Californio landowners.
Land had been the basis of the California socio-economic system. The loss of land after the U.S. conquest undermined that system, in spite of the theoretical protections provided by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Holders of Spanish and Mexican land grants, most of whom were Mexican Americans, had to seek legal confirmation of their titles. In effect, the federal government placed the burden of proof on the landowners instead of automatically accepting all titles and then handling challenges on an individual basis.
Already suffering from heavy taxes and lacking capital, Chicano landowners had to go through the slow, expensive process of legally confirming their claims, and often were forced to borrow money at high interest rates to cover the costs of the legal struggle. Moreover, they had to argue their cases before U.S. judges and land commissioners unfamiliar with Hispanic legal principles and the land tenure system on which land grants were based. Even when they did win confirmation of their grants, Mexican Americans often found themselves personally destitute, or had to sacrifice their land to pay their legal expenses.
To adjudicate landholdings in California, Congress passed the Land Act of 1851, establishing a Board of Land Commissioners to review claims. If appealed, cases moved on to the U.S. district court, and even the Supreme Court. Of the 813 claims, 549 were appealed (417 by government attorneys), some as many as six times. The board went out of business in 1856, but multiple appeals caused land cases to drag on for an average of 17 years.
Loss of land contributed heavily to relegation of Mexican Americans to the lower echelons of the California socio-economic system. The loss eroded their economic base, undermined their political power, and displaced ranchworkers. Some Chicanos managed to find work in traditional occupations, such as vaquero or sheepshearer, but often only on a part-time basis. Most displaced Chicanos became laborers, poorly paid and often migratory, in expanding large-scale commercial agriculture. Others moved to cities, where their pastoral and agricultural skills were of little use. Many found employment in railroads, construction, and food processing.
Increasingly incorporated into the labor market in the nineteenth century as unskilled or semi-skilled manual laborers, Chicanos experienced job displacement, and in some areas, actual downward occupational mobility. Anglo hostility and low levels of education limited their access to jobs in the rapidly expanding white-collar sector, and Chicanos also encountered obstacles to upward mobility even in occupations in which they had considerable skill and experience. In Los Angeles, for example, Chicanos disappeared completely from the ranks of hatmakers, masons, and tailors. Despite long pastoral experience, Chicanos found employment on ranches only as ranchhands, while Anglos held most supervisory positions.
Another aspect of the nineteenth century economic shift was the entry of Mexican American women into the labor market. As Mexican American men found themselves more occupationally disadvantaged, women became increasingly employed as domestics, laundresses, farm laborers, and cannery and packinghouse workers. A rise in the proportion of female-headed households reflected these socio-economic stresses.
Concomitant with the Chicano economic decline was emergence of residential and social segregation. Chicano barrios and colonias consisted of various types. Some traditional Mexican towns became transformed into barrios as Anglos immigrated and established their own segregated neighborhoods, or as newly established Anglo cities expanded until they enveloped historic Mexican communities. Displaced Chicanos and immigrating Mexicans often established new barrios and colonias.
Barrios and colonias developed and survived through a combination of force and choice. In Anglo areas, anti-Mexican segregation, often embedded in restrictive covenants on real estate, slammed the residential door on the vast majority of Mexican Americans, the major exceptions being Chicanos with wealth, social status, light skins, and presumed Spanish identity. On the other hand, most Chicanos and new Mexican immigrants probably preferred living among people who shared their heritage, culture, and language. The little intermarriage that took place almost always involved Anglo men and daughters from wealthy "Spanish" families "” events that often accompanied business partnerships or political alliances.
In Chicano areas, traditional extended family and community social life flourished. There were bullfights, rodeos, horse races, and various fiestas, including the celebration of Mexican Independence Day (September 16) and Cinco de Mayo (May 5 "” the 1862 Mexican victory over the French at Puebla). The Catholic Church often provided a focus for social as well as religious life. Mexican American political, cultural, patriotic, and mutual aid organizations began to develop, but remained generally local in focus. Chicano newspapers strengthened community cohesion and spoke out against injustices, but they were undercapitalized, and were forced to engage in a constant, ultimately losing struggle for survival.
Faced with a pervasive pattern of economic dislocation, declining political influence, violence, and discrimination, Chicanos fought back.
Usually, they maneuvered within the system "” through the courts, political channels, and newspapers "” but at times they resorted to force to defend their rights. Some Chicanos, such as Tiburcio Vasquez, turned to banditry for survival and as a means of expressing grievances and frustrations with Anglo treatment. Nonetheless, by the end of the nineteenth century, Chicanos had declined from an influential majority to a relatively powerless minority.
Leo Carillo Ranch, San Diego County
A History of Mexican Americans in California: REVOLUTION TO DEPRESSION: 1900-1940
The first three decades of the twentieth century saw rapid growth in the size of the California Chicano population. However, the stage for this growth had been set by years of social and economic changes in Mexico and the United States.
Development of mining and industry in northern Mexico, as well as building of north-south railroad lines, attracted large numbers of Mexicans to the northern part of the country in the late nineteenth century. There they learned new industrial, mining, and railroad skills that would be useful later in the United States. The railroad also provided a quicker and easier means of travel to the north. At the same time, economic pressures were mounting. Many small landowners were losing their holdings to expanding haciendas, while farm workers were increasingly and systematically trapped into peonage by accumulating debts.
Finally in 1910, political opponents of President Porfirio Diaz revolted. He was quickly overthrown, but replacement of his government did not end the Mexican Revolution which spread throughout the country and took on deep social and economic, rather than merely political ramifications. The resulting chaos drove thousands of Mexicans north. Beyond physical proximity, the United States offered jobs "” in industry, in mines, on railroads, and in agriculture "” and all at wage levels far higher than those in Mexico. World War I further increased the demand for Mexican labor.
In the 1920s, the pace of emigration increased, spurred in part by the short but violent Cristero Revolution (1926-1929), while the U.S. economy continued to expand and attract Mexican labor. Nearly one-half million Mexicans entered the United States on permanent visas during the 1920s, some 11 percent of total U.S. immigration during that decade. Thousands more entered informally, before passage of restrictive regulations. Even after establishment of more stringent immigration rules and procedures, thousands continued to cross without legal sanction. Many of them were ignorant of the required legal processes; others sought to avoid the head tax, the expense of a visa, and bureaucratic delays at the border. Coyotes "” as the professional labor contractors and border-crossing experts were known "” often received commissions from U.S. businesses. They began the industry of smuggling people and forging documents that continues to the present.
Most Mexican immigrants settled in the Southwest. By 1930, more than 30 percent of Mexican-born U.S. residents lived in California. They entered nearly every occupation classified as unskilled or semi-skilled. Chicanos became the bulwark of southwestern agriculture. By 1930, manufacturing, transportation, communications, and domestic and personal service had become the other major sectors of Chicano employment. Chicanos made up 75 percent of the work force of the six major western railroads. They also held blue-collar positions in construction, food processing, textiles, automobile industries, steel production, and utilities. In California during the 1920s, Chicanos constituted up to two-thirds of the work force in many industries.
A small Chicano middle class developed, often oriented toward serving the Chicano population. The growth of barrios and colonias fostered expansion of small businesses such as grocery and dry-goods stores, restaurants, barber shops, and tailor shops. Small construction firms emerged. Chicanos entered the teaching profession, usually working in private Chicano schools or in segregated public schools.
Many factors kept Chicanos in a marginal status. The geographical isolation of employment sites, particularly in railroading, agriculture, and agriculturally related industry, often reduced opportunities for Chicanos to gain familiarity with U.S. society through personal contact. Chicanos also encountered various forms of segregation. These included maintenance of separate Anglo and Mexican public schools, restrictive covenants on residential property, segregated restaurants, separate "white" and "colored" sections in theaters, and special "colored" days in segregated swimming pools. Numerous government agencies, religious groups, and private social service organizations, however, made special efforts to assist in the acculturation of Chicanos by providing instruction in the English language, U.S. culture, and job skills.
The dramatic increase in Mexican immigration affected Chicano residential patterns. Thousands settled in older barrios, causing over crowding and generating construction of cheap housing to meet the sudden demand. In some barrios, Mexican immigrants attained such numerical dominance that U.S.-born Chicanos became a minority within a minority. Immigrants sometimes formed new barrios adjacent to historical Chicano areas or new colonias in agricultural or railroad labor camps.
The growth in the size and number of Chicano communities fostered the growth of community activities. In the early twentieth century, there was a major increase in Chicano organizations, particularly mutualistas (mutual aid societies). Some adopted descriptive or symbolic names, such as Club Reciproco (Reciprocal Club) or Sociedad Progresista Mexicana (Mexican Progressive Society). Others selected names of Mexican heroes, such as Sociedad Mutualista Miguel Hidalgo (the father of Mexican independence), Sociedad Mutualista Benito Juarez (the famous Mexican Liberal president), or Sociedad Ignacio Zaragosa (the victorious Texas-born general at the Battle of Puebla, 1862).
Casa de Tableta/Buelna's Roadhouse, San Mateo County
Membership varied. Some organizations were exclusively male or female; others had mixed membership. Most developed as representative of the working class, but others were essentially middle or upper-class, or reflected a cross-section of wealth and occupations. Although each mutualista had its special goals, they all provided a focus for social life with such activities as meetings, family gatherings, lectures, discussions, cultural presentations, and commemoration of both U.S. and Mexican holidays.
Most provided services, such as assistance to families in need, emergency loans, legal services, mediation of disputes, and medical, life, and burial insurance. Some organized libraries or operated escuelitas (little schools), providing training in Mexican culture, Spanish, and basic school subjects to supplement the inferior education many Chicanos felt their children received in the public schools. Mutualistas helped immigrants adapt to life in the United States. Many mutualistas became involved in civil rights issues, such as the legal defense of Chicanos and the struggle against residential, school, or public segregation and other forms of discrimination. Some engaged in political activism, including support of candidates for public office. At times, mutualistas provided support for Chicanos on strike. Coalitions of Chicano organizations were formed, such as La Liga Protectora Latina (Latin Protective League) and El Confederacion de Sociedades Mexicanas (Confederation of Mexican Societies) in Los Angeles.
In addition to mutualistas, a variety of other cultural, political, service, and social organizations were developed in the early twentieth century, as communities grew or were formed. Possibly the most turbulent Chicano organizational activity of that era was in the labor sphere, where Mexicans played ironically conflicting roles. Because of depressed wages and unemployment in Mexico, Mexican workers could earn more in the United States, even by accepting jobs at pay levels that Anglos refused. Employers thus used Mexican labor to hold down pay scales, and often reached across the border to recruit Mexicans as strikebreakers. Because of the antipathy Mexicans generated in these roles, and also because of the biases of union leaders, local chapters of U.S. labor unions often refused to accept Chicanos as members, or required them to establish segregated locals.
There were Mexican strikers as well as strikebreakers, though. Chicanos were in the forefront of agricultural strikes. In 1903, more than 1,000 Mexican and Japanese sugar-beet workers carried out a successful strike near Ventura. In 1913, Mexican workers participated in a strike against degrading conditions on the Durst hop ranch, near Wheatland, Yuba County. Although the intervention of National Guard troops and the arrest of some 100 migrant workers broke the back of the strike, the Wheatland events contributed to establishment of the California Commission on Immigration and Housing, and recognition of the oppressive living and working conditions of agricultural laborers.
Throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, Mexicans heed or participated in a number of agricultural strikes throughout California. Mexicans struck Imperial Valley melon fields in 1928 and 1930. In 1933, El Monte strawberry fields, San Joaquin Valley cotton fields and fruit orchards, Hayward pea fields, and many other locales were affected. Strikes spread to Redlands citrus groves in 1936, and to Ventura County lemon groves in 1941. Mexicans also challenged the related food-processing industry through strikes by lettuce packers in Salinas in 1936, cannery workers in Stockton in 1937, and others.
Chicanos created a number of their own unions. El Confederacion de Uniones Obreras Mexicanas (CUOM, Confederation of Mexican Labor Unions) was formed in 1928. Among its goals were equal pay for Mexicans and Anglos doing the same job, termination of job discrimination against Chicano workers, and limitation on the immigration of Mexican workers into the United States. At its height, CUOM had about 20 locals and 3,000 workers.
In the early 1930s, Chicanos established some 40 agricultural unions in California. The largest, El Confederacion de Uniones de Campesinos y Obreros Mexicanos (CUCOM, Confederation of Mexican Farm Workers' and Laborers' Unions), created in 1933, ultimately included 50 locals and 5,000 members. Most of these unions later joined the American Federation of Labor or the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
The Great Depression brought a dramatic population reversal among Mexican Americans. Tabulated immigration to the United States from Mexico fell from nearly 500,000 during the 1920s to only 32,700 during the 1930s. At the same time, official figures indicate that some half- million persons of Mexican descent moved to Mexico.
The Depression displaced millions of American workers, and the drastic midwestern drought dispossessed thousands more, many of whom headed for California. As a result, California Chicanos not only lost their jobs in the cities along with other Americans, but also found themselves displaced from agricultural jobs by Dust Bowl migrants. Whereas before the Depression Anglos had composed less than 20 percent of California migratory agricultural laborers, by 1936, they had increased to more than 85 percent.
The shrinking job market caused Anglo attitudes toward Mexicans in the United States to change. Previously welcomed as important contributors to an expanding agriculture and industry, Mexicans now were seen as "surplus labor." No longer considered the backbone of California agriculture and invaluable contributors to other employment sectors, Mexicans instead were viewed as an economic liability, and had become objects of resentment as recipients of scarce public relief funds.
The government's solution was the Repatriation Program. In cooperation with the Mexican government, which had regretted the loss of so many able workers, U.S. federal, state, county, and local officials applied pressure on Mexicans to "voluntarily" return to Mexico. At times, this procedure resulted in outright deportation. Mexican aliens who lacked documents of legal residency, including many who had entered the United States in good faith during an earlier period when immigration from Mexico was a more informal process, were particularly vulnerable. Among the victims of the process were naturalized and U.S.-born husbands, wives, and children of Mexican repatriates, who had to choose between remaining in the United States or maintaining family unity by moving to Mexico.
The Depression era also sharpened long-existent Chicano distrust of government, particularly its agents of law enforcement. During the Depression, the use of violence to break strikes and disrupt union activities was widespread and added to Chicano antagonism toward law-enforcement officials. The Repatriation Program further increased Chicano distrust of government.
La Union Espanola de Vacaville, Solano County
A History of Mexican Americans in California: WORLD WAR II AND ITS AFTERMATH
World War II marked another sharp reversal in the course of Chicano history, renewing hope where the Depression had brought despair. The Depression had left in its wake a population decline, devastated communities, and shattered dreams; the war brought population growth, resurgent communities, and rising expectations.
World War II caused a tremendous labor shortage. When the military forces called for recruits, Mexican Americans responded in great number and went on to serve with distinction. Some 350,000 Chicanos served in the armed services and won 17 medals of honor. The war also brought industrial expansion, further aggravating the labor shortage caused by growth of the armed forces. Chicanos thus managed to gain entry to jobs and industries that had been virtually closed to them in the past. These new opportunities liberated many Chicanos from dependence on such traditional occupations as agriculture.
The turnaround from the labor surplus of the 1930s to the labor shortage of the 1940s had a special impact on agriculture and transportation. For help, the United States turned to Mexico, and in 1942 the two nations formulated the Bracero Program. From then until 1964, Mexican braceros were a regular part of the U.S. labor scene, reaching a peak of 450,000 workers in 1959. Most engaged in agriculture; they formed 26 percent of the nation's seasonal agricultural labor force in 1960.
Along with opportunities, World War II also brought increased tensions between Chicanos and law-enforcement agencies. Two events in Los Angeles brought this issue into focus. In the Sleepy Lagoon case of 1942-1943, 17 Chicano youths were convicted of charges ranging from assault to first-degree murder for the death of a Mexican American boy discovered on the outskirts of the city. Throughout the trial, the judge openly displayed bias against Chicanos, and allowed the prosecution to bring in racial factors. Further, the defendants were not permitted haircuts or changes of clothing. In 1944, the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee obtained a reversal of the convictions from the California District Court of Appeals, but the damage had been done. Los Angeles newspapers sensationalized the case and helped create an anti-Mexican atmosphere. Police harassed Chicano youth clubs, and repeatedly rounded up Chicano youth "under suspicion."
In the aftermath of the convictions and the press campaign, conflict broke out between U.S. servicemen in the area and young Mexican Americans who often dressed in the zoot suits popular during the wartime era. Soldiers and sailors declared open season on Chicanos, attacking them on the streets and even dragging them out of theaters and public vehicles. Instead of intervening to stop the attackers, military and local police moved in afterward and arrested the Chicano victims. Spurred on by sensational, anti-Mexican press coverage of the "zoot-suit riots," these assaults spread throughout Southern California and even into midwestern cities. A citizens' investigating committee appointed by the governor later reported that racial prejudice, discriminatory police practices, and inflammatory press coverage were among the principal causes of the riots. The Sleepy Lagoon case and the zoot-suit affair provided the basis for Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit, which in 1979 became the first Chicano play to appear on Broadway.
Despite such events as these, the World War II era proved to be generally positive for Mexican Americans and is often viewed as a watershed in their history. Progress continued after the war. The G.I. Bill of Rights gave all veterans such benefits as educational subsidies and loans for business and housing. Moreover, returning Chicano servicemen refused to accept the discriminatory practices that had been the Chicanos' lot. The G.I. generation furnished much of the leadership for post-war Mexican American civil rights and political activism.
Veterans were instrumental in the founding and growth of a variety of Chicano organizations. Among the heavily political organizations, the Unity Leagues and the Community Service Organization registered voters in California and supported Chicano candidates. These groups also engaged in such diverse activities as language and citizenship education, court challenges against school segregation, and assistance in obtaining government services. Even more overtly political has been the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA).
Chicano progress since World War II is reflected in occupational patterns. Changes in Mexican American job concentrations reflect to some extent changes in the state economy. Since 1940, California has experienced a manufacturing boom and rapid growth in such areas as government, product distribution, consumer-oriented activities, and professional services. Percentages of Mexican Americans in agriculture and unskilled labor positions have declined, while percentages in professional, technical, managerial, clerical, skilled craft, and semi-skilled occupations have risen.
The post-Depression era brought socio-economic gains for Mexican Americans, but not equality. Although percentages of Mexican Americans in professional, technical, managerial, and clerical positions have increased, they still fall far short of parity according to their population numbers. Moreover, in nearly every major occupational group, Chicanos tend to hold inferior jobs, and Chicano earnings in the same job classifications tend to be lower than those of Anglos.
Inequitable economic conditions are paralleled by comparatively low Chicano educational attainment and severe underrepresentation among elected officials. The latter has resulted partially because thousands of Mexican immigrants have lived in California for decades without obtaining U.S. citizenship. With Mexico so close, many come with plans ultimately to "return home," although these dreams often go unfulfilled. Some Mexican immigrants, although harboring no desire to live in Mexico, have refused to surrender their Mexican citizenship. In comparison to immigrants from other parts of the world, Mexicans and other Latinos have been more reluctant to become naturalized citizens.
Other factors have also contributed to Chicano electoral underrepresentation. In 1977, for example, a California legislative committee on elections partially attributed Chicanos' limited representation on most city councils in cities with significant Chicano populations to the predominant use of citywide at-large elections instead of district elections. There were no Chicano council members at all in 42 such cities in California. The committee argued that local at-large elections prevent "minority voters from exercising their potential political weight," since "their votes disappear in a sea of majority group votes." On the other hand, some contend that at-large elections make it less likely that candidates will write off minority votes as irrelevant, as can happen in ward-based contests.
When it comes to military service, combat decorations, and wartime casualties, however, Chicanos have been overrepresented in terms of population. Because of their lower educational attainment and restricted employment opportunities, Chicanos have traditionally viewed military service as a viable economic option. And since they were underrepresented in higher education, Mexican Americans did not benefit from student deferments as frequently as Anglos.
Finally, the 1970 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report, Mexican- Americans and the Administration of justice in the Southwest, documented unequal treatment of Chicanos by law-enforcement agencies and the judicial system. Among widespread abuses cited in this and other studies are the lack of bilingual translators in court proceedings; underrepresentation of Chicanos on grand juries, as judges, and as law-enforcement officers; unequal assignment of punishment and probation to convicted Chicanos; excessive patrolling of Chicano barrios; anti-Mexican prejudice among police and judicial officials; and even wrongful use of law-enforcement agencies. In the search for undocumented Mexicans, the U.S. Border Patrol has exacerbated antipathy among Mexican Americans by periodic raids on houses, apartments, restaurants, and bars in Chicano communities and predominantly Chicano places of employment.
Quinto Sol Publication's first office location, Alameda County
A History of Mexican Americans in California: THE CHICANO MOVEMENT
This negative side of the post-World War II Mexican American experience provided background and impetus for the Chicano movement
Rising from the turbulent 1960s and drawing on the century-long foundation of Mexican American experience, the Chicano movement has be come a dynamic force for societal change. The movement is not a monolith, but is rather an amalgam of individuals and organizations who share a sense of pride in Mexicanidad, a dedication to enhancement of Chicano culture, mutual identification, a desire to improve the Chicano socio-economic position, and a commitment to making constructive changes in U.S. society.
A major focus of contemporary Chicanos has been politics. Political goals have included increasing the number of Chicano candidates, convincing non-Chicano candidates to commit themselves to the needs of the Mexican American community, conducting broad-scale voter registration and community organization drives, working for appointment of more Chicanos in government, and supporting passage of constructive legislation. Some Chicanos have chosen to work through the two major political parties or through theoretically nonpartisan organizations, such as the Mexican-American Political Association. Others have channeled their political efforts through El Partido de la Raza Unida (PRU, United People's Party), which was founded in south Texas by Jose Angel Gutierrez. While Chicanos have not demonstrated political influence commensurate with their growing numbers, the increase in Chicano elected and appointed officials reflects growing Chicano political presence.
Chicanos have given considerable contemporary attention to economic change. Goals and strategies have varied "” upgrading occupations, creating more private businesses (Brown Capitalism), and forming cooperative community development enterprises are examples. The most visible and publicly dramatic aspect of the Chicano economic struggle has been the United Farm Workers' movement led by Cesar Chavez.
Cesar Chavez family home in Delano, Kern County
Education has long been a primary target of Mexican American reformers. Well before the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed school desegregation in the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954, California Chicanos had challenged educational discrimination. In 1946, Mendez v. Westminister School District resulted in banning separate Chicano schools in California. Yet the U.S. Civil Rights Commission pointed out that in the late 1960s, one-quarter of Chicanos in California attended schools with more than 50 percent Chicanos.
The Chicano movement has striven for a variety of educational goals, including reduction of school drop-out rates, improvement of educational attainment, development of bilingual-bicultural programs, expansion of higher education fellowships and support services, creation of courses and programs in Chicano studies, and an increase in the number of Chicano teachers and administrators. The traditional campaign for desegregation and the newer drive for bilingual-bicultural education, of course, involve objectives that are not always easy to reconcile. In a seeming turnabout after years of struggling for desegregation, some contemporary Mexican American educational leaders recently have taken strong stands against cross-town busing in such communities as Los Angeles, fearing that dispersion of Chicano students will prevent them from participating in hard-won bilingual educational programs.
At times, Chicanos have adopted the traditional tactic of working quietly through existing channels, or attempted to elect Chicano or pro-Chicano school board members. At other times, out of frustration, they have turned to walkouts, sit-ins, and direct confrontations with school boards and administrations. Students have provided much of the effort toward educational reform through such organizations as the United Mexican-American Students (UMAS) and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA, Chicano Student Movement of the Southwest). The Chicano movement has also spurred establishment of Chicano alternative schools and institutions of higher education, such as Universidad de la Tierra in Goshen, Universidad de Campesinos Libres in Fresno, and Deganawidah-Quetzalcoatl University in Davis, Yolo County, the first Chicano/American Indian university.
Among other institutions affected by the Chicano movement has been the Catholic Church. Although many individual Catholic priests have historically made non-religious contributions to Mexican Americans, the Church as an institution tended to avoid involvement in Chicano societal issues. During the Repatriation Program, for example, the Church generally remained silent, and did little on behalf of affected Mexicans. Although some Catholic priests and Protestant clergymen have taken their place alongside Cesar Chavez and his followers, priests serving in strike areas have often withheld support for the strikers so as not to alienate growers. The Chicano movement generated such organizations as Catolicos por la Raza (Catholics for the Chicano People), which challenged the Church for pouring its money into opulent structures while neglecting too invest in social services to improve conditions for the Chicano poor. Some critics addressed the Church's failure to recruit and promote Chicano priests.
The Chicano movement has also generated a Chicano cultural renaissance and has contributed to a broader Hispanic cultural renaissance in the United States. Art, music, literature, theater, and other forms of expression have flourished. Spanish-language and bilingual media, including television and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and motion pictures, have expanded in number and impact.
Particularly in the twentieth century, Chicanos have worked in such fields of art as painting, drawing, sculpture, and lithography, and in recent years, have developed a full-scale Chicano art movement. Possibly the two most distinctive vehicles of contemporary Chicano art are muralism and graffiti.
Muralism harks back to the tradition of the great Mexican muralists of the post-Revolution era. Mural themes run from dramatizations of the Mexican Revolution to depictions of the Chicano experience too abstract expressionism. Things form of visual expression is a true people's art, oriented toward the many of the community rather than the few in the art gallery. It can be seen on outside walls of stores, schools, churches, hospitals, and government buildings, in public parks, and even on freeway support pillars, often blended imaginatively with architectural elements. Some barrio gangs have become involved in mural painting, at times using murals as boundary lines between their respective turfs.
The pop-art companion to mural art as an omnipresent symbol of barrio expression is Chicano graffiti. Unlike crude or clever sayings and rhymes written on public walls, Chicano graffiti consists of purposefully conceived sets of symbols or symbolic words, notable in their careful, angular lettering. Barrio gangs generally have developed their own special symbols "” placas "” too denote their territory or their presence on the turf of other groups. Some Chicano muralists have integrated graffiti into their work, at times incorporating existing graffiti by painting around the symbols.
Pan American Unity Mural by Diego Rivera, San Francisco College, San Francisco County
Along with the contemporary movement in the visual arts among Chicanos has come a literary movement. Novels, poetry, short stories, essays, and plays have flowed from the pens of contemporary Chicano writers. Two special characteristics are common too many of these writings. First, they often emphasize Mexican American culture and experience, especially the themes of Anglo prejudice, discrimination, and exploitation. Second, they are often bilingual "” usually written primarily in English with a smattering of Spanish words and phrases, though some works, particularly poetry, are entirely in Spanish.
One distinctive aspect of current Chicano expression is the teatro (theater). Most famous is El Teatro Campesino (Farm Workers' Theater), founded in 1965 by Luis Valdez as a component of Cesar Chavez's United Farm Workers' movement, but now an independent organization. The teatro also emphasizes themes of Anglo discrimination, Chicano resistance, and Mexican heritage. Productions blend English and Spanish, and often include music. Some presentations are a series of relatively brief actos, although the teatro also offers full-length plays. Using an epic theater style in which actors interact directly with the audience and demythologize theater, El Teatro Campesino has attained broad popularity, and has inspired creation of other teatros in barrios and universities throughout the country.
The Chicano teatro movement has included both ephemeral groups (some university teatros disappeared after graduation of their founders and early leaders) and some that have managed to survive despite constant financial pressures. A recent artistic trend has been away from the teatro popular toward a more professional theater, and greater use of English (partially owing to increased professional training, the growth of U.S.-born Chicano audiences, and the attempt to attract non- Chicano audiences). In 1978, Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez premiered, and enjoyed a long run in Los Angeles. The following year, it became the first Chicano play to appear on Broadway.
California has also been the scene of a boom in Chicano publications as a whole, including newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. Chicano newspapers have existed in California since the 1850s. However, most have had limited circulation and even more limited longevity, primarily for two reasons. First, the Chicano population remained relatively small until the early twentieth century, and the reading public was rendered even smaller by limited literacy. Second, such papers were plagued by undercapitalization and limited local advertising. That they achieved even a limited success, particularly during the nineteenth century, is a tribute to the determination of Chicano journalists. This determination paid off in the twentieth century when some Chicano newspapers, such as La Opinion (1926- ) of Los Angeles, became permanent.
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The impetus of the Chicano movement in the 1960s and 1970s brought a rapid expansion of the Chicano press, but the problems of undercapitalization and of educating large institutional advertisers to the potential of the Mexican American market remain.
Possibly the newest surge of Chicano expression has come in the field of motion pictures. Chicano filmmakers have expanded from documentaries to feature films, and are sometimes helped by Mexico City studios. Los Angeles, quite naturally, has been the most active movie-making area, with several independent Chicano production companies located there.
Chicano Park/Logan Heights, San Diego County
A History of Mexican Americans in California: THE FUTURE
Unquestionably, Chicanos and other Hispanics will play increasingly important roles in California's future, if for no other reason than numbers alone. Since World War II, Mexican immigration has remained at a constantly significant level. While the Bracero Program and the entry of countless numbers of undocumented workers have received the most scholarly and journalistic attention, there has been a parallel increase in immigration of Mexicans with permanent visas. During the past decade, in particular, there has also been a sharp increase in immigrants from Central America and South America.
Along with this continuous immigration from Latin America, the number of U.S.-born Latinos in California continues too rise. Birth rates and family size among Hispanics continue to be larger than the U.S. average, although recent years have witnessed a decline in the Hispanic birth rate. Moreover, the Hispanic population is considerably younger than the over all U.S. population, another indicator of potential future population in crease. One reflection of the changing demographic face of California is the fact that Hispanics now compose about half of all kindergarten students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the state's largest district, while other school districts are reporting equally dramatic increases in His panics.
But numbers alone do not tell the story. While progress has generally been slow, Chicanos and other Hispanics are now making strides in education, political sophistication, and effectiveness for constructive societal change. Their ability too accomplish this change should be further strengthened as pan-Hispanic identity among various Latino national-origin groups becomes a greater reality. These three factors "” numerical growth, developing skills and awareness, and greater pan-Hispanic identity "” make it almost certain that Hispanics will have an unprecedented influence over the future of California.
Sixteenth Street Victoria Theatre, San Francisco County
Immigration Is Destroying California by Alan Caruba
There was a time when America needed immigrants to work in its factories, to help build its infrastructure of roads, bridges and tunnels, to go West to farm its plains, and all the other tasks necessary to nation-building. That era is over. Now immigration, especially illegal immigration from Mexico, Central and South America, is the source of major economic and social problems. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has just declared the Mexican government's "Matricula Consular" card, issued to Mexicans living in the US, to be an unreliable form of identification, posing a criminal and terrorist threat.
No where is this more evident in California. It is being destroyed by US immigration policies. A June 2000 report by Californians for Population Stabilization (CAPS) dramatically confirms this. Based on information from the California Department of Finance, along with statistics provided by the US Census Bureau, it reveals that, between 1990 and 2000, one single decade, "virtually all population growth in California is due to direct immigration and births to immigrants."
When you combine direct immigration (57%) with births to foreign-born women, 98% of California's rise in population over the passed decade is making life difficult, stressful, and costly for its citizens. Migration from other States to California is no longer a factor. During the last decade, California had the largest population jump in history, fully 13%, adding 4,208,000 people. That's more than the entire population of Ireland. If this trend were to continue, the State's population would double in forty years.
By contrast, California's native-born (US) population increased by a scant 2%. This is attributed to the fact that many Californians are moving to other states. Out of 5,588,653 births between 1990 and 2000, those of native-born Californians increased by only 90,000, while births to immigrants rose 45%!
The CAPS report concludes that "Mass immigration is the cause of most of California's most pressing problems: too many people living in poverty, the shortage of schoolrooms and teachers, the closing of hospitals, and the impact of overpopulation on biodiversity. For all of the above reasons, California's present and predicted future size is a wakeup call for the State and the nation."
To understand California's immigration problem, during the same decade, all of the northeastern States from Maine to Virginia, combined, gained less than four million people, i.e., native-born along with both legal and illegal immigrants. However, it's worth noting that, during the same decade, the population of illegal immigrants in New Jersey doubled.
I was recently in Los Angeles and even a brief visit demonstrated the problems this massive influx of immigrants is creating. Highway congestion in that metropolitan area is a nightmare. California's answer, however, is to build more highways. The CAPS report estimates that more than three million new vehicles were added to roadways in the passed decade. Statewide, there is an increasing water crisis. It is locked into disputes with other States and even Canada to secure sufficient water for its exploding population.
Education is suffering statewide in California. "The State's university system, once the envy of the nation, has fallen in quality combined with increased demands for admission by an ever-growing number of applicants," says the CAPS report. In the schools, from kindergarten through twelfth grade, enrollments rose from 4.8 million in 1990-91 to almost 6 million ten years later. By 2000, "there were more Hispanics than other children enrolled in the State's schools." California is currently spending $6,837 per student, "so more than $16 billion was spent last year on students whose native language was other than English."
California has been so mismanaged by its governors and legislature that it is billions in debt. This most politically correct, politically liberal State continues to struggle to provide affordable electricity and, as noted, is desperately trying to provide water. The CAPS report does not address the issue of crime, integral to the increase in immigration, but it too must be considered. Soon enough it will begin to export its immigration problems to contiguous States.
The simple fact is that Mexico has a deliberate policy of flooding California and the American Southwest with its population. By doing so, it insures those immigrants will send billions back to Mexico. This is much easier than trying to solve its own massive economic problems or addressing widespread corruption underwritten by drug cartels.
California is the template for the problems our virtually non-existent immigration policies represent. It is a national problem and the solution is just too obvious, just too politically incorrect. The US has to significantly restrict immigration or it will undermine all aspects of our economy, our national security, and the quality of life in this nation.
Alan Caruba is the author of "Warning Signs", published by Merril Press. His weekly commentaries are posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center.
A powerful meeting on the struggle for immigrant rights was held Jan. 22 in New York, with a panel of speakers representing, as event chair Teresa Gutierrez described, "people who are actually fighting the racist attacks the U.S. government commits everyday."
VÃctor Toro, a founder of the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) in Chile in the late 1960s, who faces deportation from the U.S., discussed taking advantage of the economic crisis to build a broad movement, calling on all those affected by the crisis to come together and march in May Day rallies in 2008.
Marc De La Cruz, one of the Sentosa 27"”Filipino nurses and one physical therapist who are being tried for trumped-up charges in Long Island, N.Y., after they complained about exploitative working conditions"”described their case, where several of the nurses, if convicted, face jail time and deportation.
Flor Crisóstomo, a Mexican immigrant and mother of three, described how she and her brothers ended up in the U.S. from her native Oaxaca: "Every day in Mexico showed the necessity of work and food. ... My brothers were already in college [in Mexico], but in 1995 NAFTA devaluated the Mexican currency and obliged me and my brothers to go north."
Tearfully she declared, "It's not easy being without your children for seven years; working, not even asking for welfare and paying taxes, and facing these attacks. ... I am Indigenous and I don't need to ask permission to come here. This country forced me to come here to work. ... If you really want me to leave, leave us in peace in our own countries."
On Jan. 28, Crisóstomo announced that she would be taking sanctuary at the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago"”the same church Elvira Arellano received sanctuary.
Black and Brown unity was a recurring theme during the evening. Emma Lozano, a key figure in the support of Arellano and Crisóstomo, pointed out that her brother, Rudy Lozano, was assassinated after helping to forge the unity that resulted in the election of the first Black mayor in Chicago, Harold Washington, in 1983. She said the U.S. is becoming "more people of color"”which is ok to them if you're serving them, but not if you're resisting." "Flor says to me," Lozano reported, "let Blacks and Latin@s unite, and they will tremble."
The event was sponsored by the New York May 1 Coalition for Immigrant Rights (http://may1.info/).
E-mail: ldowell@workers.org
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A flag is a piece of woven cloth, often flown from a pole or mast, generally used symbolically for signalling or identification. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.
The first flags were used to assist military coordination on battlefields and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, This was especially used in environments where communication is similarly challenging (such as the maritime environment where semaphore is used). National flags are potent patriotic symbols with varied wide-ranging interpretations, often including strong military associations due to their original and ongoing military uses. Flags are used in messaging, advertising, or for other decorative purposes. The study of flags is known as vexillology, from the Latin vexillum meaning flag or banner.
Although flag-like symbols were used in some ancient cultures, the origin of flags in the modern sense is a matter of dispute. Some believe flags originated in China, while others hold that the Roman Empire's vexillum or the cyrus the great's standard( a hawk) were the first true flag and flags are also prominently been mentioned in the Indian epic of Mahabharata. Originally, the standards of the Roman legions were not flags, but symbols like the eagle of Augustus Caesar's Xth legion; this eagle would be placed on a staff for the standard-bearer to hold up during battle. But a military unit from Scythia had for a standard a dragon with a flexible tail which would move in the wind; the legions copied this; eventually all the legions had flexible standards Â"” our modern-day flag.
During the Middle Ages, flags were used mainly during battles to identify individual leaders: in Europe the knights, in Japan the samurai, and in China the generals under the imperial army.
From the time of Christopher Columbus onwards, it has been customary (and later a legal requirement) for ships to carry flags designating their nationality;[1] these flags eventually evolved into the national flags and maritime flags of today. Flags also became the preferred means of communications at sea, resulting in various systems of flag signals; see International maritime signal flags.
As European knights were replaced by centralized armies, flags became the means to identify not just nationalities but also individual military units. Flags became objects to be captured or defended. Eventually these flags posed too much danger to those carrying them, and by World War I these were withdrawn from the battlefields, and have since been used only at ceremonial occasions.
One of the most popular uses of a flag is to symbolize a nation or country. Some national flags have been particularly inspirational to other nations, countries, or subnational entities in the design of their own flags. Some prominent examples include:
The flag of Denmark is the oldest state flag still in use. This flag, called the Dannebrog, inspired the cross design of the other Nordic countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and regional flags for the Faroe Islands, ÃÂ...land, and Scania.
The Union Flag (Union Jack) of the United Kingdom. British colonies typically flew a flag based on one of the ensigns based on this flag, and many former colonies have retained the design to acknowledge their cultural history. Examples: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Tuvalu, and also the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, and the American state of Hawaii; see Gallery of flags based on British ensigns.
The Tricolor of The Netherlands is the oldest tricolour, first appearing in 1572 as the Prince's Flag in orange–white–blue. Soon the more famous red–white–blue began appearing Â"” it is however unknown why, though many stories are known. After 1630 the red–white–blue was the most commonly seen flag. The Dutch Tricolor has inspired[citation needed] many flags but most notably those of Russia, India and France, which spread the tricolor concept even further, as can be seen below. The Flag of the Netherlands is also the only flag in the world that is adapted for some uses, when the occasion has a connection to the royal house of the Netherlands an orange ribbon is added.
The national flag of France, also called the Tricolore, which inspired[citation needed] other nations to adopt differenced tricolours in sympathy with the revolutionary spirit with which the flag was designed in 1794. Examples among many: Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Mexico.
The flag of the United States, also nicknamed The Stars and Stripes or Old Glory. In the same way that nations looked to France for inspiration, many countries were also inspired by the American Revolution, which they felt was symbolized in this flag. Examples: Cuba, Liberia, Chile, Uruguay, and the French region of Brittany.
The flag of Russia, the source for the Pan-Slavic colors adopted by many Slavic states and peoples as their symbols. Examples: Slovakia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia.
Ethiopia was seen as a model by emerging African states of the 1950s and 1960s, as it was one of the oldest independent states in Africa. Accordingly, its flag became the source of the Pan-African colours. Examples: Togo, Senegal, Ghana, Mali.
The flag of Turkey, which was the flag of the Ottoman Empire, has been an inspiration for the flag designs of many other Muslim nations. During the time of the Ottomans the crescent began to be associated with Islam and this is reflected on the flags of Algeria, Azerbaijan, Comoros, Malaysia, Mauritania, Pakistan, Tunisia, and of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The Pan-Arab colors, green, white, red and black, are derived from the flag of the Great Arab Revolt as seen on the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Egypt, Iraq, Yemen and Palestine.
The Soviet flag, with its golden symbols of the hammer and sickle on a red field, was an inspiration to flags of other communist states, such as East Germany, People's Republic of China, Vietnam, Angola, Afghanistan and Mozambique.
The flag of Venezuela, created by Francisco de Miranda to represent the independence movement in Venezuela that later gave birth to the "Gran Colombia", inspired the individual flags of Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia, all sharing three bands of color and three of them (Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela) sharing the yellow, blue and red.
The flag of Argentina, created by Manuel Belgrano during the war of independence, was the inspiration for the United Provinces of Central America's flag, which in turn was the origin for the flags of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. National flag designs are often used to signify nationality in other forms, such as flag patches.
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Perhaps the chief misconception about chili peppers is their red-hot reputation. Many are fiery hot, but many others are sweet, mild, or richly flavored. Their hotness is concentrated in the interior veins or ribs near the seed heart, not in the seeds as is commonly believed (the seeds taste extra hot because they are in close contact with the hot veins). If, when the pepper is cut open, the veins have a yellowish orange color in that area, it usually indicates the pepper will be a potent one.
That the burning sensation that makes chili peppers so appealing to culinary thrill-seekers comes from capsaicin or more accurately a collection of compounds called capsaicinoids. These develop in the placenta or cross-ribs of the fruit, which is why that part of the chili pepper is the hottest. A single dominant gene transmits capsaicinoids. Bell peppers are just like jalapeno peppers and Serrano peppers but bell peppers taste bland instead of pungent because they lack that gene.
In 1912, a pharmacist named Scoville came up with a heat index for measuring the "heat" in a chili product, or scoring capsaicinoid content. This index was called the Scoville Units and is still used today. A more modern version used by many chile writers is called "the Official Chile Pepper Heat Scale" with a rating of zero to ten. Bell peppers rate a zero because they contain no capsaicinoid. At a 5 rating: jalapeno peppers...at a 6 rating serrano peppers... at a 8 rating cayenne peppers and Tabasco peppers... and at a 9 rating chalet pin peppers and Thai hot peppers.
The spelling of the word "chili" is used here as it is used in Mexico. Because American spice companies label their ground chili blends "chili" you will encounter that spelling in recipes using the purchased ground spice.
More than 140 varieties of chilies peppers are grown in Mexico alone. Those that follow are most popular in the United States and used in most Mexican cooking recipes.
Recently, a chipotle dark chocolate bar and a jalapeno milk chocolate bar came on to the confectionary market - heavenly!
Descriptions
Bell peppers Probably the most familiar pepper in the United States, the green and red bell peppers are somewhat square and fist-size.
Green peppers turn red in the fall, becoming sweeter and milder, yet retaining their crisp, firm texture.
Ancho peppers This chili looks and tastes very much like ordinary bell pepper but can be considerably more peppery at times. Tapered rather than square, it is firmer, less crisp, more waxy-looking. It turns a bright red and sweetens up in the fall. When dry, it assumes a flat, round shape and wrinkles up like a prune.
California green chilies (Anaheim) Fresh, these peppers are 5 to 8 inches long, 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide, tapering to a point, usually a bright, shiny green. The flavor ranges from mild and sweet to moderate hot. To use fresh peppers, peel the skin from the chilies. When using fresh or canned, taste for hotness - they can vary greatly from pepper to pepper.
Chilaca Chiles Look and taste much like the guajillo and guayon chiles.
Chile de Arbol Also known as the "Cola de Rata". Often dried, toasted, used to decorate Mexican dishes.
Chipotle Chiles Made from jalapenos that have been dried and smoked. Sold both dried and canned in adobo, or a rich smoky dark reddids-brown sauce.
Fresno chili peppers Bright green, changing to orange and red when fully matured. Fresno chilies have a conical shape - about 2 inches long and 1 inch in diameter at the stem end. They are often just labeled "hot chili peppers" when canned or bottled.
Guajillo Chiles Smooth-skin, brick or cranberry red chiles, a bit spicier than anchos and not as sweet. Because of their tangy brightness, they are often powdered over fruit or vegetables or added to stews and soups.
Jalapeno chili peppers These peppers have thicker flesh, darker green color, and more cylindrical shape than Fresno chilies; however, the heat level of the two varieties is about the same - HOT! Canned and bottled peppers are sometimes labeled "hot peppers" with jalapeno as a subtitle. They are always available in sauce form such as salsa and pickled.
Mulato Chiles Deep brown, longer and more tapered than the ancho, more pungent also. Often replaces the ancho in recipes.
Pasilla peppers The true pasilla pepper is a long, thin pepper 7 to 12 inches long by 1 inch in diameter. Pasillas turn from dark green to dark brown as they mature.
Pequin Chiles Tiny, dried red bullets of fiery heat, adding a unique flavor to many dishes. Crumble the dried pod and add.
Pimentos These heart-shaped chilies are purchased canned in the United States. The flesh is softer and a little sweeter than the common red bell pepper.
Poblano Chiles Dark green, about the size of a bell pepper but tapered at one end, can be mild or hot. Often used in "Chile Rellenos"
Serrano Chiles A small 1 ½" fresh HOT pepper. The smaller they are, the more kick they have. Most often used in Pico de Gallo. Dynamite hot is an understatement for these tiny 1-inch peppers. When new on the vine, they are rich, waxy green, changing to orange and red as they mature. They also sold canned, pickled, or packed in oil. A great source of vitamin C.
Small, whole, red dried hot chili peppers. Labeled this way on the supermarket spice shelves, many small tapered chiles about 1 to 2 inches long are sold dried, but there is no one variety name that applies to all of them.
Yellow Chile peppers. Many short conical-shaped yellow peppers with a waxy sheen go by this name: Santa Fe grande, caribe, banana pepper, Hungarian, Armenian way, floral gem, and gold spike. Probably most familiar are the canned pickled wax peppers. Their flavor ranges from medium-hot to hot.
Habanero peppers To date these are the Hottest chili peppers know to man, HOT - HOT - HOT. Use extreme caution when using. Marble-shaped chili peppers, ranges in color from unripe green to full ripe red.
Scoville Units Names
0 Bell Sweet Italian 100 - 500 Peperoncini Cherry 500 - 1,000 New Mexico 1,000 - 1,500 Pasilla Poblano Ancho 1,500 - 2,500 Rocotillo 2,500 - 5,000 Jalapeno Chipotle Guajillo 5,000 - 10,000 Yellow Wax 10,000 - 23,000 Serrano 325,000 and up Habanero
DID YOU KNOW.....
CAPSAICIN (Zostrix), a topical nonprescription cream, made from the seeds of hot chili peppers, is used to treat skin hypersensitivity resulting from "shingles" (Herpes Zoster). It is the only medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. (Article originally published in the Mayo Clinic Health Letter, Nov. 1997) ~~ Eating spicy food and/or chile peppers can become addictive. There are many people who don't enjoy tortilla chips unless they have salsa to eat with them, there are others that can never find a salsa HOT enough for their taste. Studies have shown that, yes, eating spicy food is addicting. What happens after eating something hot, is your body nerves feel pain. These pain signals are immediately transmitted to your brain. Your brain interprets this signal and automatically releases endorphins (the body's natural pain killer). The endorphins kick in and act as a pain killer and create this temporary feeling of euphoria. Hot and spicy food lovers soon begin to crave this feeling and are hooked!
Use Caution In Handling And Storing Chile Peppers
When using fresh or dried chili peppers, wear gloves to protect your hands because the oils, capsaicin*, in the peppers can cause severe burns. Don't touch your face or eyes. If chilies do come in contact with your bare hands, wash thoroughly with soapy water. If burning persists, soak hands in a bowl of milk. When grinding dried chilies, beware of the chili dust in the air, which will irritate eyes and throats.
* Remedies for eating a pepper that is too hot for you: Drink milk, rinsing the mouth with it while swallowing, ice cream or yogurt. Eat rice or bread which will absorb the capsaicin. Drink tomato juice or eat a fresh lime or lemon (the acid will counter act the alkalinity of the capsaicin).
* Do not drink water - capsaicin which is an oil will not mix with water but instead will distribute to more parts of the mouth.
*What is capsaicin? Capsaicin is the heat factor in chilies that is used medically to produce deep-heating rubs for treating sports injuries and arthritic therapies.
To Dry Your Own Chile peppers
Tie the stems onto a sturdy piece of twine, placing chilies close together and making the strand as long as you wish. Hang in dry area with the air circulating freely around the strand. In several weeks, chilies lose their brilliant hue, changing to a deep, glistening red; they will feel smooth and dry.
By SHANNON DININNY The Associated Press Friday, February 1, 2008; 5:16 AM
YAKIMA, Wash. -- In 2006, just 12 Washington state farmers sought to bring in foreign workers to pick fruits and vegetables and prune trees under a federal guest worker program. A year later, that figure more than doubled.
And already in 2008, eight farmers have applied to bring in foreign workers this coming season.
To meet that growing demand and ensure that farmers know what's required of them, the state held its first training seminar Thursday to teach farmers about the federal H-2A guest worker program.
Call it H-2A 101.
"We're expecting an increase in the number of growers wanting to use H-2A again, and that is one of the reasons we're putting on this training," said Oscar Trevino, program coordinator for the H-2A program with the state Employment Security Department.
"We need to help employers who are interested in the program or who have used the program to better understand the rules, laws and regulations _ and their responsibilities when they file an application," Trevino said.
Washington is far from the only state facing labor shortages in the fields, forcing many farmers to look outside the United States for legal workers. In 2004, some 6,768 farmers across the country were certified to bring in foreign workers, but that number grew to 7,740 last year.
Under the H-2A program, farmers may apply to bring in foreign workers if they can show the supply of U.S. workers is inadequate.
In 2007, more than 76,000 foreign workers came to the U.S. under the H-2A program to work in agriculture, though just 1,240 of them were in Washington. They comprise just a sliver of the estimated 860,000 people working full time in agricultural fields nationwide, according to recent U.S. Department of Labor statistics.
The Labor Department estimates that more than half of that number are in the country illegally.
Expect more Washington growers to apply for the federal guest worker program if immigration reform stalls in Congress as expected this election year, said Mike Gempler of the Washington Growers League.
"More and more growers are doing what they can to prepare to use the H-2A program," Gempler said. "That means becoming knowledgeable about it and making preparations to be able to use it, whether it's having housing available or making contacts and getting themselves ready organizationally to handle that sort of system."
The bottom line is that many farmers feel they have no choice, he said.
"There's a lot of concern, not just orchardists and more labor-intensive crops, but row crop farmers as well," he said. "People in processing and packing, associated industries, are all looking at their ability to attract an adequate number of legal employees. Bona fide legal employees."
The Apple State does grow some highly labor-intensive crops: Fruit trees require hand pruning and thinning, and the many varieties of apples, pears, peaches and cherries are selectively picked by hand for ripeness and to avoid bruising.
Some of Washington's row crops, such as asparagus, also have traditionally required hand labor.
Gebbers Farms, the third-largest apple grower in the country, was sending six people to the training seminar from the company's base in Brewster, a small agricultural town in north-central Washington.
"A lot of people don't know what H-2A is. The smaller growers have never addressed it. They hear H-2A and all they know is it doesn't work," said John Wyss, the farm's government affairs analyst. "For the state to put an educational seminar on is fantastic. It shows an effort to say,`We want to solve this problem together.'"
Officer Patricio Salgado Garcia watches over an empty safe house that was built for the many Central American migrants who pass through Ecatepec, a Mexico City suburb. The mayor has declared the city to be migrant friendly and has ordered police and city officials not to cooperate with Mexican immigration authorities.
A 'sanctuary' for immigrants in Mexico
The mayor of Ecatepec says those on their way north illegally are safe and welcome in his city.
ECATEPEC, MEXICO -- Jose Luis Gutierrez is the mayor of the biggest city in Mexico you've never heard of, a sprawling suburb of Mexico City built by people on the move.
And the charismatic Gutierrez has done something almost as unheard of: He has declared this city of as many as 3 million people a "sanctuary" for the illegal immigrants from Central America who pass through here each day.
He has ordered his police officers and city officials not to arrest, extort or otherwise harass the migrants. He's also ordered them not to cooperate with Mexican immigration agents.
"Let them go and guard the borders," he said. "For Ecatepec, migration is not a criminal act. It's a universal right: the right to seek work and the right to travel freely from one place to another."
Ecatepec is the place where Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and others begin the long, final stage of their journey across Mexico, northward to the U.S. border aboard a freight train known as "the beast."
Thousands of undocumented immigrants pass through here every year, but you won't hear many Ecatepec residents call them "illegal."
"A lot of people help them," said Guadalupe Ambriz, a 33-year-old resident of Xalostoc, an impoverished Ecatepec neighborhood divided by the rail line. Ambriz, like many residents along the tracks, lives in an old boxcar that's been converted into a home.
"They might let them take a bath, or give them some food, or some old clothes," Ambriz said.
Given Ecatepec's history, the mayor's decision was not a controversial one. This city is made up of migrants, people who resettled here from other impoverished corners of Mexico, including the nearby states of Oaxaca, Hidalgo and Puebla.
And every year Ecatepec sends many of its sons and daughters northward. There are large communities of Ecatepec natives in California, Texas and other U.S. states.
"For us, the bravest people of Ecatepec are the ones who go take the risk of going to the north, with all the abuse and the hatred that goes on there," Gutierrez said. "Those people are heroes for us."
Gutierrez, 42, is a longtime activist with the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, which won the 2006 municipal elections here.
Immigration is a deeply personal issue for him, Gutierrez said. One of his cousins has lived in the Los Angeles area, "without papers," for 10 years.
"We were raised together by our grandmother," Gutierrez said. Because his cousin is in the U.S. illegally, he hasn't been able to return to Mexico and the two men haven't seen each other in a decade. "All those people who have gone to the north are our blood," the mayor said.
Central American immigrants have been passing through Ecatepec for more than a decade. Their journey is fraught with peril. Untold numbers of immigrants have died along the way, or suffered crippling injuries in falls from the train. All along the route, from the Guatemalan border to the Rio Grande, police and immigration officials routinely seek bribes, or simply rob migrants.
"For years, our police protected the extortionists," Gutierrez said of Ecatepec's officers. "The immigrants didn't complain, but the residents did. It just added to a climate of excessive violence in a neighborhood that was already dangerous."
Recent months have brought changes to the migrant trail. The last working rail line in Mexico's southern border states shut down in July, leading many migrants to walk for days past immigration checkpoints, or to hire smugglers to get them across Mexico.
The trains through central and northern Mexico to the U.S. border are still running, but the rail lines that go through Ecatepec are mostly quiet. The people who live along the tracks say they see only a few illegal migrants pass each day.
It is more difficult than ever to get across the U.S. border, a fact well known by many Ecatepec residents.
"It's a hard journey," said Armando Peña, a 40-year-old bicycle-taxi operator in the Xalostoc neighborhood. Last year, he paid a smuggler the equivalent of $1,000 to get him to Los Angeles. "But if you want to get ahead, it's the only way."
Peña said the smuggler got him across the border at San Ysidro in a box attached to the underside of a car. "I thought I was going to suffocate," he said.
Remembering his own hardships, he helps the passing migrants any way he can, he said.
He spent three months in California, selling ice cream on the street, then got homesick and came home, only to discover that his wife was having an affair. With one of his friends.
One day soon he might join the flow of migrants who pass through Ecatepec and return to the U.S., he said.
Only this time he expects to have to pay the smuggler $2,000, or more.
As part of an orchestrated strategy to protest immigration policy, Mexican immigrant Flor Crisostomo, 28, has defied a deportation order and has found sanctuary in Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago.
The church's pastor, Rev. Walter Coleman, has defended his recurring choice to provide shelter for illegal immigrants running from the law: "I fear God more than Homeland Security."
Ms. Crisostomo says she is "taking up the torch" from her friend Elvira Arellano, who, for over a year, evaded law enforcement by hunkering down in the same church. Ms. Arellano's use of holy grounds to play a blatant cat and mouse game with immigration officials elevated her profile as the martyr leader of the immigrants' rights movement. In August of 2007, Ms. Arellano announced she would be leaving her safe haven in order to lead a rally in Los Angeles. She was arrested at the rally and immediately deported to Mexico.
The most salient element of this story is the political and moral quandary of a church providing material and moral sanctuary to illegal immigrants who are refusing deportation orders from the United States.
The answer is unequivocally "no." In fact, the Adalberto United Methodist Church, and Rev. Coleman are doing a disservice to all migrant workers "” legal and illegal "” and to the long and harrowed traditions of appropriate civil disobedience and political sanctuary. As a church, they are confusing political activism and subversive tactics with humanitarian aid and social justice.
I will explain.
As in many of the cases we examine in this column, we can assume the Chicago church's mistake is not one of ill will, but rather of skewed ethical thinking, of bad moral logic. When you listen to the pastor speak, his sincerity is evident:
"It's unfortunate we have to do this. This church has other priorities, like helping the poor in this neighborhood, but God didn't give us a choice. When God says do this, we say, 'Yes, sir!'"
It is understandable that Rev. Coleman would come to the conclusion that God wants him to help these women in this way, if you accept his line of moral reasoning. Rev. Coleman argues that because God's laws are superior to man's laws, in the case of unjust law, we have the right to disobey civil authorities. Applying this logic to his own case, he says that because immigration policy in the United States is unfair, these women are doing the right thing in snubbing the law. He goes even further, suggesting he himself has a moral obligation to support them in their display of "civil disobedience."
But Rev. Coleman's logic has gaping holes. Yes, the moral law (God's law) is prior and superior to civil law, but this does not give citizens the right to disobey every unjust law. If, for example, Rev. Coleman were convinced government tax policy unfairly burdens the rich, or the poor, or the middle class, would he be morally justified in not paying his taxes?
Acts of civil disobedience must be evaluated in the same way we assess the right to "conscientious objection." We have the right, and even obligation, to disobey legitimate authority when we are commanded to do moral evil. But the principle of conscientious objection does not give us a license to be our own moral legislators, picking and choosing the laws we will follow based on their varying degree of moral perfection. As long as a law does not oblige us to do evil, our responsibility to respect legitimate authorities prevails over other concerns.
I can think of no better example to illuminate this point than the Gospel story in which the disciples ask Jesus about the necessity of paying taxes to the unscrupulous Roman authorities. Jesus' response left no wiggle room for creative interpretation: "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." He then handed the disciples a coin and pointed them in the direction of the local IRS office. This is a perennial invitation by the greatest social reformer of all times to work for justice and redemption within the context of the law.
My critical analysis of this particular case in Chicago should not be mistaken as a sign of my satisfaction with our immigration status in the United States. Indeed, our de facto system is hypocritical and unjust. We make immigration processes slow, complicated, and expensive. Then, to compensate for the market's apparent demands for more manual workers, the government turns a blind eye to a porous and dangerous border, then rewarding illegal crossing with massive quantities of irregular employment. Finally, the government gets tough, and plays catch and release, and then catch and release again, and again, and again.
The apparent winners in this hypocritical system are companies that depend on cheap labor and all of us consumers of their inexpensive produce and services.
The first of many losers, on the other hand, are immigrants who live in constant fear of unpredictable crackdowns, while all the time being subject to inhumane living conditions. And the list of other losers goes on and on... border states, public health and education systems, skilled laborers, border patrol agents, etc.
So what do we do?
As concerned citizens we must convince Congress and the new president to fix a broken system. Satisfactory solutions will take into account the right of every human being to leave his homeland (emigrate) in search of a better life. But they will also necessarily respect the right and obligation of every sovereign state to regulate this immigration at sustainable and safe levels. Success depends on statesmen rising to the challenge of balancing these two principles. In practice, this requires mobilizing groups of conflicting interests to sacrifice in the short term for the common good of our country.
But our zeal for reform must never admit turning a church into a public hideout for people running from the law. It is a crusade of lawlessness that tarnishes the good reputation of the millions of honest and hard-working Mexican and Latino people to whom the United States of America is deeply indebted.
As a pastor, and as a good neighbor, I would give food, water, clothing and medical aid to anyone who came knocking at my door, and I certainly wouldn't ask for any government documentation. But what's going on these days in a church in Chicago is quite another thing.
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