Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Maybe we should deport some of the crackpots
Lately I've been too busy to have articulate opinions. Yesterday Emily Messner of the Washington Post ran some comments about what she called "The Paranoid Fringe of the Immigration Debate." All the lunatics that she forgot to mention wrote comments to her post.
I really don't know how to say this, but sometimes my fellow Americans make me sick.
I grew up with loving parents and economic opportunities and for heaven's sake enough to eat every day. How does that make me inherently better than someone who didn't?
Here's what I observe in people who were born in other countries: They want more. They aren't complacent about the behavior of their local politicians or the performance of their children's schools. They make their kids do their homework.
The only time I've seen a Spanish-speaking parent upset and dissatisfied with a teacher is when a Mexican-American mom I know thought her daughter's homework might be a waste of time because it was too easy. Even then, she made her daughter stay caught up with her schoolwork while she looked into getting her into a harder class.
I think some of the foreign-born parents overemphasize having their kids learn English, at the expense of maybe losing some proficiency in their native language. Knowledge of a second language -- real writing, speaking and reading knowledge -- is a valuable skill in today's world. Can't think of any other serious criticisms.
I really don't know how to say this, but sometimes my fellow Americans make me sick.
I grew up with loving parents and economic opportunities and for heaven's sake enough to eat every day. How does that make me inherently better than someone who didn't?
Here's what I observe in people who were born in other countries: They want more. They aren't complacent about the behavior of their local politicians or the performance of their children's schools. They make their kids do their homework.
The only time I've seen a Spanish-speaking parent upset and dissatisfied with a teacher is when a Mexican-American mom I know thought her daughter's homework might be a waste of time because it was too easy. Even then, she made her daughter stay caught up with her schoolwork while she looked into getting her into a harder class.
I think some of the foreign-born parents overemphasize having their kids learn English, at the expense of maybe losing some proficiency in their native language. Knowledge of a second language -- real writing, speaking and reading knowledge -- is a valuable skill in today's world. Can't think of any other serious criticisms.
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As corrupt politics march forward in Chicago-with the least number of women voters ever recorded-there are some bright spots...read the Op-Ed piece in today's NYT by Roger Mahoney, "Called by God to Help". The good people are out there, doing goood where they can!
I have a Peruvian friend whose mother told me, "We ran from Peru with nothing but our lives." She and her husband worked 3 jobs each to educate their daughters. I would like to trade a nation full of these people for all of the people who have ever been on Jerry Springer.
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