Geraldo Rivera and His (Hispanic) Panic
NPR’s Morning Edition interviewed Geraldo Rivera regarding his new book His Panic: Why Americans Fear Hispanics in the U.S. Geraldo has not been on the winning side of many things lately and I fear this one will be the same. Politicians always need to find an enemy for us to blame for our problems otherwise they have no reason to “protect” us.
The hostility by some anti-immigrant activists against Hispanics is no different from that directed against earlier generations of Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants, Geraldo Rivera says.
“It’s a hysterical whipping up of a mob frenzy on an issue that should be recognized that it is part of a process that makes this country unique,” Rivera tells Steve Inskeep. “And by exacerbating the differentness of the newcomers, what they do is a gross disservice.”
Should we not be welcoming our neighbors from the south to come here and help our economy? I don’t know anyone who wants to work for minimum wage on a roof or out in a field all day. If all the ‘illegal’ immigrants left tomorrow, our economy would collapse. New homes would not be built. Landscaping would not get done. Crops would rot in the field.
I do think there are problems, but they are problems we created.
Citizenship? Why is it that being born in this country makes you an American? Citizenship should be hereditary and by application. If someone from Mexico, Canada, Zambia, or Timbuktu has a kid here, the kid should be a citizen of their parents country. When they are 18/21 they can apply for citizenship.
Welfare? Sure it needs to be fixed, but last I checked the rules were not created by folks south of the border.
Taxes? Bet they are paying most of their share, and if they are paid under the table it is probably because they are trying to hide from the INS. Let me ask, are they ever going to benefit from the Social Security taxes they have paid in under false IDs?
English? Give me a break. How long were there Dutch churches in the Midwest that continued to have sermons in Dutch?
This glib jibe does nothing to let the readers know what Rivera proposes or the tenets of his book. It is simply a nasty swipe. Clearly Rivera has hit a nerve. The nativist reaction certainly suggests that Rivera’s book has something to offer. See “Geraldo Rivera and the Zeitgeist of the New Nativist.”
(edited to link directly to the post)
Comment by razzo — March 15, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
I am not sure why you think this is a “nasty swipe” or “glib jibe” — I believe that I agree with Rivera.
I said:
- Should we not be welcoming our neighbors from the south…
- If all the ‘illegal’ immigrants left tomorrow, our economy would collapse.
- I do think there are problems, but they are problems we created.
Please read again, a little closer this time. I am not one of the xenophobic nativists you encountered on amazon
Comment by YeOleImposter — March 17, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
I am an American Citizen originally from S.A. I have not read the book, but I believe something needs to be done. It is crazy to think that this country could go forward without the labor and skills many of our people offer and deliver for pennies on the dollar. What bothers me the most is all the immigrants from so many other countries that do not seem to be under the same attack. I also hate all the talk about Americans this and Americans that. WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!!! Some South American and others Central American it’s many North Americans that do not know their Geography and many that have also forgotten where they or their families came from. Hector - www.energymarketingteam.com
Comment by Hector — April 14, 2008 @ 9:35 pm