I have a question, it is a question that comes up often and that to my knowledge i have never heard an answer to. When we look at the African American culture we can see that over the decades their political and social influence has grown exponentially. During that time we have seen the Civil Rights movement and we have seen an entire people galvanized by the unfairness and evil of slavery. In every discussion relative to African American rights the constant has always been the recognition that the South was built primarily on the backs of slaves and African Americans of today have made sure that is never forgotten. It is something that has galvanized blacks as a people and has helped to forge a considerable amount of social and political influence.
On the other hand, when the topic of illegal immigration is brought up, when the discussion is about how people come to the North to take jobs and use up resources we have nothing to say other than some permutation of “But they are just coming here looking for a better life. They are not criminals.” This litany has never worked and it is never going to work. What I have NEVER heard is somebody bring up the fact that just 150 years ago the United State under the Polk presidency invaded Mexico during a time of civil unrest within the country and demanded that Mexico give up half of its territory as payment to have the US army leave the country.
One only need look at the map of the United States and Mexico to see how significant this was. Polk’s decision that the US should be able to reach the West coast and his expansionist mindset were the catalysts for a naked aggression and invasion. It wasn’t until Harry Truman during a visit to Mexico apologized for what the United States had done that the injustice was recognized. In 1996 President Bill Clinton once again apologized for the US invasion.
Now I am not deluded enough to think that we should engage in discussions of what happened in the hope that we will get any of the land that was stolen back. What I am saying, however, is that when the shouts of ‘illegals’ and ‘they are taking our jobs’ and we have to stop this migration north, somebody should bring up the fact that had the US not invaded Mexico and stolen the land they did, there might not be any illegal immigration. In fact we might be seeing some folks heading south instead of north. MY question is if African Americans can rightly make reference to the injustices of slavery and the growth of the south on the back of slaves and if the Civil Rights movement is still a part of African American rights to this day, why can’t we bring what was done in 1847 into the discussion of illegal immigration? I wonder how many Hispanics in the US truly know what happened during the Mexican-American war. I wonder if they realize just how much land was taken and I wonder what some of our young leaders might do if they understood just how unfair the aggression on Mexico was.
Every time there is an argument about illegal immigration or a politician brings it up I wonder when someone will bring up the elephant in the room, the elephant no one talks about and for some reason seems to have been forgotten. Personally I would deeply enjoy watching some politician stammering around trying to find any conceivable excuse for the United States invading Mexico and stealing half the country. It would almost make it worth it to watch a debate.
all one needs to do is look at the cesspool mexico has evolved into to understand your unbalaced thought process is rediculous. allowing illegals to run wild in my country due to what happen over 150 years ago borders on insanity. if you are stupid enough to believe mexico was cheated then how do you think the spanish feel mexico stealing from them. you should be hog tied and thrown back over along with your illegal brethren idiot.
The fact that you can’t spell the word ‘ridiculous’ provides a clear indication as to the level of intelligence you are limited by. The fact that you don’t know the history of the Mexican American war is not surprising. I am a US citizen born in the US, which in no way changes the fact that the US invaded Mexico and took half of the country, that is a historical FACT, not an opinion you moron. The Spanish ALSO invaded Mexico and were fought back through the Mexican revolution, Mexico did not steal from them. Did you think Spaniards were native to the American continent??? But we are getting into concepts that beer-drinking-chicken-wing-eating-confederate-flag-waving morons like you will have a hard time understanding so we’ll just leave it at that. Oh, and before you respond to this or any other post pull out a dictionary so you can make sure you spell things correctly.
hey juan my child who is in the eight grade suggests you lookup social studies for kids and read and read about the mexican american war. its seems you forgot to mention the little tidbits that are immportant to your unbias claims like the 15 million dollars mexico recieved for texas,the alamo, the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo,why not look up the mexican cession oh the list is endless and besides you need to jettison yourself to 2012
Actually it was 18 million and it was for half the country. I pity your kid if you are what he has to look forward to for guidance when it comes to world history. You may not like the fact that Polk and his ‘manifest destiny’ expansionist agenda led US troops to invade Mexico and then refuse to leave unless half of the country was sold for a pitance and you may refuse to accept the fact that Harry S. Truman and the Clinton made a formal apology to Mexico for the invasion of the country and the annexation of half of its land, but it is a historical FACT. If you want to engage in an educated and intellgent exchange on the topic then read a learned and studied treatise by someone like Villalpando, not your kid’s eighth grade history book. I realize it may be difficult with all those big words and all, but give it a shot anyway. Keep the comments coming though John, i can always use a good laugh