Yesterday’s post got many readers angry with me. I’ve been down that road before. Unfortunately, the truth hurts. Mingled in between calls to reconsider or comments about how disconnected I am, and even suggestions that I’m too Mexican-centric there were the true to form demands that I leave the country if I don’t like it.
Rather than scurry away, I’m going to double down.
The issue about immigration is always about Mexicans. Yes, Mexican immigration is down. Yes, there are other immigrants that are not from México. Yes, the current “surge” is from Central America. And, yes there are suggestions about Muslims. Don’t get me wrong, all of them suffer under Donald Trump and the rhetoric about immigration.
But just look at the narrative about immigration. U.S. voters will always think of México every time immigration is mentioned. Mexicans taking jobs away. Mention Spanish and México is part of the discussion. Radical Muslim terrorism looks to the U.S.-México border every time although the real danger to the country lies to the north.
Almost every time the debate becomes about jobs leaving the country, it is México on the forefront of everyone.
You can’t mention drugs without mentioning México.
Utter the word “corruption” and México becomes part of the discussion.
For most U.S. citizens an Hispanic is synonymous to a Mexican even though Hispanics come from a large diverse ideology, culture and countries.
The word “Mexican” may not be uttered but it is part of the debates about drugs, border security, guns, taxes, immigration, healthcare, jobs, violence and anything having to do with what hurts the U.S.
This is clearly a war on Mexicans.
The El Paso killer targeted Mexicans. That is a fact that he himself has acknowledged.
We can debate forever about what led him to target Mexicans. We can debate the part guns played in the massacre. We can debate whether Donald Trump played a part in the murders.
What we cannot debate is that the killer targeted Mexicans.
Thus, the war on Mexicans is no longer debatable, it is now the reality.
So stop trying to tell me I am wrong – I am not. The war on Mexicans is real and as a Mexican I feel it each and every day down to the core of my soul.
