Bigotry is Not a Policy

In this time of debate, think before you judge! We need to evolve beyond bigotry and fear. It is wrong for a country built by immigrants to act this way.


The thing that bothers me most about the recent uproar over Arizona’s new policy on immigration runs deeper than the blatant racism found within. It’s the mixing up of the terms “Immigration” and “Illegal Immigration” in that uproar.

Using a visual judgment of a person’s residency status from afar amounts to racial profiling. With it comes the assumption that those who look a certain way — in this case, Latino — are illegal regardless of how they got here or why they came. The sad irony is how this thinking incriminates the ancestors of all Americans.

Every American family came from somewhere else. And most of them were treated poorly by those already here staking their claims as being “real” Americans. Yet so many Americans whose ancestors were persecuted upon their arrival now do the same to new immigrants — illegal or not.

Do Americans really have that short of a memory? For such a young country, we seem to suffer from some grand group Alzheimer’s disease.

This image of a car with the words “I’m Mexican Pull Me Over” emblazoned on the rear window has become the embodiment of what is wrong with America’s policy on immigration. We constantly try to solve the problem of illegal immigration by attacking an entire nationality, rather than by thoughtful consideration.

I don’t have a solution, but I can’t help but think it’s about time we evolve beyond simple bigotry and fear mongering. As a people, we honestly need to get past the idea that all immigration is bad because illegal immigration is bad.

It’s childish and wrong for a country built by immigrants to act this way.

Think before you judge.


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