These Damn Illegals: immigration “victories” and historical amnesia

These Damn Illegals: immigration “victories” and historical amnesia

Today United States President Barack Obama will announce a decree, which allows close to 5 million families to not be deported. During his presidency over 2 million people have been separated from their loved ones. The recent “dreamers” movement has cause to celebrate as they have sacrificed a lot to see this day come. However, there is no citizenship. The new proposal is called “deferred action,” which still means action will be held up and taken later. The government will “collect” $400-1000 dollars per applicant multiplied by 5 million people. There will also be a penalty fee. By the way, none of this is a guarantee of citizenship. It doesn’t mean voting rights. On the streets, gangsters might say, “pay up for protection or else I will “defer” my action.” So is this (becoming DACAmented) partly that?

For our most vulnerable, those living on the margins, those living in constant fear of deportation, it is not just that, but a breath of fresh air, but for how long when the existing air is toxic?

Some, who may believe that history is a thing of the past, argue that this is major. Even the dreamer movement may not necessarily know it’s own history. Organizations like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN), the National Council of La Raza and many others have been fighting for amnesty for decades. Did you know that the largest march on Washington by Latinos took place not in 2006 but in 1996? This march came after years of mobilizing against anti-immigrant policies like California’s Proposition 187, which came into law in 1994. Even if you go back to the 1980s, Republican conservative President Ronald Reagan did something similar in 1986 with the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) but that, at least, granted US Residency. But going back 30 years is not far enough even though the age of most dreamers is under that.

Some know that California, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, Oregon and Utah are México. Some know that the citizens there were Hispanos, Latinos, Mexicanos and Indigenous people? If we count years by grandmothers, it was two grandmothers ago. However, somehow our stories, our history, rarely gets passed down in the book called U.S. History or as Dr. James Loewen calls it, “Lies My Teacher Told Me.”
If we receive our news from the media we might actually believe that Mexicans are “recent arrivals” to the U.S. even though an agreement was signed 160+ years ago,
between the U.S. and Mexican governments (1848), granting Mexicans full citizenship and respect for their land under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 160 years later, your lucky if we grant you a driver’s license, but citizenship, not for aliens. This is a Xeroxed copy of a story that’s been played by the U.S. before.

In the 1930s the U.S. government rounded up over 500,000 Mexican-Americans, U.S. born, and deported to Mexico under “Operation Success” blaming them for the Great Depression of the 1920s and the famine that struck the nation in the 1930s.
In the 1940s Mexicans were heavily recruited to fight for the U.S. in World War II and it was Mexican-Americans, Chicanos/as, who won the most Medals of Honor for their valor for the U.S. with their blood, sweat and tears.
When we think of desegregation few of us equate that to a Mexican-American family that desegregated schools in 1947 in the entire state of California, 7 years before the infamous Brown versus the Board of Education case. It was the Mendez family who took on the city of Westminster and successfully desegregated schools at least on paper. But that was not a one-off case. In the 1930s it was the Latino community of Lemon Grove, California that desegregated schools in the San Diego area. However, why doesn’t that show as proud American civil rights history for all?

Today’s “victory” is because of the community of Lemon Grove, the Mendez Family, countless war veterans, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the Chicano Civil Rights Movement, LULAC, MALDEF, NCLR, CARECEN and the dreamers too. But the Mexican community has never been alone nor are they spearheading this movement.

Today’s victory comes on the backs of Asian Americans who have seen their share of anti immigrant attacks from the Chinese Exclusion Act to anti-Japanese laws, including internment camps, to quotas on Filipinos, but they always fought back. Today’s victory is because of Chinese-American revolutionary group the I Wor Kuen, countless activists including Yuri Kochiyama, Larry Itliong and so many others.

Today’s victory is because we are standing on Indigenous land. Before the U.S. Southwest was México, it was Native peoples land. It is Anahuac. It is Turtle Island. At some point, it was private property. At some point, humans didn’t think they could “own” the land. How can we “own” mother earth? How can we “own” water? Todays’ victory is because of the American Indian Movement.

Today’s victory is due to the African-American movement for civil and human rights that saw the immigrant or indigenous or Chicano or third world movement as linked, as one and the same.

Today’s victory comes from the womyn’s rights movement, the feminist movement that takes on patriarchy every day and continues to do so, and sees separating families, incarcerating people, and deporting them as patriarchal. It is.

Today’s victory is due to all who will NOT be divided, who will not be conquered.

It is not enough though to celebrate the president’s speech, this history must be taught in schools. It must be the common core. It must a graduation requirement to integrate Ethnic Studies as American History. Mexican history is U.S. history. It is civil rights history, it is sociology, and it is education. It is not an other.

Today’s victory is also the struggle by Irish and Jewish immigrants who were spit at and never fully seen as American. It is the victory of every underrepresented group which has been marginalized, but has stood up to say “ya basta” (enough).

Today’s victory is by all freedom fighters who know, that we didn’t cross the border, but the empire’s borders crossed us. Meaning that if were not a human being but a corporation we might have actual rights. If we were Nike we could cross any border “illegally” whether in Singapore or Mexico and abuse labor laws, without need of a green card, because we would have treaties like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to protect us. Those would be our papers. But when humans cross borders it is the crime of the century.

I argue that it is hypocritical for news pundits to speak of illegality without an intellectual understanding of U.S. history and how it is illegality that has placed certain people as citizens, pilgrims, and others as otherwise.

Some say damn those illegals and they are referring to Pilgrims. Although so much mythology has been written as pseudo-history about the pilgrims, it is they that invaded Anahuac without a green card. It is “explorers” like Christopher Columbus who had the audacity to “rename” a people and call them Indians. Now not only to we call people Indians, but we honor that man with a National Holiday. Why do we honor that side of history and not the other?

Many scholars have written about this like Howard Zinn in The People’s History, Subtractive Schooling by Dr. Angela Valenzuela and many others. Why are these not required texts in U.S. schools? Why are we so afraid of this truth?

Why are we castigating Arizona and Texas for officially banning ethnic studies in a dejure (by law) fashion, but are complacent about the fact that 48 other states ban this history with defacto policies that don’t have Ethnic Studies as graduation requirement anywhere in any state?

If deportation is the answer let’s round up all the pilgrims and their descendants, like the U.S. did the Japanese and ship them home. Lets find them, arrest them, dehumanize them, lock them up, call them wetbacks, call them illegal aliens, have them live in fear, and then maybe they and their intellectual descendants will see how they like them American apples?

That’s not the answer, is it? That doesn’t bring us together does it? Let’s see the tactics of hate today for what they are. They are as American as apple pie. Divide and conquer is part of the American way. Don’t get divided. Study. Unearth and unpack our collective history and demand an intellectual conversation. You deserve that, we all do. Amnesia will no longer protect you.
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By Cesar A. Cruz

Cesar A. Cruz- From marching 76-straight miles, to hunger striking for 26 days, Cesar has dedicated his life to fighting for justice. He was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and migrated to the U.S. at a young age with a single mother and grandmother. He grew up in South Central L.A. and moved to the Bay Area to study. Cesar graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in History. For the last 20 years, he has been an educator. He co-founded the independent school, “Making Changes,” out of his home, and has sought to create autonomous education spaces. For the last five years, he has overseen the Homies Empowerment Program serving gang impacted/involved youth in Oakland, CA. He is the author of two books, “Revenge of The Illegal Alien,” and “Bang for Freedom” (Making Changes Press, available at lulu.com). Currently, he is a 2nd year doctoral candidate, first Mexican immigrant male admitted in the program for Education Leadership, at Harvard University. He just served as the Assistant Dean of the Secondary School Program at Harvard University for its summer school. Amidst all, he is proudest to be a husband, and father of three children: Olin, Amaru and Quetzali.