To the Editor:
In “If
Only Arizona Were the Real Problem” (column, May 2), Frank Rich
suggests that opposition to illegal immigration is often racially
motivated. Don’t the American people have a right to their own country
and their own culture, just as other nations do? The very least we can
expect our government to do is enforce our laws and our borders.
But the Democrats seem perfectly willing to allow a flood of illegal
immigrants into our country because they see Hispanic immigrants as
providing more votes for them. The Republicans turn a blind eye to
illegal immigration as well because illegals mean cheap labor for their
big business buddies.
And the American people are left feeling helpless, abandoned and
frustrated. If we dare to speak out and say, “Hey, this is our country;
don’t we have a right to determine our own destiny as a nation?” the
media label us as racists.
Donald Lyman Jr.
Wilmington, Mass., May 5, 2010
To the Editor:
The incendiary rage behind Arizona’s new immigration law has already
spread to other issues and other states. Think of the wave of bills and
laws further limiting women’s reproductive choices. Think of the enraged
campaigns against same-sex marriage. Think of the laws striking down
affirmative action.
Think of the recent statement by the governor of Virginia calling for
the study of the Confederacy and neglecting to mention slavery. Think
of the Texas textbook debates and the efforts to rewrite American
history as the story of a Christian state.
These are all campaigns to dehumanize certain sectors of the
population: racial or ethnic minorities, women, nonheterosexuals, those
practicing “other” religions, agnostics and atheists. They mark an
increasing tendency to divide society into “us” and “them.” We need to
call for a stop to this now, while also seriously addressing the fears
behind this anger so we can defuse it.
Lynn E. Palermo
St.-Quentin-les-Trôo, France, May 2, 2010
The writer is a professor of French at
Susquehanna University.
Note from KBJ: The second letter writer would be outraged by the idea that men are entitled to have access to her vagina. Arizonans are equally outraged by the idea that Mexicans are entitled to have access to their state and its resources.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 