[MD] Know-how - an aside

[John Carl]

Arlo and Craig,

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 12:11 PM, Arlo Bensinger <ajb102 at psu.edu> wrote:

> [Craig]
>
> You're referring to Arizona's SB 1070, of course.
>
> [Arlo]
> I bet the Native Americans wish they had enforced border law.
>
>
This whole issue has been percolating with me, for lots of reasons.

One is my recent reading of Royce's history of California.  What a venal
bunch of desperate seekers are at the roots of my home!  They went through
hell to get here, and were perfectly willing to dispense a bit of it to the
"natives".

Natives.

It's a whole new world in my brain, because of my quasi-involvement with DQ
University and the conception that the people we call "mexicans" are
basically your spanish-speaking native americans.  At least in California.
 And even in Mexico, the bloodlines run roughly 85 % native vs. european.
 And there were as many natives on the western coast as there were in the
rest of the country!  It's a wealthy ecosystem and it produced a lot of
tribes.

So "illegal immigrant" becomes a kinda nebulous concept, when you bone up on
your history.  Spanish speaking indians are just as much indian as your
head-dress-wearing, wampum-wavin' red man, making the show for the tourists.
 Yet we glorify one and despise the other.  Call 'em spics and beaners and
all kinds of racial denigration that's inappropriate for a culture that has
steadfastly contributed most of the hardest working people (esp. in
agriculture) on the continent.

Not that they need much help from me.  They're doing fine.  White people
thought it'd be a great idea to stop breeding much, about a generation ago,
and brown people are taking back this land they had quicker than any war
would win them.

Smart.