Think Before You Protest

Photo courtesy of Frank Noz

Unless you've been hiding under a rock this past year, you'd know that the debate on U.S. Immigration Reform is the ubiquitous topic du'jour of pundits everywhere. To make a long story short, the U.S. congress is essentially trying to figure out to do with the illegal immigrant "problem". Should we kick them all out, should we grant them general amnesty, or is the answer somewhere in the middle? Being an immigrant myself, I can certainly relate to this topic, but I find myself having mixed feelings about the subject (my thoughts on this debate are are wide and varied and shall be reserved for another post entirely). Regardless of what side of the debate you find yourself on, I believe that this is first and foremost an issue of economics. A battle of the haves and have nots. Simply put, if in your current environment you find yourself not able to feed yourself or your family, then common sense dictates that you will remove yourself from that situation and migrate to an environment that affords you with better opportunities. Simple no? Anyone can relate to that. Yet I digress ... the above was meant to give you, the reader, some context to the topic at hand: my thoughts on the recent spate of student led demonstration/walk-outs hitting the nation as a direct reaction to said illegal immigration debate.

As I drove to work this morning, I saw a sight reminiscent of my high school days during the Prop 187 demonstrations we had at my high school. Though this occured over 10 years ago (kind of goes to show you that we haven't progressed much on this subject), the scene was the same: a handful of high school students, 10 or 20 at most, marching down the street in what at first seems like an exercise in civil disobedience. Now, I'm all about being proud of your heritage ... Lord knows that I'm the first to espouse Mabuhay Ang Pilipinas (Long Live the Philippines), but please, please, PLEASE, understand what you're protesting for before you protest! Remember that the Man is just waiting to use your ignorance against you. That being said, let's examine what I feel this protest is definitely not about:

First, it is definitely not about protesting against going to school for the day. If this is the case, you are just a punk ditcher who needs any excuse to skip class for the day. Think about it. Walking out of school just to ditch and act a fool on Channel 5 is actually contrary to one of the main reasons that many immigrants come to this country in the first place -- to provide for an education for their children. Yea I'm talking to you the dood giving shout outz to everyone in da' hood.

Second, this is not a protest in support of the advancement of [insert your country of choice here]. While I do support the proclimation of one's heritage, remember that immigrants come to the U.S. for the unique opportunities that only it can give and are in fact, leaving their homeland to do so. Flag-waving for the sake of flag-waving only gives the fascists fodder for their anti-immigrant rhetoric. "If they love their country so much, they should just go back!" Don't get caught in this trap.

I can go on, but do yourself a favor. Educate Yourself. Here is a great link from NPR to get you started --> Q&A: Inside the Immigration Debate.

I don't claim to be an expert on this topic, nor am I trying to persuade you towards one side or the other. If anything, I hope that this post will at least spur an open-discussion with you, my readers. Lastly, I know that many of you high-school kids really do know what you're protesting about, and I stand in solidarity right there with you, just like I did in '94 -- defiant with a clenched fist in the air.

Stop the ignorance!