ThEy'Re StEaLiNg OuR JoBs

In today’s political climate, Republicans, in particular, happen to hold a very inaccurate thought regarding immigrants (especially ones of Latin American descent). That thought is that they cross over the border as rapists and murderers. It’s fascinating they believe this because statistics suggest otherwise. There are more whites incarcerated than there are Latinos. So that whole argument is really invalid. The primary reason immigrants enter the US is to create a better life for not only themselves but also their families. They aren’t stealing our jobs, they’re simply working the ones that we don’t want. On June 16, 2015, during a speech, Donald Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” With the leader of our country saying this, it’s no surprise that his followers agree with him. Trump ran his campaign on anti-immigration before he was elected he would say refer to Latinos as gangsters and Muslims as terrorists. And that’s how he won. He fear-mongered his way into office. And we must remember that fear-mongering is not new. In the nineteenth century, Americans would say that African American Men were sexual beasts, and if you weren’t careful they’d rape your white wife. And to no surprise, this led to various acts of violence against black men. And history has repeated itself in this country, mosques are being vandalized and hardworking people are being locked in cages, separated from their families, and deported. The fact that this still worked centuries later brings to light a much bigger issue in this country. And that problem is bigotry. As Americans, we love to talk about how progressive we are and how far we’ve come as a country. Now even though America can be considered progressive compared to MANY MANY countries, and we have been more and more welcoming of time. We’re still quite far from being a truly progressive and welcoming country. The 2016 presidential election did a great job of bringing this issue to light. The ugly truth is that more than 62 million Americans voted for an open bigot. And the reason why those (at least) 62 million Americans are so easily manipulated is that they’re isolated both physically and mentally. They either aren’t around enough minorities so the only experience they have with them comes from Fox News. Or they’re so stubborn that they’re really a lost cause. The primary reason I feel so adamant about this topic is because of my personal experiences. I grew up around a lot of Bengali Muslims, and interestingly enough it was always my American friends getting me into some kind of trouble. While my Muslim friends were always trying to get me to make better life decisions. The notion that Muslims are violent is factually incorrect. The Quran preaches peace. The only reason the middle east is such a war zone right now is because of US involvement. We took their natural resources and killed so many of their loved ones, they have a valid reason to not like our country. Yet, the only Muslims committing acts of terror are the extremists. The everyday people have nothing to do with it. The truth is that a lot of immigrants who come to this country (documented and undocumented) tend to work harder than the rest of Americans. They’re forced into lower-paying jobs due to their immigration status, level of fluency in English, etc. They survive with these lower-end jobs and still have to pay similar living costs as everyone else. Thus, they work much longer hours and take whatever jobs they can get. If you go out into the countryside and into the farms, you’ll see that the staff of farmhands consists of many immigrants because other Americans just don’t want to do that kind of work. When my mother first came to this country with a two-year-old daughter and not a word of english, she needed a job to provide for my sister. And she ended up working as a maid in a hotel making $4.25 per hour. She wasn’t lazy, she wasn’t stealing anyone’s jobs, she was just doing what she could to support her family just like everyone else. The only jobs she ‘stole’ was when she was picked for promotions due to her punctuality and impeccable work ethic rather than her Americans coworkers who’ve worked there longer but didn’t work as hard. Calling Immigrants violent and lazy is a slap in the face to every single hardworking American Immigrant who came here for a better life.

Citations:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/06/16/theyre-rapists-presidents-trump-campaign-launch-speech-two-years-later-annotated/

“The cops are outside.” I whisper. She doesn’t believe me. That is until I open her blinds of course. Blue and white lights fill up the room, and I quickly close the blinds. On a dark deserted street in Cobbs Creek, lays 8 squad cars with their bright siren lights on. However, the sirens themselves are turned off. I tell her to take a look at the security camera system in the dining room. We make our way downstairs. The dog is letting out a low deterring growl. Followed by a series of ear piercing irattic barking. I let mom take a look at the cameras, and sure enough there’s a tall caucaisan man with a police uniform pacing up and down my driveway. Then he bends down and looks under the familys’ gray nissan. I am not scared, but wary. In the back of my mind I am concerned that they might have a warrant and will kick down the door at any moment. The thought of my brother being arrested also crosses my mind, as this would not be his first time on the wrong side of the law. There is thick tension in the air as we don’t know why our home is surrounded by police officers. Not a word is said between my mother and I. But, it is understood that we must not get involved. We understand that police cooperation is frowned upon in the community. She hesitantly walks up the creaking hardwood stairs and returns to bed. I refuse to sleep though; I don’t know why they are looking for someone. Or if that someone might still be hiding among us? I proceed to stare at the living room wall for the next 4 hours in the darkness with a rapid heart beat. Just waiting for something to happen. When the sun finally goes up, my guard goes down and my eyes close. Why had I stayed up all night? It was due to a variety of reasons. Growing up without a father in the house led to me being very overprotective of my mother, she is my everything. She fills the role of both parents so I have to protect her, she’s all I have. But that isn’t the only reason why I acted so vigilant that night. The summer before this ordeal. An armed home invasion was attempted on my family. Which scared the hell out of my mother but just made myself hypervigilant. We no longer feel safe in our home. Which is why we even installed security cameras in the first place. There are nights where I can’t sleep, because I want to be awake if something bad were to occur. So if anything provoking happens, I stay up in the living room just to be there if someone were to bust through the front door. This is precisely what happened when our surveillance camera was stolen a year prior. When I got into a heated argument with a neighbor over blocking my driveway. And countless other times. I understand that this is not normal for teenagers living in first world countries. But, this is a part of who I am now. In a world full of violence how do we live normal lives? The truth is, statistically speaking, as Americans there is a low probability that you will be the victim of a violent crime. But there are certain parameters that rise the probability. Your zip code, having loved ones who’ve been incarcerated, living in a single parent household, etc. And I meet plenty of those parameters. The vast majority of Americans will go through their lives not being a victim of any heinous crime. What we must understand is that seeing crime after crime being broadcasted on the news makes us worry that it might happen to us. That worry is even worse when something like that happens in your neighborhood or to someone close to you. There is not a single solution to this problem. You have to think about it from both sides. From a logos perspective you can’t be too paranoid, but also have to use some pathos and just always be aware of your surroundings. You have to think about this from a third person point of view. If you use the first person you’re prone to react purely on emotion because you’re taking this personally. Looking at the big picture shows that even in bad neighborhoods the likelihood of being the victim of a violent crime is low. But that likelihood is still noticeably higher than for the average resident in PA. So you understand that caution is needed; whilst paranoia is not.