California and immigration: We're moving on - latimes.com: "Most Californians have put their immigrant-bashing ways behind them; we're moving on.
(T)he most important explanation is that what mostly fueled anti-immigrant sentiment in the 1990s is what fuels it now: not economic fear but another deep-seated fear, that of newcomers and the long-term cultural change they may bring. That unease was rampant — and stoked by exaggerated immigrant-bashing — in the 1990s in California, but in 2010, hard times or not, it has died down. ...
(O)ver time, we learned everything didn't change. Californians survived the much-hyped demographic shift, and we're beginning to get used to our new reality. In other words, whites got to know their new neighbors. And, despite real tensions caused by illegal immigration, familiarity didn't breed contempt. ...
For all our political and economic woes, it's good to know we're still ahead of the curve on a positive social trend. How long before the rest of the country catches on?" Nov. 1, 2010
The MexicoBlog of the Americas Program, a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), is written by Laura Carlsen. I monitor and analyze international press on Mexico, with a focus on security, immigration, human rights and social movements for peace and justice, from a feminist perspective. And sometimes I simply muse.
No comments:
Post a Comment