Disunity in the Tea Party Movement

Written by Stephen Piggott

When we see the pictures of tea parties on the news or in newspapers across the country, all of the attendees at the events seem to be arguing the same thing. Most of them are middle-aged white Americans who are against Obama and all he stands for. However, when we take a close look at the individuals or certain groups within the tea parties we see that there is actually many differing viewpoints within the movement and it is beginning to lose stability.

On October 31, a branch of the white nationalist organization, Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), joined a tea party protest in Ripley, Mississippi. The CoCC stressed that “We as conservatives must… Read more

Culture

Book Review: The Accidental American

Written by Joan Flanagan

“It is always about race,” says Rinku Sen, the Executive Director of the Applied Research Center. “The people who advocate for restricting the number of new immigrants talk about jobs, disease, and demand on social services, but they are really talking about keeping out people of color. It is important for the people who want a more sensible immigration policy to understand what the anti-immigration forces really mean. The restrictionists count on us being silent.”

To get this idea across, Rinku Sen wrote a book with Fekkak Mamdouh called “The Accidental American – Immigration and Citizenship in the Age of Globalization.” (2008, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers). She has informative chapters on the… Read more

Parental Notification Doesn’t Protect Women

Written by Jessica Acee

Parental notification laws set up unnecessary roadblocks for young women seeking an abortion.

Thirty-five states have some form of the law mandating that doctors notify a legal guardian 48 hours in advance of the abortion, or that the parents give actual written consent.

Illinois is the latest to grapple with the legality of these laws. On November 4, the state’s medical board approved the Parental Notification Act. Just hours later a state judge granted a restraining order requested by the ACLU.

A Chicago physician and a Granite City women’s medical clinic had challenged the law with the ACLU’s help. They argued persuasively that the law is unconstitutional and would harm minors by preventing them from… Read more

Midnight Soccer League

Written by Axel Fuentes

Last summer workers at a Mexican restaurant had a desire to encourage better preventative health care. So they decided to alleviate stress through sports. In their small town in Northern Missouri with approximately 18,000 persons living there, in which approximately 200 are Latino immigrants. Most of them work long hours, up to 13 hours a day, and some of them work all seven days a week in local restaurants in the community. Even so they still have a desire to play soccer.

With the help of the Midwest Immigrant Health Project (MIHP) of the Center for New Community, Feliciano took the leadership to start organizing a soccer league. First, he needed a field with light… Read more

Fort Hood Rampage: Don’t Let Tragedy Bring More Tragedy

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

This was originally posted on the Colorlines blog, Racewire, by Seth Wessler.

Today 12 people lost their lives when a US army psychologist and two other men opened fire inside the Fort Hood military base in Texas. It is was an horrific act and our hearts and thoughts are with the families of those who were murdered.

As we respond, we must categorically resist voices of suspicion and reaction so that this tragedy does not bring more tragedy. That the shooter’s name sounds Muslim will offer those who thrive on fear an opportunity to pounce. We reject the impulse to assume that the shooter’s name means anything about his motivations, that being

… Read more

Politics

Of Hope and Pathos: The Failure of National Leadership

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

Being the week for year-back reflections on the election of Barack Obama, one is hard-pressed to find or feel the euphoric spirit of the nation and the global community that beautiful evening when the new President took the stage in Grant Park. Welcome promises have dissipated. Harsh realities have set in. And the new President has lost his tarnish.

Americans have an innate and insatiable appetite for quick fixes, are inherently pragmatic, and restlessly seek solutions to rectify every problem or ill. Therein lies THE problem—there are no quick fixes to the challenges before us. This is not an excuse for this President who seems, indeed, to have lost focus, resolution, and the capacity to… Read more

Remembering Marcelo Lucero

Written by Stephen Piggott

Do you remember what you were doing almost one year ago on November 8, 2008? I remember it clearly; I was watching my favorite soccer team Manchester United lose to their massive rival, Arsenal, after giving up two stupid goals. The team and fans put this sad day behind them and went on to win the league title, but for the family of Ecuadorian immigrant Marcelo Lucero, this day continues to bring them sadness and pain. It was on this day nearly one year ago when their beloved son and brother, Marcelo, was stabbed to death in Suffolk County, New York by a gang of teenagers who were on a hunt to “kill a Latino,… Read more

Politics

Who is ‘American’ Enough?

Written by James E. Johnson Jr.

The New York Times headline boldly blared across my computer screen, ‘To Some, Winner Is Not American Enough’. The article debates whether Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi should be considered American or American enough.

Meb attended public school in San Diego and graduated from UCLA with a BA in communications. He has gone on to become a Principal Engineer at a national semiconductor firm.

What sets Meb apart from most of us is the fact that he is a darn good long distance runner. So good in fact he received a scholarship to UCLA and won four NCAA championships. Meb represented the U.S. twice in the Olympics and won the silver medal in 2004.

Immigration

Dreams Stalled in Carolina for Undocumented Students

Written by Guest Blogger

by Glenn Hutchinson

Consider this scenario: Your parents bring you to the United States when you are four years old. You are an undocumented citizen that grows up in the land of McDonald’s and American Idol. You attend public school and graduate high school. You want to pursue your American dream and attend college. Thousands of young people are in this kind of limbo: this is home but they are told it’s not their home.

So what can you do? Your options depend on many factors, including your home state. For example, although only 111 undocumented students were taking classes in 2007-08, North Carolina decided last year to ban them from their community colleges. However,… Read more

News

Human Rights Crisis Within Our Borders

Written by Jill Garvey

Treatment of immigrant detainees tells of the shameless brokenness of America’s immigration system. Even the valiant efforts by some to lessen the suffering of families caught in the immigration web are stymied by the lack of rational immigration reform.

Recent articles have highlighted the issue. In Nina Bernstein’s recent New York Times article, In Manhattan, Immigrant Jail Draws Scrutiny, she discusses the Varick Street Detention Facility in Manhattan.

The new focus on Varick highlights the conflict between two forces: the administration’s plans to revamp detention, and current policies that feed the flow of detainees through the system as it is now. A disjointed mix of county jails and privately run prisons, where mistreatment and

… Read more