By now you've probably heard in the news about the 680 people detained by the ICE raids in Mississippi; and possibly the subsequent release of 300 of those people. It's all over the place. Hell, I'm even getting my news about it from the BBC. You are not allowed to arrest or detain a person simply upon their probably immigration status. End of discussion. That's in the rules of the US. Yet, according to lawyer Jeremy Anderson, who was interviewed by BBC Newsday, [listen from marks 0.00 - 4.16 for the interview] he is representing most of the 680 people who were detained on Wednesday, and none of them were charged with any crimes. Most were in the administration process for immigration benefits or removal. According to Anderson, raids don't happen on people who are in the system already like that. He said it was sloppy and seems designed to make an impact. He also says that most of the detainees in the raid were Guatemalan, and either didn't speak Spanish at all (speaking a native Guatemalan dialect), or that Spanish was only a second language. So, how many of these people understood what was happening to them? The article US Immigration: ICE arrests nearly 700 people in Mississippi raids states that Bryan Cox, the ICE spokesman, said that people were released on humanitarian grounds, as in there was no one else to care for their child/children except them. They were "expeditiously processed and returned". However, Anderson in that Newsday cast stated that there is a fourteen year old girl whose parents still have not been released. She's all alone with no one to care for her. And in the article ICE raids: 300 people released amid outrage over Mississippi arrests there is was a small child at the Koch Plant who was assured by immigration enforcement that her "mum" would be returned to her (it's cute that they changed mom to mum, but I digress). She's still all alone as well. So if ICE is saying that they returned parents to their children, so the children wouldn't be left completely alone, then why are there still two children who are completely alone? How many other kids are in the same situation? Or the fact that ICE is saying they'd already informed the schools of which kids would have missing parents, yet these kids left school having no idea they'd return to anything but normal and ICE also says they have documentation and warrants for the arrests, but that paperwork seems to conveniently be missing for that lawyer who's handling the bulk of the cases? The paperwork stating that ICE had probably cause for the raid, actual crimes committed by these people? Seems fishy. Seems like there is no beforehand paperwork, and they just arrested people without probably cause (no, simply being an illegal immigrant is not a crime worthy enough for a raid and detention). They didn't have the pre-requisites for an arrest and no one at these schools were told what was going to happen, though ICE claims this is the case. Plus it's fishy that since most of the people were already in administrative proceedings for some reason or another, that's certainly no cause for a raid. These people are super in the system. There either being evaluated to be sent back or being evaluated to receive immigration benefits. You don't bust people who are already about to be deported or who are about to receive benefits. I'm inclined to think that this was all some weird puppet show to divert our attentions away from something else. Is it the mass shootings? Something else gun related? Something else entirely? It's nothing new, at least for this country, to say, "No, look over here!! Yes, that's right, focus your attention here, look at the "pretty birdy", that's right!" Regardless of whether or not it was an entirely by-the-books raid or just some dog and pony show. It's deplorable to fuck with people's lives like this. More so if it's a freaking dog and pony show. The whole immigration mess reminds me of science. There are rules you are to follow, but rarely does that ever really happen. Take science. You're suppose to have a constant, and then test against that. The basic rule is a test of three. So you have this item that you know is from 900 AD. Now you have this new piece that you think comes from 900 AD. You test it against what you know. If after three times it comes up at or around 900 AD all three times, then you've got a match. (It can be best 2 out of three and then you'd test a little more.) You don't do a test once, and you don't test into infinity based on your personal feelings. Yet, I have watched countless documentaries and read numerous science reports where this is exactly what happens. Someone comes to a lab to get something tested. The scientist who will do the testing thinks it's a waste of time (for whatever reason. He doesn't believe it could be said item or from said time period, or he doesn't believe that said item could have ever existed, or he just doesn't like the person bringing the item in.), he'll test it once and wave the person away. That same scientist, if he's found something he believes in, will test it to the moon and back until it is a match. Neither scenario is science-ing, yet it happens all the time. It's wrong, but that's what happens. Peoples personal feelings and such get in the way. The same is true for immigration. It's against the law to arrest or raid a place simply because you suspect someone's immigration status. You can only arrest or raid if the people in question have actually commited a crime (rape, murder, theft, etc.). You have to have proof of that, or high probability suspicion like with any other person you'd arrest for such crimes. If once the person is in custody for an actual crime, and it's not a whim, but you really have unreasonable doubt, then if their status comes into question it's fair game. You're not allowed to single people out, because "they're brown and seem like Mexicans." Yet, this happens all the time. There are people who aren't even Latin American and are citizens, and they get arrested on trumped up charges (because it's really all about "we think they're illegal") and get thrown into the immigration system. Some born and bred US'ers who don't have any Latin American DNA have been deported to random countries in Central and South America. Not one or two, but kind of a lot. Because it's all this fear mongering and personal biased against the "South of the Border" people that have simply got to get gone! The immigration system is too rife with personal "feelings" and ignorance because brown = brown and they're all Mexicans anyway, right? And that all equates to "bad people", right? And we can't have that... right? Doesn't even matter if you're Latin American or not, if you're a Citizen (born or applied) or not. People keep getting arrested all over the place for this or that, but really because 'they're probably one of them there illegals'. So then the immigration courts are so backed up and clogged and the judges are under entirely too much pressure to dole out the fast food equivalent of sentences that you're left with this entire mess of a sham in the immigration legal system. Regardless of what colour they are and where you think they are from. That's not the law as it's intended, but that's how it gets interpreted with "feelings". Also, what happened to innocent until proven guilty? People are so caught up in this fear mongering that all brown people, especially who is the current threat, needs to just be gone. The fear mongering make you see them as this monster called "Brown People" instead of just People. Not all people from Latin America are Mexicans, and not all of them are going to be "short" & "brown". And not all Latin Americans are these mindless killing machines, rife with crime, that you've been led to believe. They're the one's you'll hear about (real or made up) because it helps the machine work; for you to continue to believe that it's US against THEM and the THEM's are evil. Nor do all of them speak Spanish and you'd be hard-pressed to meet a Latin American, here legally or illegally who isn't just working and supporting their family and living their life and celebrating birthdays; who isn't just a person like you. You're not going to meet this supposed "crazy-murdering-raping Mexican" that you've been warned time and time about. Not all people from the Middle East are Muslim, and not all of them are going to fit your idealized demographic of Burka and beard wearing "darky threats". And not all Muslims are these maniacal fanatic jihad threats. In fact, most of them are not. You will probably never encounter the Muslim person who hates Americans and wants to destroy everything. In fact Muslims disassociate themselves with "those" Muslims. It's like the Christian person who thinks the world is going to end and starts up some cult that has sex with underage kids and stock-piles canned goods for the "rapture". You disassociate yourself from that person too! They're crazy. They're not the majority. They don't represent or speak for the Christian community as a whole. The same is true about "those" Muslims. They're not the entirety of the Muslim community and Muslims don't claim them as part of the group. They're the cult version, not the norm. And the poor black community (not as in poor monetarily, but it's a shame how we've made them look) doesn't fare any better. We've been told to think that brown is the enemy. That black people are all thugs and are no good. There are bad people everywhere, in every race and group, but they are never the majority in any group. Ever. The fear mongering machine hates black people and puts them down at every turn. Shoot first and ask questions later, lay all the blame on them, think of them as lesser than. And it's seen as completely normal. You're hard pressed to find a white person that was indoctrinated on some level towards this vicious cycle of thinking. I'm even guilty of it and throughout life am realizing, "Wait... what in the hell? Why do I think this or that?" And I change it. No one, at least who is white, who wasn't born on Neptune, isn't part of this scenario. It doesn't matter that they didn't ask for this scenario or to be thrown into it, they're still in the middle of it, no matter to what degree. You think that black people are being too "uppity" or that they should "know their place"? They're fucking human beings, y'all. There place is of the human race equal to everyone else of the human race. They're place isn't lower or higher than anyone else, and if you feel there are levels then you should come down off your high horse and remember that you're not better (or worse) than anyone else. As for being "uppity", if you're the scape goat and black sheep (no pun intended) of the US, and you're supposed to be equal, but aren't, then you voice your concerns and state your peace because that's how things change. It's not being uppity, it's vying for justice. And don't get me started on the Indigenous Peoples'. They're plight is not that of the scape goat or that of the stereotypical diabolical Mexican or Muslim crazy murderer, but that of the Invisible. Most people don't even know that tribes are still around and which one's are doing great and which one's are doing deplorably, primarily based off of numerous broken treaties, the injustices within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, whether other not the US Government wants to federally recognize them as a people, if they were "lucky" or "unlucky" in their reservation assignment, the treatment by white farmers and towns people and the white run boarding schools to strip the Indian of his languages, identity, rights, cultures, and customs and to make them subservient and lower caste members of white society. Or the Mormons and other child agencies in the latter 20th century who kept "stealing" Indigenous children away from their families because as white people they could certainly do a better job. They were stripped of everything and primarily keep to themselves and it's little wonder why. If non pertinent (Indian Affairs) governmental offices or regular people do, indeed, know that the Indigenous Americans are still alive, much less anything else they've been through since 1492 (& still continue to deal with), then it's mostly waved away. Mockingly, jokingly cast aside as an issue not worth even considering. Or they're used as some sort of sick prop. "Well, I'm part Indian, shouldn't I be getting in on that free money action?" It's crass and ridiculous. No you should very well not. "Well, I'm part Indian so I can like Indian mascots and hoot and hollar and say we (all Indigenous) are all idiots and fools." No you can't. And more than likely you aren't any such thing and your ancestors were the same as people today that brown = brown = brown and it's got to be something they know; mainly either black or Indian, when really that person you ancestor married was Greek or Italian or Turkish or something. At least everyone else is getting some game play in the fights for equality and justice which is abominable that it's even taken this long to still have to fight this bullshit. In a perfect world, we never would have had to start fighting this, but we're not in a perfect world, and we did, and we still are. All of this fear mongering is building this current machine bigger and better than it was before. But it's still the exact same gear grinding of decades and centuries past. It's nothing new, it's just, once again, gaining in fervent steam; when it will blow up, yet again, is anyone's guess. It's not a question of if, but when. Because it will come to a head in some form or fashion. It won't be pretty. And it'll probably happen within the next ten years. And I'm being generous with that number. Just stop and think. Ask questions. Does it honestly make sense that an entire group of people would be evil? No it does not. That's not even a rational and reasonable logics number equation. Try taking a look at history, watch some documentaries, and see this cycle begin and end over and over again just in our three hundred-plus years as a country. See the people in power misdirect, getting you to hate a group of people to avert your gaze to something else. See the unified and ignorant masses clutch onto something for the sake of having some sort of answer (and someone to blame). See the untold violence and carnage before it all fizzles out just to start all over again with a new ruse and new group of people to hate. Stop being puppets and realize you're being played for fools. The enemy is always who is controlling you. They pull your strings and get you to do whatever they want with their fuel of fear tactics. And you always believe them. You always fall for it. Whether it helps you to sleep at night knowing someone is supposedly lesser than you or you just don't have the gumption to stop and correctly access the situation. You could go far back into history. Just take the plagues in the 1400's in Europe as one example that pre-dates even the founding of the US. Every group of people were being afflicted. Some people within those groups would survive, but no one was immune to actually having the disease, dying of the disease, or losing numerous family members and friends to the disease. But as history does what it does best, someone needed to be blamed. So, the Catholic Church blamed the Jews. Said they were immune to the plague and were spreading it to everyone else. Even though some priests were saying that was ridiculous because they were tending Jewish patients and helping to dispose of Jewish dead. Didn't matter. The masses called for justice and Jewish people were being murdered and thrown out of all the countries in Europe with only Poland giving them any sort of asylum. Fear mongering and mass hysteria. The Jewish people were being infected and dying just like the Christians. But you wheedle and idea into someone's head and it's an explanation (albeit an irrational one) one can latch on to to explain the horrible situation of events and Boom! Jewish people were being persecuted, murdered, and kicked to the curb-side, no show of compassion, only hate, by the thousands. I'd also heard-tell that one of the company's was being sewed for sexual harassment right before this raid. Like a one liner bandied about on Facebook or in an article. Wouldn't have surprised me, but I couldn't find any actual statements on it (it was also stated that maybe, perhaps, the Mexican consulates had come up here to help any of the Mexican families upset by this raid, but there was only a hear-say statement about that in one of those articles above. Super nice if it's true, though sad that it's necessary). Anyways, here's something more tangible and seems like that statement was true, and also not true. Koch Foods did settle a sexual harassment suit, but it also entailed racial bias and national origin against its Hispanic workers. Also it was settled a year before the raids, on 01. August. 2018. So, I'm not sure if this bit of info really does tie in with the raids, having not been directly before it and all. But why am I not surprised by the behavior of this company? In the beginning of July, I read an article in the local paper about their treatment of African American workers here in Mississippi. It was some chicken farming scheme, or it was when Koch foods get their hands into it. One guy started with a small company and everything was fine. The idea was they supply baby chickens and the feed every month and he would take care of them and share in profits when the chickens sold. Recently though, that little company sold to Koch and now they're causing him to go bankrupt. The other guys weren't so lucky, as they started out later than him and with Koch foods from the get-go. Same basic principle, however they were always being sent lists of things they had to fix. Paying out thousands of dollars for new sheds, or new roofs, heating lamps, coops, etc. No re-imbursements or partial re-imbursements like what was stated, fewer and fewer chickens started arriving until the company just left those black farmers in the lurch with things that had constantly been up dated to higher and higher standards and they can't pay the bills on that junk. One of them took one of his last letters to his bank (most of them have to keep taking out loans for the improvements) & with the bank involved and a lawyer, Koch foods said that no one HAD to make the upgrades, they were just guidelines if they felt like it, however that's not what the letters stated. If one didn't preform all of the upgrades, the contract would be canceled. One of those guys lost his farm because of them (these farmers farmed vegetables as well as chickens) and he lives in a shack on some spit of land and has to hunt in the woods for food. He's basically on the verge of starving to death and he's in his 70s). The lawyers involved are trying to stick it to Koch, because the threatening, end-of-contract, upgrades letters were only shipped out and received by black farmers, not white farmers. So, they're trying to get them with discrimination. But now somethings been signed out of law (I didn't keep the newspaper), basically where farmers like this (via companies) have little or few rights. It was a law started up in the 20's or 30's to help them have more rights, but was just recently repealed during the Trump administration in the past two years. So now with limited rights and a very narrow window for proceedings, they probably don't stand a chance. It was an utterly depressing and devastating article. Here's one from the Jackson paper online about it. So, no, I'm not surprised. In the least. There's no evidence for a recent suit or allegations of workforce discrimination (like white people are stating and sharing) from the Hispanic community, but if it happened before and the company settled, then it's probably been happening for the past year as well. Is it a direct reason for the raids? Could be. Koch foods is a huge distributor and apparently the chicken business is like the big pharma of food. Lots of people in their pockets. Make the agitation go away. It's just illogical to fear and hate immigrants so. I get that the fear mongering machine and apparently large groups of people are stupid, so it's easy for people to abandon reason for madness and just jump on board all willy nilly, but it's still difficult to wrap my head around that this is actually happening, even though it's a big pattern throughout history. Historical doesn't make it right, it just makes it fact. We should have learned better from this by now.
Mostly the people who are being crazy; acting like they're insane (maybe they are), raping, murdering, mass shooting, thieving, etc are white people, mainly white men. White men as in they've been US citizens for several generations. Definitely not in the category of immigrant. The second group are black people, mainly black men. But this to me is different. Not on the immigrant front, but on the amount of news time they receive. Listen to the dialogue logically. There are plenty of black people doing good things and plenty of white people too. But horrible news, not happy news sales. However, you'll hear of more white do-gooders in the happy portion of the news than you will of black do-gooders. And the language is weird. Like with the white people it's all sweet and of course they would do this because white people are awesome. The black people? The news will report it like it's a curious thing, that it's not something they're always out there doing or a natural thing, but some weird one off incident, like, "Huh? Whoda thunk a black person could be nice?" Or when it's the horrible news, you'll want to think that white people make it into the news just as much as black people, and that might be true, however, it's a whole different news rapt. The white guy is simply a one off, he must be crazy, because this is not how white people act. Let's pity his family and friends for the difficult time they're going through. And the victims... only if they're white. If the white guy killed a black guy, then it was certainly in self-defense. Poor white guy. For the black guy? It's basically "Well, what did you expect from someone like this?" He's not the one crazy guy who doesn't represent the group and there's no, "Oh his poor family going through this." If the black guy is killed, then he was asking for it. He shouldn't have or should have done this or that correctly. They'll spout out a list of rules of why he shouldn't have gotten killed if only he was doing a better job of fitting in; aka being white. Yes, I'm paraphrasing and no, newscasters and papers aren't stating these exact words, but I'm not wrong. Take your emotions and feelings out of the equation and just read or listen. You'll see that the stories don't match up. If it's a cop who shot a teenage boy, it will always read differently depending on race. If it's a white cop that shoots a white kid it's sad and tragic about the kid and the cop. If it's a white cop that shoots a black kid, he was just defending himself and the black kid was in the wrong. If a black cop shoots a white kid, then it's all tears and laments for that kids life cut short and that black cop is evil. If a black cop shoots a black kid, then good he's taking care of his own and that kid probably had it coming. It shouldn't matter what colour. It should only matter if the kid was actually threatening the cop or not, or if the cop was just doing his job, or if he was crooked. In my experience, teenage boys are terrible. Yes males and females can all be jerks in different area's of life, but as a former teenage girl now a woman, teenage boys are the worst. When you're a pre-teen girl, teenage boys are mean to you. When you're a teenage girl, teenage boys are mean to you. When you're a woman, teenage boys are mean to you. Not teenage girls for you being a pre-teen or adult (they're only mean when you are their peer and a fellow teenage girl). Now, further in my experience, the teenage boys who were terrible? The white guys. Not the black guys or the Hispanic guys, but the white guys. As a pre-teen these teens would be mean to me and other girls, pushing us aside, but not nearly as mean as the white guys. They were not mean when we were teenagers together and their not mean now that I'm an adult. Example. For one, I was terrified of teenage boys even into my adult years, up until my early thirties. That's how terrible they can be. I never thought of demographics in colour before because all teenage boys = teenage boys. They were all the same. Went out to eat dinner with The Sister and white teenage boys were making fun of me. I was 30. Shouldn't I be out of their scope of range? An adult? Don't teenagers not care about adults? They started the ridiculing and then the teenage girls started in, because to girls, I am an adult and someone not worth noticing. Then The Sister and I were in a grocery store. I'd just passed two teenage boys and as I was rounding the low freezer bin, I slipped. While I'm flying through the air and falling back down I'm mortified because I know they'll make fun of me. When they came rushing up to me asking and making sure I was alright, is when I really took notice that they were black teenage boys. At first I was wary of why they were asking about me. "Was it a trap? Teenage boys don't do this." Then I had to quickly re-evaluate and realize that black teenage boys were not white teenage boys. Black teenage boys had always been MUCH nicer to me than their white counter parts and there'd not been a single incident of a black teenage boy harassing me since I left high school, unlike the 20 or so times from white teenage boys. That's when it clicked. It's not to say that any teenage boy can't be bad, but far more white teenage boys are far more bad than black teenage boys. So, if a white teenage boy gets shot, it's sad, but I'm also curious if he was really up to no good. Or waving a gun (toy or real) around, thinking he's invincible like they do. When the black teenage boy gets shot, it's sad... and I have to wonder if the news and cops are painting lies about him. Take a story of a female (teenager, college, woman) saying she was raped. Mainly that's always waved away which is ridiculous. I'm not saying a woman couldn't make that up, because some women are total bitches, but I'm fairly certain that'd be like -.1% of the cases, y'all. But regardless of if it's waved away or not. Take the perpetrator. Was he white or black? If he's white (& so was she), you'll hear laments about how this girl/woman is ruining his life, his promising career, that poor boy/man! You'll hear the woman is a slut, but she's also a one off. Not the virtuous majority of other (white) women. The white is always implied, but what other colour could it be when you finally hear what they say regarding other colours of women. If he was white and she was black, then she was a slutty temptress. It's still all her fault & can you expect anything else with their kind? The boy/man just had poor taste in judgment, slinking so far down. Remember Hugh Grant with the black prostitute. You could tell by what they were saying it wasn't just that she was a prostitute. It was her colour as well. I'm not kidding. They won't say these exact words, but what they do say and how they say it is of marked different to if it was a white man with a white woman. If he was black... and the woman was white, then he most certainly is responsible. People (read white people) will be more apt to believe the woman in this circumstance (or select any other male ethnicity) and they'll be vying for justice. If he was a black man and the woman was black, then does it even really make the news? Celebrities aside, because being a celebrity equates you to something like the British Royal Family or Greek Gods. They can do no wrong and people don't want to believe any allegations brought against the man, no matter what colour he is. If we were not living in a racist and white fueled society, these news stories wouldn't play out so differently in the buzz-words that are used depending on white or person of colour. But there are buzz-words and while you can find two stories that play out the same, they'll not be written the same. It is absolutely on purpose to keep the people of colour in their "rightful places" and the white people all cozy at the top. These stories should read the same "Man rapes woman." "Cop shoots teenager", but they don't. Race is always thrown in and different buzzwords and sentiments (or lack thereof) are pulled out depending upon the circumstance. It's sad and it's wrong. But the point is, that these wording tactics are used to keep the elevation of "white" high up and keep you thinking that everyone else, the people of colour, are the enemies. You'll hear a lot about black men committing crimes, but are they really? Is it just sensationalism, putting them in the spot light, painting them as all being criminals and thugs to keep your attention on how "evil" they all are? Seems like it, considering the white men do not get the same sensationalism or penning of evil to their stories. They were just crazy, they aren't the norm, it's a situation to be pitied. If all stories, regardless of colour read that way, then I wouldn't see some glaring misdirection here. But they don't read the same. Don't fool yourself into thinking that these buzz-word tactics aren't used for all people of colour. It's why if you are fearful and hateful of Muslim, Indigenous Peoples, Asians, Hispanics, and African Americans, then you're falling for the ploy. Collectively, these people are not the enemy, but you believe that they are. You've kept then contained in little boxes, labeled with how you've been told to view them. They do not wish to be in your little box, sitting on your dusty shelf like a collection instead of a human, with things that don't describe them. If you can't step back and say, "Oh man, I'm sorry, you're right. Why did I even still have this box?" and allow them to live their own lives as human beings in the ways that they see fit, then you are part of the problem. They were never meant to be catalogued into some stupid box and kept away, and if they want out of it, they're not being uppity, they just want out of the damn box that shouldn't have contained them in the first place. They have that right. Because humans are all equal. Obviously there are people in every group who either stereotype or diminish their own kind or similar kinds, or other types of people. It is true that it's happened in history and still happens today. However, it still doesn't make it right and there's no place for its argument in this discussion. I'm looking at you, who want to quip up with "but the Africans enslaved their own people" or "slavery has always been happening" or "but somebody has always ruled other people" or "but they like where they are." etc. Each one of those statements is its own kettle of fish. They should be discussed and none of them are as cut and dry and you might expect or hope, but to add them in only muddles the basis of the argument and takes away from it; helping no one. So stop deflecting onto other topics. Just stop deflecting. Stop blaming. Just actually fucking listen, look, and logically thinking about it.
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AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
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