My Encounter with Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam ~ The Central Park Five

Hi there, A few years back I met with two of The Central Park Five, now The Exonerated Five, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam at John Jay College where I was preparing a speech on political prisoners. This is one series you must watch. No matter how painful and powerful Ava Duvernay's film hits you, there is no doubt that Ava’s film exposes how Racist, Bias and Broken our Criminal Justice System in the United States was and still is today.

Immigration and the United States: The Importance in American Society and Culture

Immigrants from every corner of this planet have brought with them culture, science, arts and special labor skills that were shared with others to enhance innovation. 

One good example is a Russian born boy that had a tremendous voice for theater, his name was Asa Yoelson. Asa, which later changed his name to Al  Johnson. Al Johnson later became a popular singer during the 1920s and 1930s was a highly paid entertainer at that time. He brought his idea of Jazz and to an American music-loving audience and was a huge success within the American performing arts. 

Other artists like Czech composer Antonin Dvorak who in 1892 was invited to come to the United States to direct the National Conservatory of Music and compose "American" music. His style of music captivated the American musical performance by storm. 

African American musical artists like Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw were second-generation Jewish Americans who were inspiring musicians who mixed their style of Jazz with European traditional style and made it more exciting to listen too. Both artists were performing their music during the Jim Crow segregation era. 

However, Immigrants did not only brought music and theater as their specials skills to offer but also brought cooking methods and flavor.

"...the classic American hot dog is probably the product of nineteenth-century German immigration. “Wiener” and “frankfurter,” synonyms for hot dogs, reflect the geographical origins of German sausage-makers: Vienna (Wien in German) and Frankfurt. Similarly, hamburger is the name for a native of the German city of Hamburg, which must have been the place of origin of the German sausage-makers who popularized chopped beef, formed into a cake and fried. Hamburgers, hot dogs, and other traditional American foods were popularized in the early twentieth century in “diners,” a distinctive restaurant style resembling railroad cars. Diners were commonly run by Greeks and other immigrants who found a niche serving low-cost food to the American masses." 

From food to music and much more, immigrants have really contributed to American society making it the country it is today.

Reference

Gabaccia, Donna R. "We Are What We Eat: Ethnic Food and the Making of Americans" Havard. 2000

American government making immigration relatively easy by restrictions?

COLLAPSE

There were numerous changes in immigration policies that allowed a certain number of migrants to easily come into the United States. However, Nativist Anglo-American Protestants organized in mass numbers to suppress the huge influx of immigration process and the block the efforts for an immigrant to be a citizen. The biggest fear was the economic competition and religious belief in the spreading of Catholicism. 

During wartime, many feared of a subversive potential of spies infiltrating in the country. This led to the passing of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 which enabled government authority officials to detained and deport "aliens" from the United States. 

Let us keep reminding ourselves that American ports were receiving its first waves of immigrants; 31 Million between 1860 - 1930 arrived here. 

" Meanwhile, American ports began receiving the first waves of an enormous and transformative mass migration — some 31 million between 1860 and 1930. They represented a “new” immigration: Chinese, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Russians, Syrians, Slovaks, Serbs, Armenians. To many so-called “old stock” Americans, millions of these newcomers were dangerous and unworthy, and to the members of an Immigration Restriction League – which included in its number many of “the best people” of New England – the immigrants were of the “wrong” religions and nationalities." 

This way of thinking was really troublesome and if the Nativist Anglo-Americans Protestants would have gotten their way, many immigrants would have had to wait over 21 years to apply for citizenship.

These restrictions implemented on those days seems to be repeating itself all over again in today's world just repackaged and named something else.

Reference

Gerber, David A. "American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction."  Oxford University Press, 2011, pp 20 - 21.

Weisberger, Bernard. "For Immigrants - And All of Us - A Time To Fight" Retrieved from https://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/09/15/immigrants-and-all-us-time-fight 

Racism and discrimination in the US

Creator:wildpixel

Credit:Getty Images/iStockphoto

Copyright:wildpixel

From the Chinese, Irish, and Italians that immigrated into this country, many of them faced extraordinary levels of racism and discrimination from most of the White Anglo-Saxons in this country. Racism in the United States is nothing new, even goes back to the “American Holocaust” that occurred in this country; the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous tribes (Native Americans) they were systematically annihilated.

Racism and Discrimination continue, except is that is a masquerade and repackaged in a different form so many won’t notice it. From the Mass Incarceration of Black Youth to the Mass deportation of Latinos and people of color from other countries; nothing has really changed.  

When it comes to talking about Racism and Discrimination in the United States, many feels that is a taboo topic. I believe if we are ever going to combat this issue, we must tackle it head and be open about it. By bringing people of different races and nationalities together, we can try to create a more compassionate world. To honestly achieve this goal, we must challenge and change the status quo to bring some sort of understanding and clarity which can ultimately lead to a more open dialogue.

NO HUMAN BEING IS ILLEGAL.

Once we start to understand the meaning of the phrase, we can start to break down all the mechanism that keeps us all apart.

Post-1965 migration

Since the signing of the bill in 1965, millions have immigrated to the United States of America. Though many Politicians and their constituents sympathize with immigrants seeking better opportunities and to be part of the melting pot, there were others that opposed the bill completely. The United States has always struggled with the idea of how a nation should be defined. Many argued that the type of immigrants that were coming into the country will no assimilate to "America's" way of thinking. Others persist that the United States is a "Judeo-Christian Nation", that immigrants from other religious groups are a contradiction to the American way of living. 

We always want to believe that this country opens the doors for the poor and the hungry. We the people of the United States of America want to believe that we extend our hands to help those in need and show compassion for immigrants. However, from a recent article, I came across the following is mentioned that really stuck in my mind:

 " The original version of the 1965 Act, cosponsored by Senator Philip Hart of Michigan and Representative Emmanuel Celler of New York, both liberal Democrats, favored those immigrants whose skills were “especially advantageous” to the United States." 

There is definitely a fundamental problem in how we view immigrants in this country back then and even to this day. Xenophobia today is in an all-time high and the debate on the immigration process to obtain visas for immigrants still continues. Was the actual Bill of 1965 and the politicians that signed it into law had good intentions? That is something we should really have an open debate on it in my opinion. 

Reference:

Gjelten, Tom. "The Immigration Act That Inadvertently Changed America". The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/immigration-act-1965/408409/. Accessed Oct 2, 2015

Trump and Immigration

Creator: Susan Walsh, Credit: AP, Copyright: Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Going back to the first "illegal" immigrant and his entire crew that came to the shore of America(s), I would like to quote Columbus from the log he wrote:

“They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

Christopher Columbus was referring to the Arawak men and women he and his sailors came across when he landed on the Bahamas Islands.  Of course, we all know the outcome of what occurred afterward. His intentions were not to work with the natives, but to take what is not theirs and claim it for themselves. 

“As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.”

I find it troubling and yet confused why we continue to have this same conversation about Immigration in the United States. Trump’s rhetoric of immigration is nothing more but racist and bigot remarks on Blacks and people of color from other countries which is causing a major division in the country. 

Nothing has really changed when it comes to Immigration rhetoric from politicians and communities nationwide. It seems We have forgotten the history on how this country was built. The United States of America flourished because Immigrants from all over the world came (illegal or legal) with good intentions came to share ideas and lived among other ethnic and religious groups for a better life. Immigrants came to escape from political and religious persecution from their native lands.  Immigrants came to the United States from famine and WARS oversea caused by those in POWER. Immigration has been an ongoing thing for a long time. I will even argue since the beginning of human civilization. 

So yeah, this is definitely nothing new between Trump's rhetoric and others before him. 

Reference:

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. Harper Collins Publishers, 2015.

School Shooting/Gun Violence/Gun Control

Top Left: Shooters of the Columbine High School Massacre. Top Middle: Victims of the Columbine Shooting
Bottom: Victims of the Virginia Tech Mass Shooting on April 16, 2007

Columbine High School Shooting Victims

On April 20th, 1999, The Columbine High School Shooting Massacred shocked the nation and the debate on gun violence and gun control continue to this present day. Every time I see the faces of the victims, I can't help noticing why mass public school shooting has become the new norm and yet those in power as state high-level officials have chosen to become blind and not handle the problem. Without any sort of restrictive gun legislation, gun violence will continue to plague our society.

I believe that in the end, it is not so much about protecting the second amendment right of our constitution which pro-gun advocates call for, but it really comes down to making a profit off gun sales and keeping people misinformed. In a book from Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, LOADED: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment; Dunbar-Ortiz takes apart some of the common discourse around the Second Amendment and shows how all these arguments are really nothing more but racism, patriarchy, and capitalism. The American obsession with guns is inextricably linked to white supremacy, both American Holocaust of the Indigenous people but also the enslavement of Black people. 

“Violence perpetrated by armed settlers, even genocide, was not absent in the other territories where the British erected settler-colonies—Australia, Canada, and New Zealand but the people never declared the gun a God-given right; only the founding fathers of the United States did that. And the people of the other Anglo settler-colonies did not have economies, governments, and social orders based on the enslavement of other human beings. The United States is indeed “exceptional,” just not in the way usually intoned by politicians and patriots.”  ― Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment

After the Mass Shooting at Parkland, Florida, the American People was screaming for change on gun policy and banning assault weapons. Even members of the NRA and gun owners support universal background check and tighter gun control, but executives from the NRA and weaponry manufacturers say otherwise. In a recent report from the New York Times, 79% of NRA members support banning of gun sales to the mentally ill and 72% believe of banning sales to those on watch lists. See news video clip here.

Gun violence has gotten so bad with the constant fear mongering from the mainstream media, that rather than try to de-escalate gun violence, lawmakers escalate the problem. The NRA and their political minions are advocating for arming teachers! There you have it, kids! Your sweet and kind favorite teacher will one day be caring a semi-automatic pistol in the holster or purse to protect you, the kids, and themselves from possible shooters!

It is estimated that almost 50% of “multiple casualtyhomicides” occurred in residences compared to less than 1% in schools. So essentially, arming teachers or having guns in school does not make it safe but makes it worse.

Many securities companies such as IntraLogic Solutions are taking the opportunity to profit over these matters by charging taxpayers for installing tens of thousands of dollars of so-called high-tech security systems on certain school campuses. Even went so far by introducing the school board a bulletproof SmartBoard for kids and teachers to use.

“The chief executive of IntraLogic Solutions Inc., on Long Island reported that his business doubled in size after Sandy Hook school shootings in 2012 and he expected it would climb again following Parkland. Security companies like IntraLogic Solutions market everything from relatively inexpensive special door locks to school lockdown systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars. In July at an industrial expo in Orlando, Florida one school security company exhibited a bulletproof SmartBoard on sale for $2,9000. Their marketing pitch was that students and teachers could hide behind the SmartBoard in the event of an armed intruder in their school. “  

– Alan Singer, Armed Guards, and Teachers Won’t Make Schools Safer

We continue to have mass shootings due to high power assault weapons, but when it comes to public school shootings, it has really decreased since the 1990s. However, security and militarize reforms on school campuses are spreading nationwide. So again, adding more guns makes us safer? Not Really.

James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel, “The Three R’s of School Shootings: Risk, Readiness, and Response,” in H. Shapiro, ed., “The Wiley Handbook on Violence in Education: Forms, Factors, and Preventions,” New York: Wiley/Blackwell Publishers, June 2018.

Despite the constant rhetoric coming from all sides of the political spectrum, we must acknowledge that the United States has the greatest number of handguns in the world and the highest handgun homicide rate. The American Public Health Association concludes that the United States must recognize the crisis the fatal injuries inflicted by those in possession of handguns. Also, we must support legislation prohibiting the manufacture, transfer, sale, and handgun ammunition for private use.

Do you believe there was actually a time when crime fell by 66% during the band of assault weapons between the years of 1994-2004 as noted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)? Well, it's TRUE!

However, after the terrorist attack on 9/11, slowly politicians rolled back the banning act of assault weapons. When fear mongering, lies, and deceptions continue to flood the mainstream media, the American public feels that owning a gun is the key to protect their civil liberty. The result of this caused gun sales to rise significantly in the United States after the 9/11 attack.

When I was a teenager at Memorial High School in West New York, I remembered a close friend of mine brought a handgun 45 Colt Revolver to school. Though the gun was not loaded at the time and was stored away in his locker, someone spotted him and called the police. Since he was still a minor at 17 years of age, he was the only sentence for 8 months at a juvenile correction center.

I always wonder what was his intentions to bring a gun to school? Was it too brag about how tough he was? Was it to intimidate others surrounding him or fear of bullies attacking him? The most shocking thing was how easy it was to obtain a gun here in the United States with no real gun control policy. It took me over 2 days to get approval from my health insurance to get vaccinated for MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella).

As we approach the end of the year, I’m wondering if 2019 will be the year where we can finally tackle these ongoing gun violence issues we have been having for decades. We have a long road ahead of us, but this is a fight worth fighting for. 

TAKE ACTION NOW

 https://giffordslawcenter.networkforgood.com/

 https://everytown.org/

by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.

References

American Public Health Associaton, Support Renewal with Strengthening of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (2003). Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/24/17/55/support-renewal-with-strengthening-of-the-federal-assault-weapons-ban

American Public Health Association, HandGun Regulation. Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/-/media/files/pdf/advocacy/letters/aphagunviolencepreventionpolicystatements.ashx

The Intercept, School Shootings Have Declined Dramatically Since The 1990s. Does It Really Make Sense to Militarize Schools? (2018). Retrieved from https://theintercept.com/2018/03/01/school-shooting-statistics-parkland-florida/

International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, Position Statement of Reducing Gun Violence and Keeping Campuses Safe (2018). Retrieved from https://www.iaclea.org/position-statement-on-reducing-gun-violence

The New York Times, After Sept. 11, A Rise in Gun Sales (2001). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/09/opinion/l-after-sept-11-a-rise-in-gun-sales-565520.html

Singer, A. (2018). Daily Kos. Armed Guards and TeachersWon't Make School Safer. Retrieved from https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/19/1813909/-Armed-Guards-and-Teachers-Won-t-Make-Schools-Safer

Ortiz, R.D. (2018) Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment. City Lights Publishers

Nekvasil, E.K., Cornell, D.G., Huang, F.L. (2015) Prevalence and Offense Characteristics of Multiple Casualty Homicides: Are Schools at Higher Risk Than Other Locations? American Psychological Associaton.