As the daughter of a legal Hispanic immigrant, I believe in giving people in other countries an opportunity to come here, work hard, and give their children opportunities unavailable under the repressive and/or economically illiterate regimes where they came from.
But here are some things that get my goat:
1. The new politically correct terminology: Once upon a time, it was “illegal aliens” (which quite correctly describes the juridical situation of many of these people). Then it became “undocumented immigrants” (even though many of them have documentation, albeit fake). Now, it’s just plain “immigrants,” conflating all those who come here legally with those who don’t. That’s why today’s scheduled general strike is called “A Day Without Immigrants.” They’re not talking about Korean dry cleaners or Afghan taxi drivers. Or my Peruvian-born mom.
2. “Nuestro Himno”: The Spanish-language version of our national anthem that leaves out the “rockets’ red glare” and the “bombs bursting in air” (that’s too violent), but includes plenty about how “We’re Latinos” and you’d better realize that it’s our country, not yours.
3. “Nothing Gringo Day”: That’s the name for the boycott that supposed to take place today of businesses such as MacDonalds and Wal-Mart that, uh, provide jobs aplenty for working-class Hispanics. Nice racist name, huh?
4. Groups with names such as Mexico Without Borders. Mexico may not have borders, but the U.S. is sure supposed to. We have this little problem called national security.
5. The very idea of organizing a general strike on May Day, the Communist Party holy day (thanks, Pajamas Media).
So I hope the whole thing goes bust. Fortunately, so do a lot of prominent American Hispanics, who are organizing a counter-rally in Washington today. (For details, see Michelle Malkin’s blog.)