Time to Do the Work
I have said this many times before, I am not an activist. This phrase has been a mantra of mine for more than thirty years. As a young, non-English speaking immigrant, I had enough trouble dealing with the new world, the different customs, the new language, and more. My ambition as a youth was to get a job, help my family, get ahead, and stay out of trouble. I used to marvel at TV pictures of protesters in the streets. I used to question the effectiveness of such loud noise, and in questioning I discounted and I ignored. This way of seeing life became a pattern, a habit. I was powerless. I was an immigrant. I was an outsider. Better to stay out of trouble. Don’t make noise. Don’t cause waves. That used to work. It used to work for me.
I don’t see how staying quiet can work any longer. The luxury of apathy now carries a very large price tag. I can’t afford it anymore. We can’t afford it anymore in the state of Louisiana.
I am still not an advocate for loud noise. Action of this sort troubles me for many reasons. In particular, I still believe that loud noise is less effective than meaningful work, and to conduct meaningful work, the work of education, of brutal open dialogue without accusations, of developing solutions that benefit all, requires an almost spiritual patience that we all need to find. This is where I find myself today–trying to uncover, quick-fast-and in a hurry, the sort of spiritual patience that I will need in order to deal with people and groups on issues that are highly complex, highly misunderstood, highly polarized, and highly controversial. I suppose, when I think about it, what good work doesn’t bring with it such an exacting burden?
Now, as a member of the Louisiana community, I am writing to both express my disappointment and my hope regarding the recent slew of immigration bills coming to the forefront in the current Louisiana legislature.
I have been close to the front lines in the past few weeks on these immigration-related laws that are currently coming out and found myself disheartened and troubled. Regardless of what position the State may or may not hold about the immigration issue, I was hoping that this “new” legislature would give true consideration to a handful of problematic laws that reached the house floor this week. I was hoping, most of all, for a long-term perspective, a humanistic perspective, a perspective prepared to send the bills back for either further committee discussion or for expulsion from the House floor for lack of clarity. None of these expectations were fulfilled. Instead, three bills passed almost without opposition. What little opposition there was, and I offer my sincere gratitude for the demonstration of courage by those few representatives who spoke against the bills that passed, was not enough to barricade against the tidal surge of support.
So now I am thinking, okay, they passed. That’s a problem. Why? Well, simply put, and without supportive arguments, the bills present problems for regular citizens being good citizens, it presents problems for police officers trying to perform their duties, it presents problems to landlords trying to provide shelter, and more. Soon, I won’t be able to shake hands with a stranger on the street because a Louisiana State law would require me to check for proper legal documentation of a person’s existence on U.S. soil.
I’m only skimming the top of the problems these bills pose, and there is much to talk about here and learn. I only hope that you will do the work and learn more about these bills and subsequent bills. I hope you will join me and Puentes and the LatINola volunteers in doing the work, the hard work of educating people who support harmful bills that create more problems than solutions. This is where I feel hopeful. Already I have begun to hear from people, speak to people, energize and be energized by people who feel the same disappointment that I do and who want to engage in the work. Louisiana has the potential to demonstrate itself as the true multi-ethnic State that it claims to lovingly be in its brochures–let’s see if we can do our part to make sure it truly embraces that in practice, which will mean doing away with inhumane and impractical laws that create fear and prejudice in the community. It’s time, I feel, that we all jump into the icy cold water of discomfort and do the work.
Con paz,
Lucas
Tags: latino community, latino community new orleans, latino leadership, Lucas Diaz blog
May 18th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I wouldn’t say that I completely disagree with any of the comments you posed. But I do think protests (or loud noise) have a place. As with everything, the only thing constant is change, and, sometimes, change is merely the evolution of something that was already in place. I have been a part of several protests, and while the effectiveness can be questioned, we wouldn’t be mentioning protests if there was no worth to them.
Many of the changes that took place in the civil rights movement can be attributed to protests. Mass amounts of people making loud noise and becoming a visual association of a belief or concept. I would go as far as to say that our African American brothers and sisters wouldn’t be in the positions they are now, if it were not for protests. Now, along with those protests came individuals who created open dialogue to make changes, but the protests were powerful nevertheless.
Its been decades since many of the most memorable marches took place and with those decades came newfound technology, intelligence, and momentum. Here is where I begin to agree with you. With all the new resources we have at our disposal, especially in terms of communication, the word “protest” can have a different meaning nowadays than what it meant back in the day. Upon seeing Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and “Sicko”, the first thing I thought to myself was, “this is the new form of protesting”.
So, long story short, protests can be very different now. They don’t have to be outdoor marches with thousands of people carrying signs and whatnot. They can be movies, websites, advertising campaigns, etc. BUT, those marches that we envision as the epitomy of protests, made incredible changes in the world we live in. Just the other day, there were marches throughout NYC after the 3 NYPD officers were aquitted in the Sean Bell trial. One of those protests shut down the bridge (Queensbridge, if I remember correctly). So, even today when our technologies allow us to do so much more, a healthy protest is just what the doctor ordered because it makes others recognize a group’s motives. And for many, being part of a big group with similar intentions is the only way for them to protest.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:26 pm
First off, I’m neither of Hispanic origin, nor do I reside currently in the New Orleans region, or even the U.S. for that matter. But I have deep ties to that city, and a deep bond with people of many different ethnicities who still call New Orleans home. I, too, have engaged in many a protest, albeit in the name of animal rights’, and I have found that this course of action is only successful when the numbers are large enough to politically influence a region, or the social climate is at just the right stage of acceptance. The latter comes quite rarely upon any folk, in any land. We are tribal creatures, and waxing numbers and power of one group are seen, and rightly so, as a threat upon another group’s existence. I recently returned to the States for a visit, and was shocked to see that almost everywhere, from New York to Louisiana, just about everything was bi-lingual. I don’t consider myself a racist, but I felt disoriented and disconnected. I place little value upon ethnicity, or nationality, or religious belief. I value intelligence, reason, empathy, and mutual respect. As long as we continue with this Us-vs-Them mentality, there will be strife, and racism, and bigotry, and blind hatred. I respect that Latinos, as a people, seek to have their voices heard and have their rights respected. But be prepared to understand that the taller you stand, the shorter others will feel. And no one on this planet enjoys feeling small. The way to acceptance is through integration and communication. Speaking a common language, sharing similar values and ideals, breaking bread with one another, that brings people together, however difficult and slowly that process may be. As a young man, I had dreams of being a violent radical in the name of my cause. As a somewhat older man. I realize that even reasonable people will react quite irrationally when placed on the defensive. Question your motives, question their fears, and hopefully the world will see a day when all people judge one another solely on character.