The crazy irony is that my friends in Norway and Switzerland have zero desire to immigrate to the US and part of that is our delusional politicians but also that their countries have an excellent social safety net far surpassing ours...
“And we ought to elect leaders who understand the gravity of guiding a nation that so many others look to as a place of possibility.
Immigration requires structure and policy choices crafted with empathy and foresight. Immigration does not and should not entail imposing a racial hierarchy on nations.”
Btw, this weekend we finally had a chance to view Rob Reiner’s “God and Country” documentary and somehow hadn’t realized that you were in it yet were pleasantly surprised!
Also, I noted first-person shares in Drs. Fola & Elizabeth Soremekun's author talk after reading the memoir, "American Boy." I look forward to the forthcoming companion-memoir, "African Girl," https://www.highlandseducation.org/our-team/#
I don' t know about the rest of the country, but in Texas, and especially the Houston metropolitan area, all immigrants are welcome. The only exceptions would be terrorists, thugs, drug smugglers, Human traffickers, gang members and drug cartel members who used the cover of desperate people to come in when the current administration opened the border without vetting anybody.
According to Migration.org: " Nearly one-quarter of the population in the nine-county metro area is comprised of immigrants, well above the Texas share of 17 percent and U.S. share of 13.6 percent."
Houston metro area is, very roughly, 42% Hispanic, 35% Anglo, 16% Black and 7% Asian. My direct knowledge includes my church, which is Bilingual Hispanic and English, the members being primarily Hispanic. The senior pastor is a Black African-Colombian descendant of slaves. Since he is now naturalized, one could append "American" to his racial description. No one is keeping score but half the church appears to be immigrants from Mexico and all points south, some probably illegal. This observation is based on the various accents and idiomatic expressions from these countries the pastor has to keep up with to avoid saying something he did not mean. This group also includes Black Africans from the same area of Columbia as the pastor. There is a scattering of bi-lingual Whites and the rest are mostly of Mexican descent and have been here longer than a lot of whites. The pastor preaches a sentence or two in one language followed by the same thing in the other. Everybody really likes that, since the whole extended family can be in the same service even if the older folks or newer immigrants have trouble with English and the kids prefer English while preserving their heritage. Oh, and closer to home, I can also stand at my front driveway and see the three houses of my Black immediate neighbors, the four houses of my Hispanic neighbors, one of my Asian neighbors and my four White neighbors including the immigrants from Finland. I always thought my neighborhood was not that dissimilar to the demographics of Houston.
The crazy irony is that my friends in Norway and Switzerland have zero desire to immigrate to the US and part of that is our delusional politicians but also that their countries have an excellent social safety net far surpassing ours...
Keep speaking truth Jemar...praying that white folks like me will have ears to hear, hearts to feel, hands to change...
Yes and yes and more yes!
“And we ought to elect leaders who understand the gravity of guiding a nation that so many others look to as a place of possibility.
Immigration requires structure and policy choices crafted with empathy and foresight. Immigration does not and should not entail imposing a racial hierarchy on nations.”
Btw, this weekend we finally had a chance to view Rob Reiner’s “God and Country” documentary and somehow hadn’t realized that you were in it yet were pleasantly surprised!
Thanks for your writing, Dr. Tisby! I've noted the history of U.S. immigration policies & debates in Dr. Gerardo Martí's "American Blindspot," https://bookshop.org/p/books/american-blindspot-race-class-religion-and-the-trump-presidency-gerardo-marti/7209419?ean=9781538116098
"I Didn't Know I Was Black Until I Came To This Country," Black Stories, Black Truths, Feb 6, 2024, https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510372/black-stories-black-truths
Also, I noted first-person shares in Drs. Fola & Elizabeth Soremekun's author talk after reading the memoir, "American Boy." I look forward to the forthcoming companion-memoir, "African Girl," https://www.highlandseducation.org/our-team/#
I don' t know about the rest of the country, but in Texas, and especially the Houston metropolitan area, all immigrants are welcome. The only exceptions would be terrorists, thugs, drug smugglers, Human traffickers, gang members and drug cartel members who used the cover of desperate people to come in when the current administration opened the border without vetting anybody.
According to Migration.org: " Nearly one-quarter of the population in the nine-county metro area is comprised of immigrants, well above the Texas share of 17 percent and U.S. share of 13.6 percent."
Houston metro area is, very roughly, 42% Hispanic, 35% Anglo, 16% Black and 7% Asian. My direct knowledge includes my church, which is Bilingual Hispanic and English, the members being primarily Hispanic. The senior pastor is a Black African-Colombian descendant of slaves. Since he is now naturalized, one could append "American" to his racial description. No one is keeping score but half the church appears to be immigrants from Mexico and all points south, some probably illegal. This observation is based on the various accents and idiomatic expressions from these countries the pastor has to keep up with to avoid saying something he did not mean. This group also includes Black Africans from the same area of Columbia as the pastor. There is a scattering of bi-lingual Whites and the rest are mostly of Mexican descent and have been here longer than a lot of whites. The pastor preaches a sentence or two in one language followed by the same thing in the other. Everybody really likes that, since the whole extended family can be in the same service even if the older folks or newer immigrants have trouble with English and the kids prefer English while preserving their heritage. Oh, and closer to home, I can also stand at my front driveway and see the three houses of my Black immediate neighbors, the four houses of my Hispanic neighbors, one of my Asian neighbors and my four White neighbors including the immigrants from Finland. I always thought my neighborhood was not that dissimilar to the demographics of Houston.