Immigration and broadening the reparations debate
/By Bill Fletcher Jr.
From the Afro [HERE]
I want to suggest that we recast the immigration debate, by asking ourselves the following question: what is the price that one country must pay for destroying another country? I know this is not a simple question but it is actually central to the current discussions on immigration and it is something that few people want to actually address.
The facts are these. There are approximately 150 million people who are globally considered migrants. The lion's share of them originates in the Global South (Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean), which were the targets of Western colonialism beginning in the 15th century. To this, of course, should be added the African slave trade and its impact on the Continent, as well as years of further intervention in the internal affairs of formally independent countries in this region by Western Europe and the U.S. beginning in the 19th century.
So, my first point: the economies and social structures of most of the Global South were turned upside down by the West for several hundred years. In this, the U.S. was directly complicit. Looking only at Latin America, for instance, self-determined economic and political development efforts were derailed by the U.S. through a history of what was once called "gunboat diplomacy" (sending in ships and troops), and later by indirect intervention through the propping up of local dictators as well as separate, covert efforts, to overthrow regimes the US frowned upon. If one looks at Central America alone, then, it should be no surprise that refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua would come north to the U.S. seeking a better life as the U.S. was cooperating in destroying their homes.
This is not rhetoric, but historic fact.
My second point: In light of this situation, how does the U.S. repair the damage? Well, we must begin by acknowledging our role in this. In other words, treating civil wars in Central and South America as strictly internal affairs of countries in those regions, or ignoring the impact of the US-led North American Free Trade Agreement on the people of Mexico, blinds us to the consequences of these policies. One of the major consequences has been the flow of refugees north to the U.S. as life has become intolerable in their homelands.
Some people will respond that this is not the fault of people in the U.S., but I have to beg to differ.
While you and I may not have supported any of these activities by the US government, or we may not have supported NAFTA, these actions were ALL carried out in our names. That means that short of leaving the U.S., you and I need to do something about this situation. We cannot put our hands over our ears, and close our eyes and pretend that reality is what we would like it to be. We have to do something about this, and that means insisting on a different US foreign policy.
We, African Americans who support reparations for African Americans (as a result of slavery and Jim Crow segregation), argue that central to this demand is the recognition that a fundamental wrong was done to us and that the damage has never been fully or even significantly repaired. Thus, we——African Americans——live within the specter of slavery and segregation today even if these systems have formally ceased to exist. To put it another way, we live with the consequences of these systems, a fact demonstrated time again when one looks at issues such as racial differential in wealth, health, housing, income and jobs for African Americans compared with White Americans.
The same question, albeit with different facts, applies when we are thinking about people coming from the Global South to the U.S. We simply cannot pretend that people are coming to the U.S. because of the dream of golden paved streets. They are coming here in large part because their chance to live their own lives in their homes——where they would rather stay ——has been undermined by what government after government in the Western world, including but not limited to the US government, have done to these regions.
Let's start with the truth of the situation and then take steps to repair the damage. My guess is that this would have a tremendous impact on the flow of immigrants to the U.S. Do we honestly think that people easily and with very little forethought, simply pack up and leave their homelands to come to the U.S. for the hell of it?
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a labor and international activist and writer. He is the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. He can be reached at papaq54@hotmail.com
From the Afro [HERE]
I want to suggest that we recast the immigration debate, by asking ourselves the following question: what is the price that one country must pay for destroying another country? I know this is not a simple question but it is actually central to the current discussions on immigration and it is something that few people want to actually address.
The facts are these. There are approximately 150 million people who are globally considered migrants. The lion's share of them originates in the Global South (Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean), which were the targets of Western colonialism beginning in the 15th century. To this, of course, should be added the African slave trade and its impact on the Continent, as well as years of further intervention in the internal affairs of formally independent countries in this region by Western Europe and the U.S. beginning in the 19th century.
So, my first point: the economies and social structures of most of the Global South were turned upside down by the West for several hundred years. In this, the U.S. was directly complicit. Looking only at Latin America, for instance, self-determined economic and political development efforts were derailed by the U.S. through a history of what was once called "gunboat diplomacy" (sending in ships and troops), and later by indirect intervention through the propping up of local dictators as well as separate, covert efforts, to overthrow regimes the US frowned upon. If one looks at Central America alone, then, it should be no surprise that refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua would come north to the U.S. seeking a better life as the U.S. was cooperating in destroying their homes.
This is not rhetoric, but historic fact.
My second point: In light of this situation, how does the U.S. repair the damage? Well, we must begin by acknowledging our role in this. In other words, treating civil wars in Central and South America as strictly internal affairs of countries in those regions, or ignoring the impact of the US-led North American Free Trade Agreement on the people of Mexico, blinds us to the consequences of these policies. One of the major consequences has been the flow of refugees north to the U.S. as life has become intolerable in their homelands.
Some people will respond that this is not the fault of people in the U.S., but I have to beg to differ.
While you and I may not have supported any of these activities by the US government, or we may not have supported NAFTA, these actions were ALL carried out in our names. That means that short of leaving the U.S., you and I need to do something about this situation. We cannot put our hands over our ears, and close our eyes and pretend that reality is what we would like it to be. We have to do something about this, and that means insisting on a different US foreign policy.
We, African Americans who support reparations for African Americans (as a result of slavery and Jim Crow segregation), argue that central to this demand is the recognition that a fundamental wrong was done to us and that the damage has never been fully or even significantly repaired. Thus, we——African Americans——live within the specter of slavery and segregation today even if these systems have formally ceased to exist. To put it another way, we live with the consequences of these systems, a fact demonstrated time again when one looks at issues such as racial differential in wealth, health, housing, income and jobs for African Americans compared with White Americans.
The same question, albeit with different facts, applies when we are thinking about people coming from the Global South to the U.S. We simply cannot pretend that people are coming to the U.S. because of the dream of golden paved streets. They are coming here in large part because their chance to live their own lives in their homes——where they would rather stay ——has been undermined by what government after government in the Western world, including but not limited to the US government, have done to these regions.
Let's start with the truth of the situation and then take steps to repair the damage. My guess is that this would have a tremendous impact on the flow of immigrants to the U.S. Do we honestly think that people easily and with very little forethought, simply pack up and leave their homelands to come to the U.S. for the hell of it?
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a labor and international activist and writer. He is the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. He can be reached at papaq54@hotmail.com
