When I think of how ignorant niggas are about the issues that affect them the most, I think of a quote delivered by the ever eloquent and incredibly fine Philip Michael Thomas.
“You’re a bad dream baby, and somehow I just wanna wake up and find you gone.”
Rico Tubbs – Miami Vice, Season 3
“You’re a bad dream baby, and somehow I just wanna wake up and find you gone.”
Rico Tubbs – Miami Vice, Season 3
***CAUTION - THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE***
Okay! So I’ve had it. I’ve had it with stupid people who refuse to speak straight up and out on issues that affect Black people. On May 1, 2006, hundreds of thousands of immigrants (legal and illegal) plan to skip work, march through the streets and boycott spending to protest pending immigration reform that is currently stifled in Congress and in the Senate. I won’t bore you with the general details of the proposed legislation. Unless you’ve been living under a boulder, you should already know the background of the story. What I will bore you with is some uncommon sense about the issue because honestly, this whole debate on immigration reform has turned regular idiots into bona fide fools.
Can somebody please slap Jesse Jackson? I have never seen a Negro so media hungry that he would sell out his entire race for some camera time. Maybe he’s sensitive about the plight of illegal immigrants because he had an illegal baby. (Ouch!) Perhaps he’s on crack? I mean somebody needs to check and see if Jesse Jackson has indeed gone over the edge. Don’t forget his recent crusade to save Tookie Williams – a gang leader and murderer. What about us? What about the victims? What about Bob? Bob Jenkins that is. Bob Jenkins who went to high school, never got arrested, went to junior college, got his IT certificate and went to work for Dell; only to have Dell outsource his job to Mumbai, India. That's great news for Dell and really bad news for Bob who had a stroke from the stress of losing his job. Too bad he had no health coverage, and by the time he got to the county emergency room, it was filled to the rafters with people who did not follow the rules to get here legally. Why isn’t Jesse marching through the friggin’ streets to protest that?
Guess Who Came And Ate Your Dinner?
When was the last time you came home from a hard days work, cooked dinner for your family, sat down at the table, and just as you picked up your glass of lightly sweetened iced tea with lemon, a group of people just walked into your home and started digging into the string beans and pot roast? Then, after polishing off the mashed potatoes and gravy, some of the people went into your den and started watching your 35-inch television, (remember, you TiVo’ed the latest episode of Thief) while others went and jumped in your bed between your 400-count Egyptian cotton sheets. Dazed and confused, you look around in disbelief. You can’t understand how people could just come in off the streets and take over your home and even put a rooster in your backyard. Nevertheless, you stand there like an idiot instead of doing something. News flash people. Somebody is eating your pot roast, but you continue to stand there like an idiot.
The last time I looked up the definition of “illegal” it said “unlawful.” Not that that type of thing would ever stop the evil US government cause they are illegal in general. However, if something is against the law, you’re not supposed to do it, right? I got a speeding ticket last year. Instead of having to go to court and prove my innocence, I would much rather have the US government say, “Never mind Waset, you don’t have to pay that ticket. We know what you did was against the law, but for you, ahh, just forget about it.” Yeah right, that shit will never happen to me or anybody who looks or sounds like me. Nonetheless, that is the type of thing many in the government want to say to people who have illegally brought their asses to this country. Without guilt, these government assholes want to just say, “Ahh, it’s okay, you can stay and get all the benefits of people who have been here their whole lives and whose ancestors died and fought for this country. Sure, c’mon in and eat our pot roast, there’s plenty of room.”
Well, the truth is, there isn’t plenty of room. I’m sure if 11 or 12 million people left here, traffic on the 405 freeway would be a lot lighter. If 11 or 12 million people went back home and oh, here’s a concept, applied for a visa like law-abiding folks do, maybe my 16-year-old cousin could actually get a summer job at Wendy’s or at the local swimming pool. Futhermore, if these politicians (who want to keep their illegal gardeners and maids happy and productive) are so gung-ho about ignoring the law that they are supposed to uphold, then they should move out of their Conneticut mansions and let the lawbreakers move in and eat their mashed potatoes. Yeah, they should do that, because me and my family are short on extra gravy and iced tea over here in the hood.
Here’s the brass tax folks - if you’re bright enough to see it. The US government has been planning to rid itself of you pesky Negroes for quite sometime. I still don’t know why our pigment is hated so much, but there’s really no time to ponder. Since the late 1960’s, when we actually joined together and rebelled against the oppressive system, “they” have been tucked away inside their think tanks, deriving new and innovative ways to rid themselves of us. That’s when they opened the borders. They opened them so that a new group of people could come in and disenfranchise Blacks. It was subtle at first, and I can forgive you if you didn’t see it in the early 1980’s, but by the early 1990’s, you should have been well aware of the circumstances. I don’t know, maybe you were too busy getting high on the crack that “they” also gave you, but if you somehow managed to avoid being a drug addict, you should have seen the plan.
Now before you get your phalanges all ready to type me a slew of obscenities and accusations that I’m being racist, let me state for the record that I am not a racist. I am a casist, and I look at each issue on a case-by-case basis. In this case, I’ll be damn if I will support any type of measure that will allow people to blatantly break the law, infringe on my civil rights and then turn around and demand that the lawmakers and law abiders allow them to do it. Why have immigration laws at all? And, since it appears that the laws are not going to be enforced, I got about 12 million Africans from Ghana to Zambia who should be allowed into the US right about now.
Do I understand why the potentially affected people are protesting? Yeah, I do. Would I come across the border illegally if I were in their same position? Sure I would; no question about it. Do I understand why they risk their lives to come across the border? You betcha! Nevertheless, I am not going to sit back and support something that ultimately undermines my own survival. Does that mean I don't want anyone else to come here? Not necessarily. It means that there must be equal rights for all who want to come here and that means following the original laws of applying to come through the proper channels. Note: Following the proper channels does not mean tunneling underneah the chicken wire that lines the border as we speak.
“This country was built by immigrants!”
I’m so sick of hearing that “this country was built by immigrants” excuse that I could puke in the middle of Disneyland. While it is true that illegal immigrants built this country, they were illegal because they were stolen from Africa and brought here against their will. The theft of a people and the crimes committed against them was the illegality of the matter. Black people did not swim the Atlantic Ocean in order to get here to clean Massa’s floors, build his buildings, pick his crops, cook his food and endure tortuous rapes, beatings and murders. Naw, no one was buying tickets on the African coast for that kind of trip. What actually happened, if we’re going to start telling the truth all of a sudden, is that this country was stolen from the indigenous tribes. (Uneducated people call them Indians). Next, a whole race of people (Africans) were stolen and brought here to build this shit up from the ground, yet they still have not been compensated for it. You want to talk about working for low wages? Fuck you! How about working for no wages? How'd you like to pick them apples from a tree? If anyone says that Affirmative Action plans (which corporations don’t follow) make up for 500 years of oppression, I have a steamroller I’d like for them to stand in front of. (Wait one second while I get the keys to the steamroller.)
Okay, I’m back and I’m sick and tired of hearing about everybody else’s plight when my plight and the plight of my ancestors has never been formally addressed and paid for. I work for a living (while I still can) and I’m not asking my government for anything except fair treatment under the laws of the land. Oh and fuck a “sorry for slavery speech,” I’m thinking that we deserve at least Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, and a few more states as payment for the greatest holocaust inflicted in the history of man and woman.
Stay tuned for part II…we're not done.
