Trey Smith
Yesterday I got into a conversation with a fellow and his 18 year old son about what they call beaners (a derisive term for Hispanics). Declaring that they weren't racists, they insisted that "those people" needed to go back from whence they came!
What's your beef with them, I asked. Incredulously, both responded that Hispanics are lazy and expect something for nothing.
I run into this mentality a lot where I live. It boggles my mind. The big industry in South Bend is oyster and fish processing. Who works predominantly at our three area processing plants? Hispanics (or Latinos, if you prefer)!
If they all got together and decided to leave town en masse, all 3 plants would shut down within a week's time. They wouldn't have enough workers and I can tell you that most of the white folk around here would not be interested in trying to fill those jobs because they are strenuous, dangerous and very low paying.
If those 3 plants shut down, our property tax base would crash in flames. Several stores in our meager business district would probably go belly up because all those "lazy" Hispanic consumers wouldn't be purchasing their products and services anymore. And the town would lose out on all those sales tax dollars not collected which would strain our already strained to the breaking point town budget.
What so many of my fellow South Bend residents can't seem to wrap their heads around is that our Hispanic population has and continues to play a VITAL role in our area economy. They fill the numerous thankless jobs that most of the people bitching wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole! Since many of them don't have cars, almost ALL of their purchases come from area merchants.
In a manner of speaking, the Hispanics here in South Bend (many of which are probably here illegally) are more responsible than anyone else for what little economic breathing room we have. If these close-minded bigots had their way and all of the area Hispanics left, we'd be in a world of hurt!
When I went to Iceland, I routinely saw white Icelandic young people performing hard manual labor. They were laying brick for a path in the hot sun. In America, that job would be done by Hispanics.
ReplyDeleteI believe this racism comes from Hispanics inability/unwillingness to integrate. I live in a relatively diverse area, and the only ethnic group that stands out is Hispanics. Intestate 495 runs through my town, and the majority of the areas hispanics live south of it, while the rest of us live north of it. Being the melting pot we may be, when an ethnic group fails to integrate, it creates racial tension, which breeds racism. If hispanics were more integrated, maybe there would be less resentment towards them.