9500 Liberty was a very interesting and eye opening movie for me. It was eye opening for me because I got to see how prejudice and discriminatory the "probable cause act" was that allowed local law enforcement to target people who "looked" like illegal immigrants. This act was a great depiction of how corrupt our government is and how prejudice our society is against people who are not the "average American".
I was incredibly offended by the points of views that were portrayed in the movie. I felt sorry, not only for the Latino's of Manasas, but for the whites who are prejudice against them. America was founded by "illegal immigrants" from European countries who migrated in search for a better life and opportunities for their families, and for Americans to be prejudice against people who are in search of the same things, is quite contradictory to me. In the movie, most of the whites were saying that people should speak english in order to be considered an American. There are many different races and cultures in America, some who do not speak any english and others who are bilingual. I think the main problem that people have with immigrants is not the person themselves, but the language.
I want to know if Americans have such problems and concerns with illegal immigrants, instead of trying to send them back to their country, why not prevent them from coming by helping out. Instead of trying to gain economic superiority and exploiting resources that we take from these countries and hiring illegal immigrants, we should prevent these business owners, CEO's of companies, factory owners, etc... from hiring people without proper documentation. We should maintain a standard of integrity that we speak so highly of in our society. The problem lies with these companies who are willing to pay little to nothing to illegals rather than pay Americans the deserved amounts for our skills.
Overall, this movie enlightened me on what America is really about: MONEY. Instead of using their so called "faith" and belief in God to justify hatred toward a certain group of people, we should use the true meaning of God's word, LOVE, to embrace, teach, and apply Godly views of humanity to the world.
DB I agree that Language is a big deal. I also took that from the film. Americans forget though English may be the main language now, that when we came to America, English was probably not the main language. Spanish was actually is more of a main language to America than English.
ReplyDeleteWhen you spoke about money I also began not thinking of just in the states but in Mexico. Because of NAFTA, America is doing better and Mexico is doing worse. Last semester I took a human poverty class and we discussed these issues. By the end of the semester I was convinced that Mexicans were fleeing to the states because there economy had gotten so bad in Mexico. Most of this is caused from the imbalance in NAFTA, the economy, the resources, the pollution. If our relationship was better with Mexico not so many Mexicans would be forced to leave there home and come here.
You do a great job of exploring the underlying causes of immigration and prejudice. For the most part, everyone in the film, especially those with an emotional negative bias against the immigrants, seemed to have little understanding of the economic issues that drive illegal immigration. You suggest addressing the root causes--figuring out how working conditions in Mexico can be improved and also addressing the issue of American businesses who hire undocumented workers. The fact is, American shoppers like cheap prices, and this cannot happen without low-paid workers. Manufacturers have to ship their operations abroad to sustain this, or hire undocumented workers who do not have to be paid a living wage. Where does KFC get its chickens? Mexico. Who picks and prepares McDonald's food? You got it.
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