Thom Hartmann: Is Alabama the new Lemon Grove?

[thomhartmann]

Back in 1930 - the all-white school board of Lemon Grove, California decided they didn't want children of Mexican descent sitting next to their white children in class. So - the school board built a separate school - and then turned away the Mexican-American students from their original school and directed them to their new school - which was basically a big barn-house. Within the local community - it became known as la caballeriza - or "the stable." But rather than just accepting the new segregated school - the parents protested. They sought help from the Mexican consul in San Diego - eventually got legal representation - and won a court case against the Lemon Grove school board - putting an end to the barnyard education plans. This happened more than 80 years ago - but today - history is repeating itself. Thanks to the radical anti-immigration law recently passed in Alabama - Hispanic children are afraid to go to school. That's because the law requires Alabama school officials to check the immigration status of children in public schools. 99% of children in Alabama's K through 12 public education system are American citizens.

But those who don't look like citizens - mainly because their skin isn't as white - are subject to prying questions and unnecessary paperwork to prove their citizenship. And while most were born here and are citizens, in some cases their parents are not, and they're terrified their parents will be identified and deported and they'll end up orphans and wards of the state - a wrenching tearing apart of families that's happened already to more than 5,000 children in America just in the past year - and will likely happen to another 10,000 in the next five years. This creates a hostile educational environment that's leading to record numbers of Hispanic students going absent from school. Since the law went into effect - Hispanic student absentee rates have tripled - while other students' absentee rates have remained flat. Also since the law was passed - the drop-out rate among Hispanic students has exploded.

These troubling numbers caught the eye of the U.S. Justice Department - which wrote a letter to the state of Alabama on Thursday warning of the effects of this law on Hispanic students. The letter read, &quot The law has) diminished access to, and quality of, education for many of Alabama's Hispanic children, resulted in missed school days, chilled or prevented the participation of parents in their children's education, and transformed the climates of some schools into less safe and welcoming spaces for Hispanic children." The Justice Department went on to say that this law could have lasting effects on Hispanics in Alabama - since if they're denied the education the need as a child - they'll have a difficult time finding a good job as an adult. Of course - that might have been the point altogether.

You see - there's always been a fear in White America that their grip on economic and political power is slipping. That's why minorities - up until a half century ago - were always segregated in schools and denied good-paying jobs in the economy. When a generation of minorities - whether they were black, Irish, Italian, or Hispanic - are denied an adequate education and equal access to our economy - it takes generations for that minority to recover. And while Irish and Italian Americans have recovered from generations of discrimination - and overcome destructive stereotypes that suggested something was wrong with their genes - black Americans still have a long way to go to overcome hundreds of years of slavery, discrimination, and racism. As do Hispanics.

President Lyndon Johnson made huge strides in giving minorities a chance to live the American Dream. By desegregating schools and passing the Great Society legislation - minorities across America were lifted up - educated - and given a chance to pursue their dreams. And in the decades that followed - more and more minorities found themselves in the middle-class, with their numbers growing along with their political power. That didn't sit too well with many in white America who found their privileged position in our nation threatened. So the campaign to reverse the strides made by LBJ to help minorities began.

The Reagan tax cuts and embrace of trickle-down economics in the 1980's kept the mostly white Americans at the top of the economic ladder, firmly entrenched in their positions. The undoing of welfare and much of the Great Society in the 1980s and 1990's by Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton ripped the social safety net out from under minorities who were just starting to get a footing in America, after centuries of discrimination. And now there are the anti-immigration laws that make young Hispanic Americans afraid to go to school and work. And there are the Voter ID laws that kick mostly minority voters off the rolls, silencing them in our democracy. These are the last gasps of a small group of racist, terrified, and, frankly, stupid White people in America. And those driving this assault don't even try to hide their fear.

You can see it in books like "Suicide of a Superpower" written by Pat Buchanan - which contains chapters titled "The End of White America" and "The Death of Christian America." Or in flippant remarks by political figures - like Jodie Brunstetter - the wife of North Carolina state Representative Peter Brunstetter, who authored a bill banning same sex marriage because - according to his wife - "the Caucasian race is diminishing" and whites needs to be "reproducing" with each other. America is changing rapidly - and White racists among us can't stand it. For the first time - minorities - and not whites - made up the majority of baby births last year in the United States. And by 2050 or sooner - whites will no longer be the majority in America. And luckily for Pat Buchanan - he'll likely be long gone by then. In fact - twelve states - plus the District of Columbia - already have white populations below 50% among children under 5-years-old.

Whether those in power like it or not - a segregated America where Whites hold all the power is not the future of America. And here's something that will make the white power elites even crazier - Muslim populations around the world are now growing at twice the rate of non-Muslim populations. So not only might White America be in danger in the future - but Christian America, too. And whites can either accept this truth - embrace it - and begin building an economy and government that is inclusive of ALL people - regardless of race and religion. Or - the racist Whites can continue to stupidly flail against it. America didn't work when we had apartheid - in fact, it led to a brutal Civil War - and the efforts of the white racists in Alabama and Arizona and Texas to reimpose Apartheid won't work, either. "We the People" means all of us - we're all just people, here...

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[jjewell]

1. Excellent editorial Thom!

"We the People" means all of us - we're all just people, here..."

Well put, well said, well done...

[Quantess]

2. Good show.