President's Message, Summer 2006
Socio-Historical Amnesia & Distraction
by Luis Valenzuela, Ph.D., LMSW
The nation’s prosperity depends on the continuous flow of and interaction with immigrants. However, immigrants have suffered under existing anachronistic immigration policy and will probably continue to suffer under proposed immigration reform bills. Immigration policy and xenophobic politicians, directly or indirectly, promote and support the inhumane and unjust treatment of immigrants and native workers.
Few, if any, of the current restrictionists have Native American ancestors. It is safe to say that, most, if not all, restrictionists are immigrants or descend from immigrants, irrespective of mode of arrival, e.g., Mayflower or prison ship, etc... They and their followers also forget that historically immigration policy is by nature racist. Early immigration policy served to exclude Asians, then later Eastern and Southern Europeans that were considered not white enough, and today Brown and Black people are restricted. Also, let us recall that Native Americans continue to suffer under “internal restrictionist policy.”
When immigrants serve as scapegoats, we are distracted from examining issues of concern, e.g., the insatiable need for cheap labor and the growing income inequality. We forget about, or minimize, other social disparities that affect millions of persons, such as: lack of health insurance, lack of affordable housing, the mis-education of children and apartheid schooling, the lack of living-wage jobs, the state of Black America, and the status of seniors.
Moreover, the introduction of the immigrant problem facilitates division among historical allies, e.g., Blacks, Asians, Jews, and Latinos. From coast to coast, Blacks and Latinos have allied against injustice. Mexicans and Tejanos, for example, were persecuted for assisting Blacks to escape slavery and assisting them in uprisings. Blacks in turn participated in wars to defend Mexico. During the Jim Crow era, thousands of Blacks immigrated to Mexico. Latinos and Blacks have and continue to struggle together for social justice. Many social programs began through the collaboration of the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets and the Young Lords Party.
We cannot be distracted from the fact that all people regardless of status have human rights. Over the last several months, NAPRHSW has participated in rallies and demonstrations demanding humane and just treatment for immigrant and native workers and students.
Our members were actively involved in the Nassau Suffolk Hispanic Legislative Task Force in drafting recommendations for legislative redress of social disparities. Some of our members, for example, Lynda Perdomo-Ayala and Pauline Velasquez were honored for their on-going community activism.
NAPRHSW’s membership committee, led by Sonia Palacio-Grottola, continues to expand membership. The NYC chapter of NAPRHSW also continues to grow. Cathy Carballeira has advocated with the Suffolk County Commissioner of Health for greater access for Latinos to health services. NAPRHSW also serves on the Adelphi University Vital Signs advisory board, which recently completed and published an important study of the social health of Long Island.
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