1994_10 The Daily Collegian October 1994

              OPINION
Thursday,
20, 1994
(IIJEST COLUMNIST
Proposition
threatens many
As Would be expected in an
election year, many issues have
caught the attention of the world,
but none as controversial as
Proposition 187 here in Califor¬
nia. I have taken a particularly
keen interest in this issue for the
vicious message it represents. I
have been compelled to partici¬
pate in, this, an illegitimate "de*
mocfacy/ by being in every
march, camp out, and protest I
can find.
Highlighting this issue with¬
out using outright offensive lan¬
guage, though it is folly justified/
presents some challenge, but it
just scares people away, so I will
try to refrain. Also, the magni¬
tude of tl)e issue requires more
than just sayingpassively thatitis
unfair, unjust, and ill-spirited. For
once .litis proposition passes, it
will be open season on me, and
others like me. I do fall within
jurisdiction of the proposed bill,
after all I am 'suspicious'.
The proposition will deny any
educatic^,andallbutemergency
health care, and all (U mited as
they are to immijgrante) social ser¬
vices. For now we will forget that
the United States Supreme (Court
ruled in the early eighties that
education mustbe provided to ali
people in the country. This in-
dudes whatS.O-S. supporters call
€r
-doubt it is
the quality
of care that
allhumans'
are entitled
too.  Fur¬
thermore,
noneofthe
care is pre¬
ventive.
'      .That is an-
.
By Esteban Licea
wi thin this
one   that
could  be
We will
just assume
for argu¬
ments sake
that the
populous is
more in¬
formed and
intelligent
in inteipietiwgmeConstitution than
Supreme Court Justices. This idea is
a little ridiculous, but we will hold
onto it in order to continue the argu¬
ment.
back to an intentional
/hatdc
u-j«^a_ v«—ionB% TTiiaai vaOaai> a
mean? Does it mean that some
people are legal and others are ille¬
gal? Does it mean that some people
are legitimate, and yet others are
illegitimate? It is a vivid example of
language thatisovertlyracist Some
may contest this claim, but let us
examine it...What does it presup¬
pose? It presupposes that some
people are not as legal, legitimate,
worthy, or just plain as human as
others. In its very usage, it presup¬
poses that some people are better
that others. -  /r*
Further, the second privilege un-
der contention is health care In a
''modern'' society that doesn't
even provide heath care for its own
citizens, just how much health care
do we think immigrants receive?
Conceding that the care is given at
minimal or no charge, I seriously
mentioned. Health Care exists at
two levels in this country: the rich
receive preventive, while the poor
receive reactionary care.
Preventive treatment is, as its
nan ,e implies, cost effective, it helps
llilut-lIUJJI U 1C1H.IUU I p J.ULl.Ul ULUI iJ ,
and basically is top notch care. The
other end of the spectrum is heath
care for the poor. This care costs
more tc people who can least afford
it, it finds cancer past the time that is
can be effectively defeated, and
plainly denies equal health care.
Basic support for the above claim is
economics.
Those who can easily afford to
have regular check-up's, go to. the
doctor if suspicious pains occur,
etc...and those mat can't do none of
the above. Leaving this issue, for
now, as it is beyond the scope of the
present artide, I will rust mention
that if followed toBs I^k^cSndii?
sion, the argument leads to univer¬
sal coverage.
The third component of this bill is
denial of socialservices. With all the
welfare hysterical being caused by
both parties of government, it is
only fitting that they throw this
in as well. Since most social ser¬
vices are denied immigrants, on
the basis that they are not do¬
zens, itris ironic that this is even
mentioned.
Most immigrants, because of
thei%arthattheywinbederx>rted,
do not even attempt to receive
welfare benefits.
It is even more ironic that the
very same people that will pass
thisimtiative,hc)nestlythewn^
middle-class, social security re¬
ceiving mass that is more of a
cause of California's failing
economy, is directly benefiting
by die paying of taxes (yes all
irrmugrants pay taxes) of those
they choose to persecute.
niua^Ouiuiv^uuvmuavJuuKa
as no surprise to students of his¬
tory. In a societal structure that
fails miserably to answer Its own J
contradictions must resort to
some form of scapegoating. All
of the things within society that
continue to be symptomatic of
the capitalistic state's failure to
cope..influx of crime, increasing
homelessness, increased unem¬
ployment, the need to have po¬
lice on every comer, are tired
attempts to answer the questions
that seem impossible to answer.
Now, two years after av na¬
tional election, when immigra¬
tion was not even mentioned in
passing by anybody, have the
Democrats and the Republicans
resorted to a different scapegoat,
immigration.
It redly comes as no surprise.
Dear Editor,
My sincere thanks for printing
my letter in which I questioned
the accuracy of statements
printed on campus by the group
La Raza. As a result of my letter
quiteabit of opposing viewpoints
surfaced As expected, there will
not be any upcoming parades
organized in my honor and as of
today I have not yet been invited
to any upcoming La Raza pic¬
nics. As a result of their rebuttal,
more questions have been raised
in my mind than answered. Two
of the questions I posed in my
earlier letter addressed to La Raza
were how is it that "Governor
Wilson is the real alien" and "who
crossed your border and how."
Nicolas Ibarra wrote to The Col¬
legian September 23 explaining
it this way: "If he (referring to
myself) wants to learn why Wil¬
son is the illegal alien and who
crossed whose border, he should
take a course in objective Ameri¬
can history. He'd learn that when
Wilson's ancestors stepped off
the Mayflower hundredsof years
ago, no ore asked them for their
green card. He'd also leam that
before the 1840s, the Southwest-
em states (i rvduding California)
-LETTERS TO THE ED1T<M-
belonged to Mexico, but greedy
American settlers crossed the bor¬
der without Mexico's permission
and took over the land."
My first response to this argu¬
ment is, where does one go to
signup for an "objective" Ameri-
can history course? As I write this
letter, I have in front of me the
tall ^4 class schedule, and no¬
where is there offered on "objec¬
tive"'history course. It sounds
realinteresting,butunfortunately
it'snotoffered this semester. Next,
I'd like to know how Ibarra knows
what boat Gov. Wilson's ances¬
tors got a ride on if in actuality
they did travel by ocean vessel?
Was that fact also' revealed to
Ibarra in one of those "objective
illegal, Anglo immigration boat
pattern" classes?
I didn't have to take an "objec¬
tive" history class to know that at
one unfortunate time California
was under Mexican authority.
What I do know is California was
paid for in cash by the United
States of America in 1848. In my
required text for South American
Jrfistory^—A History of 4*tin
America, page 188 says "The
treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo in
1848 ceded Texas, California and
New Mexico in return for $15
million and the cancellation of
certain claims .against it" On the
same page, it goes on to say "The
Mexican government preferred
coming to terms with The United
States rather than endanger the
interests of the ruling class."
It sounds to me that the Mexi¬
can ruling class was more con¬
cerned about picking up a nice
chunk of pesos at the expense of
the poor peasants. It doesn't
sound like the Mexican govern¬
ment or the ruling class was too
worried about the people whose
land they just sold. It's humorous
to listen to the cries from La Raza
claiming the gringo's stole Cali¬
fornia from Mexico- Ifs obvious
to the rest of us, it's not stealing if
you have a receipt for it The
Mexican government cashed
Uncle Sam's cheek and got on
with their lives. Maybe ifs time
La Raza did the same.
Another (fling Ibarra should
be aware of is I never crossed
"his" bonier and neither did any
other living taxpayer. What I'd
like to know is how those people
complaining about "their" bor¬
der have suffered. How much
better would life be for them if
See Letter, Page
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^-EDITOR IN CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR
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