The Silence of Our Friends

Sunday, December 02, 2007

We Do Have Some Great Allies

I moseyed on over to Orcinus to see what Dave has been up to and find out that he has a weekly guest posting gig at Firedoglake and his latest hits it out of the park on immigration. I was already pretty excited to see his post when I was reading the comments and there goes Eli of Multi-Medium giving me more reason to do a happy dance.
...Well, unless the Democrats figure out that Hispanics are a growing constituency, and that they should be trying to appeal to them rather than jumping on the anti-immigrant hatewagon.

Or that, y’know, it’s the decent and moral thing to do. But doing the right thing out of self-interest is probably a better bet (it’s bound to happen eventually, right?).

That isn't the only thing Eli has to say, he's spewing goodness like a geyser over there in comments. Not only that but others seem to get it, like Selise who says:
...one thing (among many) that really bothers me about this, is how the economic policies of the dems during clinton’s presidency has contributed to the problem - from fucked up trade policies that increase immigration pressure to off shoring jobs that create economic insecurity here. if the dems would be the party of the working class instead of just throwing the occassional bone - the economic pressures that make us ripe for scapegoating (of immigrants or whoever) could be defused.

lecturing people about their racism, i fear, will just add to the resentment.

Alright, I don't agree with that last part, or characterizing it as lecturing, but I do think it is important to understand what forces are contributing to the influx of immigrants and she got that part and isn't afraid to point the finger at the Dems.

I wrote this post because lately so many of my WOC friends are exhausted and disappointed after flamewars and disagreements from the people who are supposed to be on our side, but who want our support while they don't feel they need to support us in any way, or even listen to us. So it's nice to see when those who are supposed to be on our side really are on our side.

posted by Donna at 3:02 PM |

12 comment(s):

well, that ought to raise the bar at fdl at least somewhat.

Eli rocks.

By Blogger belledame222, at 12/02/2007 7:40 PM  

Aw, shucks. Y'all both are waaaay too kind.

But yeah, *Democrats* demagoguing about immigration baffles and disappoints me, on both a strategic and moral level. It's quite a trick to stake out a position that is both morally wrong *and* unpopular with your own base, but the Democratic leadership is willing to give it a try in the name of toughness, and not just on immigration. Because nothing says toughness quite like giving the opposition everything they want.

Also, Donna, did you see this? I immediately thought of your trophy wife thread when I read it. Only here there's absolutely no pretense about what the relationship is based on, and there's all kinds of creepy white/wealth privilege stuff going on.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12/02/2007 8:16 PM  

yep. I mean, if it failed to work the -last- x number of times they tried this "we're just like Republicans, only half the calories!" crap, well, I mean! clearly the SANE as well as moral thing is to DO THE SAME FUCKING THING AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN.

you know what I'd like? a 'nad-o-gram service. like singing telegrams, except instead of a song, the person opens the door and gets a kick in the 'nads. cheery little note explaining "why" to be dropped on the recipient's writhing body. I think one of those would be worth, like, a thousand phone calls and maybe ten thousand emails to yer friendly local--

well, anyway. -hypothetically-, in which realm only this idea dwells.

By Blogger belledame222, at 12/02/2007 8:58 PM  

Or... it could actually deliver them some balls.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12/02/2007 9:01 PM  

dude, if i wanted to start a catering service i'd be more straightforward about it.

By Blogger belledame222, at 12/02/2007 9:12 PM  

Okay, does this mean it's now became okay to read FDL again? I kinda left around the time they hired a press secretary (I mean, really, a blog with a press secretary?), but really decided never to return after the blackface incident followed by the attack on Liza Sabater after the Clinton all-white-blogger luncheon in Harlem. Has all now been forgiven?

By Blogger Elayne, at 12/03/2007 10:07 AM  

I'll take any ally, anywhere, at anytime. YAY for this.

By Blogger Lisa, at 12/03/2007 5:52 PM  

I'm kind of discouraged with both political parties including by the democrats in response to the republicans harassing Latino voters in Orange County for example, but I have to admit, I did pass out in shock when the Redlands Police Department chief actually mentioned filing hate crime charges in that brutal attack. I wasn't sure he knew that the words "hate crime" existed.


yep. I mean, if it failed to work the -last- x number of times they tried this "we're just like Republicans, only half the calories!" crap, well, I mean! clearly the SANE as well as moral thing is to DO THE SAME FUCKING THING AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN.


LOL, but it's true.



---Radfem

By Blogger Five Before Midnight, at 12/04/2007 2:52 PM  

Hey Donna, many thanks for the links and kind words.

Elana's recent struck a chord for me, BTW. I probably write about race and immigration as much as any non-minority blogger, but I'm also guilty of neglecting to link to the Latino bloggers that I read, you among them. Blogrolls don't do squat, as I'm sure you're aware. In my defense, I'll just note that I tend to link more to source material than to other blogs anyway.

Regardless, I'm hoping to change that in the coming year. I really do think we need to build bridges, and I'm one of the people who can make that happen, so I will do my best. Keep up the great work, and we'll see you 'round.

By Blogger David Neiwert, at 12/05/2007 3:11 PM  

Argh! Forgot to close the link.

By Blogger David Neiwert, at 12/05/2007 3:12 PM  

P.S. to Elayne:

Everybody stumbles. I do believe Jane and crew have their hearts and heads in the right place, and they do great work in general. Certainly, FDL is an important place to be getting the word out through. My focus right now is on building bridges all around.

By Blogger David Neiwert, at 12/05/2007 3:18 PM  

allies are important. we are all potential allies to someone else's cause. and that is what unity is. however, there are certain posts that should be pulled or apologized for, such as any entry that uses "yellowface" etc to make jokes, and so on.

and as far as being "lectured" and crying about it (could discussing racial dynamics be denigrated any more by a phrase?) wah wah wah, whatever! everyone hears things that hurts their feelings. me too, and you know what? sometimes that sting makes me real mad. and then sometimes it makes me think hard. and then sometimes i change for the better. not always. sometimes what stings is just bullshit being flung my way. but thats life. i can clean it off if so. we need to be examining all our words and thoughts sometimes for isms. it will hurt at times. i'm not afraid of that pain.

Keep kickin ass, Dave. You are right...there is a white-centric tendency that creeps into so many actions online and off. I have soaked it up too. I grew up here too. But when we work to be aware, we all become allies in effort and directionality and intention.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12/06/2007 9:54 AM  

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