Illusions

Copyright Sandy Long

As a student of history I‘ve seen throughout the ages, people have been led by fear into being racist and usually this view is used to promote political agendas. Look at the civil war, which continues in some areas of the country, i.e.: white supremacists, neo Nazis, the Klan and some black groups such as the black panthers. This war was touted as and still is being about slavery...but in all reality it was about states rights and slavery being an emotionally charged topic in the north and based on fear in the south, it was conveniently used to promote the war. I am sure you are aware of the use of fear to control the German people to kill millions of Jews, minorities and disabled and homosexual people...so we don' t need to discuss that aspect of history.

The prejudice against blacks, who did not choose to come here initially, is constantly being used to divert the majority of the public's attention away from the real issues, issues such as the availability of health care for ALL Americans, the rampant poverty that many whites live in along with the blacks, the lack of jobs etc. Instead Jesse Jackson goes to Decatur IL to protest the suspension of a couple of black kids who had been running amuck for a couple of years...stirring up racial unrest, then the Klan puts on protests against blacks and the blacks protest back with violence breaking out, then a new study comes out about how blacks make up the majority of criminals incarcerated for rape and murder...the list goes on. All of these things play on racial bias that has been implanted in people's minds and to promote fear of blacks to further sustain it and keep the Americans divided.

There are two issues dealing with the Mexican and American governments in the forefront today, the Mexican guest worker program (illegal immigration) and opening the border to Mexican trucks. At this time of economic instability and so called terrorism threats...the American people are scared of their own shadows. With the predilection of most of them to be already racially biased in some way against people of color and of foreigners, the main tool being used to promote that fear is scare tactics about the Mexican people in general.

These scare tactics divert people's attention away from things such as: the erosion of our constitution, laws and rights, the uncontrolled spending on an unnecessary war, the so called rebuilding of a country rich in oil while our country's infrastructure crumbles...literally, the massive amounts of profits the oil companies are making, the movement of more and more industry overseas...did you hear that Hershey's Chocolate is moving to Mexico?...the massive increases in the cost of living while earnings go down, the fact that people are more in debt now than ever before in history due to the ease of credit cards...dern the list is long...but you get my drift.

All of this is going on, but people are too busy fearing and hating people from Mexico or the Arabian countries. We see and hear the news stories now: illegal kills pedestrian while driving without a license, polls conducted amongst radical Muslims show that they think it is ok to die in a suicide bombing, Mexican gangs are killing and robbing tourists in border towns, Mexican teen robs store shoots clerk, Mexican speeder eludes police, Muslims plan bomb attack at airport, this list goes on and on too, all promoting fear and hate.

Now, do these things occur? Yes, they do. But these same crimes are done just as or more often by red blooded Americans. Remember, both the Unabomber and the guys who helped take down the Murray building in OKC were Americans, the kids in Columbine were Americans, so were the people who killed women's doctors who performed legal abortions, most of the other school shooting kids were Americans; just to name a few specifically.

In our industry, we drivers have faced fear tactics used against us...PATT & CRASH use fear and sympathy to get their way, any type of truck is denoted as a TRUCK in media reports of accidents, specially when someone dies, truckers all use drugs, drive drunk, use prostitutes, and are just waiting to run someone over. Can you see the parallels here in what is being said about the Mexican trucks?

OH my god...they will come here and run over your family, they will drive tired and wreck into your house killing your kids, they will steal our trucks...lights...fuel, they will smuggle more drugs in and sell them to your kids, they will rob us in the parking lots, they will break into your houses and rape your wife...see?

Now the freight issue is one valid point but it is not the Mexican people in general who are the problem nor are the Mexican drivers who from all reports don't want to come over here any more than we want them to...freight is already soft though I think it a combination of two things...1. We are finally feeling the affects of becoming an importing country instead of an exporting country and the outsourcing of our jobs overseas. 2. Smaller companies that depended on border freight are scared of the loss of that freight and now are competing for the non border freight thereby putting a glut of trucks available driving rates down. Will everyone survive this freight redistribution if the Mexican trucks come? No, only the ones who know how to bid their freight and take care of their business.

BUT, do we talk about going to the government and demanding that they quit allowing the outsourcing of our jobs? No. Do we demand of our government that they cancel all free trade agreements that will put our factories back to work? No. Because most everyone is focused on OH MY GOD! THE MEXICANS ARE COMING TO RAPE AND ROB US, STEAL OUR FREIGHT, TAKE OUR JOBS!

This type of mind set has to stop to accomplish anything and to force the government to start doing their job of protecting the country and us. We need to quit fearing the Mexican and all other foreign people in general and start holding coals to the feet of our government to stop the nonsense. We need to focus, focus, focus on the realities of right now, when something can be still done perhaps, maybe it is too late...but we can do nothing if we react out of fear instead of acting out of rationality and reality.

Anyone who buys into the Chicken Little way of looking at things and promotes fear by sensationalism and using a person's nationality to do so...is in my opinion a racist and part of the problem. I don't care if they, like my last husband who came from so far back in the piney woods of GA that they have to pipe air and light in, is a redneck or a graduate of Yale...racism isn't about intelligence, it is about power and the control of the masses. Perhaps the redneck is being used by the Yale graduate, but they are the same at the core.

It is up to us people who can see behind the smoke and mirrors of fear to fan away the smoke and break the mirrors and hopefully the people will see what is real and not the illusion.