This channel is an Interactive Documentary about the politicization of the immigration issue, currently being shot in Northern Virginia. The filmmakers, Eric Byler, Annabel Park, Jeff Man, Zhibo Lai will respond to viewer feedback, including requests for more coverage on certain storylines, contextual clarifications, and even perhaps on-site production. The aim of the documentary is to inform the public, and investigate alternatives to the intense polarization that is hindering progress on the immigration issue.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
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3 comments:
Interesting video.... thanks for posting.
This is why I am in favor of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, so that immigrants can have legal rights/protections from these racists...while at the same time, there can be a legal path for seasonal workers, etc and the Immigration Customs/Border folks can do a better job of keeping track of folks coming and going...and can more easily detect those who should not be here. I think that the illegal immigration problem has gotten out of control.
With that said... Immigration is not the real issue for these bigots. They are just using the illegal immigration issue as an excuse to rant publicly and to grab a sympathetic ear or two. The fact is... they would be opposed to legal immigration as well. The real issue is that they see the country becoming increasingly Black and Brown and that bothers the hell out of them. They see these changing demographics as a threat to their traditional position in the Country and in their communities in particular.
But if you dig deeper... who are the people preventing immigration reform? Those who claim they want to reform the system, hold employers accountable, reduce illegal immigration, etc are the White Republican Conservatives. Yet every opportunity that has come up to comprehensively change the system...and come down hard on employers of illegal labor, has been blocked by these same people. Why? The answer is in who benefits from the illegal labor. THE WHITE REPUBLICAN CONSERVATIVES...who happen to be the business owners involved in hiring, and exploiting illegal immigrant workers- not filing the proper tax papers, or taking care of workers Comp insurance, etc. THAT's why the Republicans vote against reform. They don't want to hurt their buddies who happen to be the business owners reaping the benefits from the cheap labor (they don't have to pay them minimum wage, don't have to pay insurance, and they can pay them in cash...etc.).
White Conservatives want to have it both ways. The video showed a lot of ignorance & xenophobia related to how many Conservative White Americans view other ethnic groups, particularly hispanics.
I noticed that the idiot in the video had no answer when the young man reminded him that the Indians were the first people on this land. He said "But there was no government". That's a lie... there were plenty of tribal governments. In fact, Indian tribal governments are some of the oldest governments in North America (and many still exist). Just because they have a different system doesn't make their governments any less valid. There was just no WHITE government. People like the older man in the video only recognize entities that THEY create...and try to steal credit for ---- that other people have created or discovered (reminds me of the many arguments over the years about Jazz music).
He also failed to mention all of the Europeans who immigrated between 1880 & 1925.
Thankfully...not all White Americans are that nutty and uneducated.
"9500 Liberty" is an interesting project but can not be called "interactive" or even balanced.
Eric has chosen to selectively cherry-pick comments that he agrees with or which congratulate him to post on his site. Anyone else who points out the bias inherent in his work and editing, or feels that equal time should be given to the inflammatory rhetoric of BOTH sides, is blocked from having their comments and viewpoint posted.
"9500 Liberty" is not a documentary, which implies balance and fairness to all viewpoints, but rather a soapbox and a propaganda vehicle to advance his preconcieved ideas and beliefs about the alleged racism and xenophobia of whites.
I live in PWC and have been involved in this debate as early as Oct 2001 after 9/11 and it became apparent that the issue of illegals (of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds) needed to be addressed. As a legal immigrant, I travelled to Richmond and Washington DC to give testimony regarding the need to verify legal status, and have been shocked and appalled at the outright lies from the "open borders" activists. Anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint is a "racist" and "hater".
I have been shocked and dismayed at the level of hate-filled racist invective from the "Hispanic" activists, such as "Rev" Rivera who states that any attempts to enforce immigration law is "ethnic cleansing".
Hurling invective does not solve the issue. I am disappointed at the extremists on both sides of the issue.
The broader issues that need to be examined are WHY there are so many migrants from Mexico and Central America, and the fairness of our current immigration policy, etc.
There are literally billions of people around the world who are poor and destitute and desperate. Is it our obligation to permit ALL of them to stay if they can just reach our shores? As a legal immigrant from a non-Hispanic country of origin, I find the push to "legalize" is really a policy that is biased and prejudiced -- in favor of "Hispanics" over all other groups. But you will never see those issues addressed on "9500 Liberty". Doesn't fit with their narrative of white xenophobia and hate.
I haven't seen all the videos (there's 45 and counting) in the series but what I have seen doesn't strike me as unfairly anti-white. The documentary does show the Hispanic activists in a more sympathetic light. I am an immigrant myself and I am glad that a project like 9500Liberty was done to address the rising racial tensions and xenophobia that is happening right now. Absent a project like this to get people talking and discussions going the pressure is just going to mount. I like the innovative use of YouTube as a means of free distribution of the documentary. I too am disappointed by extremism and would very much like discussions of a highly-charged and explosive issue like immigration to be civil. There are illegal immigrants of all nationalities -- a lot of them from European countries.When I hear invective directed towards illegal immigrants it always deteriorates to invectives towards Hispanics and brown-skinned folks from Central and South America. Which is why I tend to agree that much of the inflammatory rhetoric against illegal immigrants surrounding the issue is a naked display of racism.
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