[Vision2020] FW: Words Bring Pause

[keely emerinemix]

Thank you.

keely


From: "Pat Kraut" <pkraut at moscow.com>
To: "vision2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Words Bring Pause
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:05:35 -0800

You are so arrogantly sure of this??  You need to be educated in so many
ways that I am surprised they let you anywhere near a school anything in
anyway!!


----- Original Message -----
From: "keely emerinemix" <kjajmix1 at msn.com>
To: <ophite at gmail.com>; <pkraut at moscow.com>
Cc: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 5:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Words Bring Pause


I am astonished at the hard-heartedness, not to mention the embrace of
ignorance, evidenced in Pat's comments below.  There isn't enough time, and
I don't have the energy, to illustrate how insane and inane it is to pretend
that the problems of the poor pale in comparison to the inconvenience their
plight and presence cause the affluent.  We already blame poor people and
immigrants for being poor and foreign, but now we can add to their faults
that they annoy us and act rudely by not speaking English when -- if -- we
have any contact with them.  Which, of course, we'd rather not.

My God, Pat -- how does a subliterate Mexican immigrant who pulls two full
shifts a day working among cows and other Spanish speakers in the same
situation learn English?  How does a woman who is afraid to leave her
apartment or trailer summon the resources to find and attend English
classes?  And how do you explain the scores of people who, exhausted from
doing the shit work none of us want to do and afraid to trust anyone outside
of their own homes, nonetheless made their way to my English classes for 12
years?  Do you have any sense of the courage, the motivation, and the
resourcefulness it takes to live like that?

Well, no.  Probably not.

But do you think it's possible that "how it makes Pat feel" might not be the
critical point here?   You benefit from being white, legal, literate and
relatively secure, and you also benefit from immigrant labor.  Could you
maybe concede a little social discomfort in favor of those whose suffering
is markedly more pronounced than the choice to feel slighted when faced with
the invitation to "Oprime el Dos" ("Press two") when caught in a customer
service phone web?

It occurs to me that the complaints I've read over the last couple of days
are the provence of those affluent and comfortable enough to never have to
live as the "other," and while I'm glad you're safe and secure, I'm really
sad that your heart is as jagged as it appears.   Your relative prosperity
might go unquestioned, but you're going to have to give account for the
poverty of your compassion toward those who need it.

keely





From: "Andreas Schou" <ophite at gmail.com>
To: "Pat Kraut" <pkraut at moscow.com>
CC: vision2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Words Bring Pause
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:38:54 -0700

On 3/12/07, Pat Kraut <pkraut at moscow.com> wrote:
  >
  >
  > i have a question; We are constantly bombarded with information so we do
not
  > insult those moving here whether they are illegal or not. Do they ever
get
  > classes or information about the problems they are causing us?? Do they
  > realize how much they insult us? I do not think I have seen a sign
telling
  > them to be polite, kind or helpful to citizens of the US.

Pat --

Have you ever been denied a job because you weren't an immigrant? Have
you ever been assaulted simply because you're white? Have you ever
been denied basic civil rights because of your heritage? It's not
rudeness that you're being told to avoid: it's actively screwing up
the lives of people for no good goddamn reason.

-- ACS

=======================================================
   List services made available by First Step Internet,
   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
                 http://www.fsr.net
            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

_________________________________________________________________
Find what you need at prices you'll love. Compare products and save at MSN®
Shopping.
http://shopping.msn.com/default/shp/?ptnrid=37,ptnrdata=24102&tcode=T001MSN20A0701



--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.5.446 / Virus Database: 268.18.9/719 - Release Date: 3/12/07 8:41
AM


=======================================================
  List services made available by First Step Internet,
  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
                http://www.fsr.net
           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
=======================================================

_________________________________________________________________
Find a local pizza place, movie theater, and more….then map the best route! 
http://maps.live.com/?icid=hmtag1&FORM=MGAC01