baseline expectations, often higher than I think
They've been letting me listen to freespeech radio lately. I should moderate my dosage of varied viewpoints and insights into non-mainstream history -- I get all incensed about injustices and politics... then I get all altruistic about stuff and wanna change the world. Changing the world is HARD work.
One thing I am really upset about lately is the story they've reported on for the past several weeks in relation to the Hispanic community and the Census. The story goes that illegal immigrants in the southland are afraid to fill out the census form because they believe Homeland Security will pull the data from the Census, give it to Immigration, and that ICE will come pick them up and send them back home.
Usually on the heels of that story, they relate another item that indicates certain Latino leaders are advocating a boycott of the Census. "Don't fill out the forms!" the news story relates these leader are urging their community, "You are under represented and should not give them the information they are looking for until you are more fairly treated!"
Um?
I am not a political whiz, but I do understand they use the Census to allocate social programs, congressional representation, and many other government managed services and infrastructure support allocations. I cannot understand why anyone would believe that not filling the Census form is doing anything but hurting themselves and their community. There are certain things you do want your government to know you are present in an area for and are expecting -- things like having representative allocated to your community, getting federal assistance to keep your roads and bridges in working order, or having dollars allocated for your county for the many social services so many of us have needed in the recent recession.
For the Latino community, if any of their credible leaders are really saying that they should boycott the Census until the community is more fairly heard... well that's like saying, I am not going to use a cell phone until I can get 4 bars everywhere. What's the incentive to upgrade (much less *maintain*) the infrastructure if it appears that no one is using it? I think, for the Latino community, not filling out the Census forms will ensure their community remains in murky visibility.
Then again, I have to stop and remind myself that I am a privileged white girl that (even tho I feel like I do) does not really know what it means to be a fringe member of society. Sure, there were challenges with the patriarchy when I grew up and tried to make a living in the world, and the corporate man held women down) I remind myself that whatever troubles I've encountered in my life, I don't understand what it means to be disenfranchised. Not really. Nor can I honestly imagine it. The indignation and anger I feel when I think I've been treated less than equitably (read: treated with anything less than the respect that should have been afforded to a 1960's middle-class member) is sometimes shocking. The disdain and invisibility that comes with disenfranchisement would probably kill me. I am ashamed when I examine my base entitlement expectations. But I don't know how to make my expectations a common baseline for a broader segment of the population. I frequently think about this problem, wondering what I can do to make life a little more fair where I live.
Yeah, they should not let me listen to free speech radio.
One thing I am really upset about lately is the story they've reported on for the past several weeks in relation to the Hispanic community and the Census. The story goes that illegal immigrants in the southland are afraid to fill out the census form because they believe Homeland Security will pull the data from the Census, give it to Immigration, and that ICE will come pick them up and send them back home.
Usually on the heels of that story, they relate another item that indicates certain Latino leaders are advocating a boycott of the Census. "Don't fill out the forms!" the news story relates these leader are urging their community, "You are under represented and should not give them the information they are looking for until you are more fairly treated!"
Um?
I am not a political whiz, but I do understand they use the Census to allocate social programs, congressional representation, and many other government managed services and infrastructure support allocations. I cannot understand why anyone would believe that not filling the Census form is doing anything but hurting themselves and their community. There are certain things you do want your government to know you are present in an area for and are expecting -- things like having representative allocated to your community, getting federal assistance to keep your roads and bridges in working order, or having dollars allocated for your county for the many social services so many of us have needed in the recent recession.
For the Latino community, if any of their credible leaders are really saying that they should boycott the Census until the community is more fairly heard... well that's like saying, I am not going to use a cell phone until I can get 4 bars everywhere. What's the incentive to upgrade (much less *maintain*) the infrastructure if it appears that no one is using it? I think, for the Latino community, not filling out the Census forms will ensure their community remains in murky visibility.
Then again, I have to stop and remind myself that I am a privileged white girl that (even tho I feel like I do) does not really know what it means to be a fringe member of society. Sure, there were challenges with the patriarchy when I grew up and tried to make a living in the world, and the corporate man held women down) I remind myself that whatever troubles I've encountered in my life, I don't understand what it means to be disenfranchised. Not really. Nor can I honestly imagine it. The indignation and anger I feel when I think I've been treated less than equitably (read: treated with anything less than the respect that should have been afforded to a 1960's middle-class member) is sometimes shocking. The disdain and invisibility that comes with disenfranchisement would probably kill me. I am ashamed when I examine my base entitlement expectations. But I don't know how to make my expectations a common baseline for a broader segment of the population. I frequently think about this problem, wondering what I can do to make life a little more fair where I live.
Yeah, they should not let me listen to free speech radio.