Immigration Battle Boiling Over in Virginia (Annabel and I in the middle)

As many of you know, Annabel and I are in the middle of the immigration battle in Virginia best summed up by this video essay we did for the Washington Post. ( Click here to read our accompanying text essays.)

Today, a news article in theWashington Post has touched off a firestorm in Virginia's political blogs. It is about an event that we actually filmed two nights ago, were Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Dean met with concerned members of the immigrant community to explain the new laws known as the "crackdown on illegals." On an exciting new centrist blog called AntiBVBL.net a virtual fight broke out when I suggested that America's ethnic make-up is not something we can control — nor should we. I wrote, "The only thing we can control is the values that unite and define us as a nation. I suggest equality, fairness, respect, opportunity, democracy." You can click here to read the whole insanity, but this exchange is what I wanted to share with you:

SecondAlamo wrote:“The only thing we can control is the values that unite and define us as a nation.” And your point? That is exactly why most of us are upset at watching those very VALUES being downgraded by people who don’t share them! They come from the lowest socioeconomic levels of their countries, for the most part, and therefore don’t necessarily share the same values as the majority of those whose neighborhoods they are moving into. Just as I wouldn’t want the local back woods trailer park relocating next door. It’s ideals and values that will always cause people to either congregate together or keep them apart. Gang members hang with gang members, and church supporters hang with church supporters, regardless of ethnic backgrounds. Simple fact of life. Just as you’ll never hang with members of HSM regardless of their ethnic backgrounds. What is so hard to understand about that?

This is my reply:

EricByler wrote:SecondAlamo, your comments above make my point better than I probably will below, but let me try:

Let’s take a step backward and see the word “values” as if it could be separated from the wedge issue buzz-word that used to define “them” vs. “us” for political purposes. After all, the architects of this strategy have proven themselves woefully incompetent leaders, and the vast majority of “values voters” no longer grant them credibility.

Some are still rallying behind the politics of division, but a countervailing force is beginning to emerge. “Uniting Values” are replacing “Dividing Values.”

I prefer Uniting Values because they are based on American ideals like equality and opportunity, tolerance and respect. This, in my view, better defines America than any particular race or religion. (The founding documents made no mention of an official race or religion, but they did hold certain truths to be self evident).

If we wish to come together as a nation, I propose focusing on values that everyone can share. Most people do share these values if given an opportunity to become part of this society. Yes, there is a process of assimilation, but this is true of all immigrants whether they “look American” at first glance or not. Ask Jeb Bush!

On the other hand, there are Dividing Values designed to split us apart — “they” are not Christians, “they” are not Patriotic, “they” are not heterosexual, “they” don’t speak English, “they” are gang members while “we” go to church. Your comments above also refer to socio-economic class, an age-old way of defining “they” vs. “we.” If we see the world that way, we fail to identify common interests, common goals, or common ground. Divisive politics might win an election. They might justify a law, a policy, or even a war. But inevitably, we end up regretting collective decisions made out of fear, anger, and distrust.

Right now, as undocumented immigrants, their American citizen families, and other people of color flee Prince William County, those who are left behind are suffering the consequences. Property rates are falling here more precipitously than the rest of the nation. Why? Because we have considerably more foreclosures due to people abandoning their mortgages and leaving. If you see the world as “them” vs. “us” you might cheer this idea assuming those who are deserting us are from the “them” category (as HSM members did last August when this was just beginning). But, when a home is abandoned to the banks, the value of the home next door goes down too. When businesses and entire strip malls fold up and leave the county, it doesn’t only affect the business owners who leave; it affects the ones who stay. The shoe store and the video store have less customers now because the restaurant and the supermarket have folded or relocated. This means the shoe store and the video store are next.

People of different ethnicities, religions, documentation status, AND socio-economic backgrounds are deeply interconnected. We can’t afford to make decisions based on what divides us rather than that which we have in common.

So as we are deciding how we feel about our Police Chief, let’s look at the values he is struggling to uphold– fairness, trust, openness, public safety, and equal protection under the law. Too many people (on both sides) are judging him in terms of “which side is he on?”

Much is now being made of Chief Deane’s warning of 7-10-07. Well here’s another warning: the WORST THING WE COULD DO to make this cultural and economic disaster EVEN WORSE is to cause Chief Deane to leave us in the hands of a someone like the infamous KKK Sheriff in Arizona. That would represent the point no return.