[Winona] Let's say I break into your house

[Bob Sebo]

I almost always regret posting here, but here we go.

To say that "race" is not an issue is ridiculous.  To begin with, of course,
there is no such thing as race...but it exists as a cultural construct.  To
say that the current anti-immigration sentiment is not focused on the
chicano-latino and muslim cultural groups is preposterous.  For completely
different reasons for each group, I understand, but these are the poster
children nonetheless.

Lets start with latinos.  They are just a political pawn in Washington.
Republicans are influenced by business interests who believe a steady stream
of immigrants keeps low wage jobs as cheap as possible.  Democrats are
influenced by the prospect of their citizenship and their votes.  Minorities
are pretty much expected to vote democratic...look at the brouhaha over Tom
Heffelfinger's refusal to go along with former (thank God) Secretary of
State Kiffmeyer's attempt to hold down native voting in the Twin Cities.

Of course in essence even white trash like me is a minority  :-)   If we
aren't there yet we soon will be in a country where there is no white
majority...that also scares some people to death.

Islam is a different kettle of fish, of course.  All you have to do is walk
Apache Mall on a weekday and compare the experience to the 1990's to realize
we've pulled that welcome mat.  It is religious fundamentalism we are
fighting...not Islam.  If people think terrorism is something exclusive to
Islam they should remember the good Catholics who were taking out OBGYN's
for doing abortions.  Oh, and Tim McVey.

I agree with Bishop Harrington who sees in this debate a replay of the
anti-Polish fervor of Winona in the early 20th century.  I'm not saying this
isn't a complicated debate...I'm just saying there are still enough bigots
out there to go around.

Bob Sebo
Winona