"The Help" finally made its way to Delta. After reading the book I was more than ready to see the movie. Which I loved and which I would highly recommend. But it did have some statements in it that caused me to think. Some days I am amazed that I am able to do so!
Quote #1:
Aibileen Clark: I was born nineteen eleven, Chickasaw county, Piedmont Plantation.
Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan: And did you know as a girl growing up, that one day you'd be a maid?
Aibileen Clark: Yes, ma'am. I did.
Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan: And you knew that, because?
Aibileen Clark: My mama was a maid. My grandmama was a house slave.
Enter thought number one. Was that considered legal or illegal immigration when the white man brought the blacks to America? Which then led to the thought of the white man who came to the Americas and took the land from the native Americans? Who was the legal verus illegal immigrant? My ancestors came from France, Sweden and who knows where (perhaps I would if I would do my geneology) were they legal immigrants? And, my mormon ancestors who came out west and settled in Utah, which was not a state at that time, were they legal in taking the land from Mexico? For the answers to these questions I need to do a lot of studying or perhaps I shall just ask my intelligent legal advisor (a.k.a Ben) to answer them for me. All I know for sure is that:
1. In my small world in Delta the hispanic families work terribly hard for low wages.
2. In my small world in Delta the hispanic families have well cared children.
3. In my small world in Delta the hispanic parents love their children and want a better world for them.
In my heart I know that:
1. "... the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare;"
2. Because I have been given much I too must give.
3. "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?"
Politics and religion perhaps not a good mix, but my religion defines me and my thought process so I will not apologize for it.
I do believe in honoring and sustaining the laws of the land, but some laws need to be closely looked at and revised. While I wait for that to happen I just have to worry about myself and how I treat my fellow man, whether he is here legally or illegally.
It is sticky to mix religion and politics, but you are right. My religion definitely guides/controls my thought process. And my thought process leads me to certain political realizations. I avoid discussing the two hand in hand as often as possible, but one is unavoidably shaped by the other.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite Ben quotes: "Sure, if I weren't a Christian I'd love to be a Republican."
Anyway. Now you've got me thinking. Actually, I should say Laura's mom got me thinking. I agree with her (on facebook) that I don't want gangs and drugs in Reid's neighborhood (cause they are in every American neighborhood no matter how $$$$). But I think people over look basic supply and DEMAND. If legal citizens, long established in this country, didn't demand illegal drugs, those who supply illegal drugs wouldn't have to resort to the types of violence and law breaking that they get caught in.
I could go on forever and ever about how its really the US's problems that are destroying Mexico, and not vice versa, but not many people are ready for that kind of thinking. Let's just leave it at this one fact: the Mexican cities that have the most criminal activity and most unstable economy are the ones that border the US. Failing US cities have no such correlation to Mexico.