In this composite image provided May 20, 2010 courtesy of Debbie Groben and FreakingNews.com, is an image of Nickelodeon cartoon Dora the Explorer created late last year by Debbie Groben of Sarasota, Fla., for a contest for the fake news site FreakingNews.com. The image, and others like it that question or make fun of the Latina cartoon character’s immigration status and country of origin, have been in wide circulation since Arizona passed a controversial immigration law. Groben, who is against the immigration law, said she just created it out of good fun and didn’t know it would enter the immigration debate. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Debbie Broben and FreakingNews.com)
Have you seen this yet?
It disgusts me. And I agree with this article.
But experts say the pictures and the rhetoric surrounding them online, in newspapers and at public rallies, reveal some Americans’ attitudes about race, immigrants and where the immigration reform debate may be headed.
“Dora is kind of like a blank screen onto which people can project their thoughts and feelings about Latinos,” said Erynn Masi de Casanova, a sociology professor at the University of Cincinnati. “They feel like they can say negative things because she’s only a cartoon character.”
Though, the lady who created the picture says that it was just a joke, she likes Dora, and she is against the new Arizona law.
I know you guys don’t come here for me to get political, but every once in awhile something comes up that I just feel I have to say something about.
Let me show you something that one of my friends – who also is married to a Mexican – saw posted on one of her friend’s (let’s say former friends since she deleted her after reading this) statuses.
YOU PASS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YRS HARD LABOR, YOU PASS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET SHOT. YOU PASS THE AMERICAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET A JOB, DRIVER’S LICENSE, ALLOWANCE FOR A PLACE TO LIVE, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT SO YOU CAN READ A DOCUMENT. WE CARRY PASSPORTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES OR FACE JAIL TIME. REPOST THIS IF YOU AGREE!!
Nice. I’m not sure where illegal immigrants are getting driver’s licenses at, if you know of a state that allows it, I’ve got plenty of friends that would like to know so they can go get one. I also know lots of people who haven’t gone to the doctor because they don’t get health care. I don’t know about other states, but here DHS requires proof that you are allowed to be here in the US before they will give you ANY type of aid be it medical, food, housing, what have you.
ETA – As of January 2010, Utah, Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington are the only states that “allow” it by not requiring proof of residency. Utah is the only state that will be allowing a “special driver’s license” for illegals. I’m not sure if that law has gone into effect or not yet.
I am so sick of hearing comments that basically profile anyone who looks Hispanic as an illegal immigrant. I am sick of the anti-Mexican sentiment that has been growing in our country. I am tired of people who complain that people should only speak English in our country. I agree, everyone who lives here needs to learn English, because it is the main language spoken here, but when out and about with their own friends and families, keep your remarks about speaking English to yourselves. I promise, unless your being a complete and total jerk, they aren’t talking about you and your egotism is really out of control.
Seriously, I’ve been sitting at a restaurant with Pato, both of us speaking in Spanish, maybe it might be something we don’t want our children to understand (yes, they understand Spanish, but when Pato and I get into deep discussions in Spanish they don’t follow along because they don’t understand everything yet) we have overheard people at neighboring tables making smart remarks about if you want to speak Spanish, go back to your own country. More than once.
The United States of America IS my country. Thank you. I can get out my birth certificate if it would make you happy? I was born in Council Bluffs, IA in 1974. Maybe my SSN? Would you like a copy of our tax records to prove that we pay taxes? My ethnic background doesn’t even have any Hispanic heritage in it.
Jerks.
I promise you sir, we were not talking about you, we were most likely discussing an idea for a birthday or Christmas present for one of our kids. Does that make you insecure?
I know many Mexicans, both legally here and illegally. None of them are drug dealers, kidnappers, murderers, people here for nefarious reasons. The ones here illegally are people who were desperate, willing to risk their lives (because crossing the border is a huge risk to your life – coyotes are not nice people most of the time, the river is dangerous, and the desert can kill you) to be able to provide their family with something. Something. Anything is more than some of them had in Mexico.
Pato is lucky. In Mexico his family isn’t rich by our standards, but they are well off by the standards of where they live. They have a store, a home, they had a cantina (bar), and land to grow corn on. His mom has since split up their house/bar/etc into rentals. Since his dad died she couldn’t handle all of it on her own. A lot of the people who are up here that I know didn’t have 1/4 of that in Mexico.
The last time we went to Mexico, we drove. We were taking a truck to Pato’s dad as a present. To see the big cardboard boxes lining the Rio Grande in Reynosa broke my heart. Yes, we have a problem with homelessness here too, and that bothers me also, so please don’t tell me that we have all that here. I don’t know what options they have in Mexico, but I do know that here we have things in place to help people. Homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food banks, Section 8 housing, Habitat for humanity, government aid, free lunch programs at school, people who want to help.
I am not condoning illegal immigration, but I understand the desperation behind it. It is nearly impossible for a young male from Mexico to get a work visa to come to the US unless he owns property and/or a business. If he owned property and a business would he really be desperate enough to cross the border illegally? If he was able to care for his family, would he take that risk? Our visa quotas are outdated. Our quotas are based on populations from decades ago (unless I just haven’t read that the quotas have been changed dramatically).
We need immigration reform. Republicans need to get off their high and mighty thrones and work with democrats on this issue. (Can I say that since I am a registered republican? And I voted for McCain last election, though I’m not happy about his “waffling” on his immigration stance recently. That was one of the reasons I liked him, a republican who didn’t go along with the crowd. Now he’s going with the crowd because he’s up for reelection. Mr McCain I am not proud of you anymore.)
And Americans (not all of us, but there are a lot) need to stop assuming that everyone who looks Hispanic and/or speaks Spanish is an illegal alien. Racism stinks.
Ok, off my high horse. This subject is just near and dear to my heart and I get a tad passionate about it at times. The whole Dora The Explorer/illegal immigrant news article on my phone when I was reading the news set me off.
I’d also like to add to this that none of the illegals I know have ever stolen someone’s identity. They used to pay taxes at work on a made up social security number. How do I know this? Because they got letters from the IRS stating that there was no SSN by that number assigned to anyone, please check their number and fix so they can get proper credit for their taxes. I’ve seen these letters many times as I translate for a lot of people. I realize that not all illegals do this, but the ones that I know did. I’m not saying this is right, just stating what I know. Now, thanks to an accountant informing them that they could get an employee identification number, they all have EINs, assigned to them by our government, in their own name, paying their taxes that way.
Have a great day.
Popularity: 6% [?]
