Reading this poem it is obvious that the author (Jimmy Santiago Baca) feels the same way about this subject that I do. I look around at my peers here in Fairmont, home in Bridgeport, work in Clarksburg, and pretty much anywhere in the state of West Virginia and see ignorance: ignorance and intolerance to different races, cultures, and creeds. The year is 2011 people, get with the program.
People are complaining that the “wetbacks” are crossing our borders and taking our jobs, complaining that those “spics” are taking food out of my baby’s mouth. It is sickening. Sure, there are illegal immigrants here in West Virginia working while “good, honest West Virginians” are out of a job. But why doesn’t that “good, honest West Virginian” apply for a job as a field laborer in an apple orchard in Martinsburg sweating in the hot sun for hours on end making minimum wage (or less)? Why doesn’t that “good, honest West Virginian” apply for a job as a general laborer for a landscaping company sweating in the hot sun for hours no end making minimum wage (or less)? The jobs that the illegal immigrants are “taking” away from Americans are jobs that nobody wants to do in the first place. They spend the same American money at the same American stores as you and I do. This is supposed to be the land of opportunity, yet people speak of building a fence to keep immigrants out? Think about how your ancestors came to this great country, they immigrated. We are not all descendants of Native Americans. But I digress.
I can only hope that the bigotry I see here in the state I grew up in and love will cease to exist. Who cares that the guy mowing your neighbor’s lawn is Mexican? Who cares that your daughter is dating an African-American? Who cares that there is a Muslim on your flight? We are all human; we all share basically the same DNA.
The second half of this poem starting around line 25 speaks of who is really “taking our jobs.” We as Americans are taking our jobs from ourselves. American companies export jobs to other countries because the labor is cheaper. American products are being replaced with cheaper foreign products. There is no direct individual or groups of individuals on whom to place the blame, but we all must shoulder it equally. Greed is to blame, and nearly every human being has at least a little greediness. Greed from the unions who make labor so expensive that companies export jobs overseas, greed from the business owners who will work their employees raw if now for the unions who protect them. Greed of the larger companies like Wal-mart dropping prices until “Mom and Pop” stores cannot compete and are forced to close. Greed of the consumers who shop at these stores to save some of the little money they make instead of spending more in a community store, greed of the consumer’s employers who think only about profit and not how their employees are just scraping by paycheck to paycheck.
I have opened my eyes to this deranged monster we call a “society” and it saddens me greatly. I do not see how we can continue on with the same savage patterns of “looking out for number one” for much longer without a complete meltdown of our civilization. I long for the day when I can look back at this point in time and breathe with a sigh of relief. Hopefully that will be within our lifetimes.
