Racism or a Nation’s Reality ? ? ?

invisible hand Crooks and Liars has a post up on it’s site here: Wingnut Cartoonist At Indy Star Gets His (Gary Varvel) Cartoon Yanked Claiming the cartoon was overtly racist, the Indianapolis Star eventually yanked it after initially removing the mustache off of the man coming through the window claiming the mustache created an image too ethic. For all I know and being of Italian descent, the man could have been Italian.

One emotion portrayed by this cartoon (and missed by many) is the overall tenor of America’s attitude towards legal and illegal immigrants coming from south of the US border. Without knowing Gary’s thoughts and approach towards immigration and about the people he depicts in his cartoon, one could take the opposite view of the cartoon in how it portrays White America. We have changed again from a nation asking for other countries to:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Emma Lazarus

to a nation of:

Send us your technically qualified and those who can get an H-1B and are willing work for less wages. Doctors are most welcome! We will take advantage of you; but if you qualify, you can sup at our nation’s table of economic reward and pay taxes. All others need not apply even if you live under the threat of violence and poverty.

I do not know Gary and his ideas or political beliefs. Maybe Gary’s cartoon was drawn upon a foundation of racism; but, it does demonstrate one clear fact. The politics of this nation and the character of its people has changed over the last decade or so and we have become a nation of fear. We are afraid of different hues, cultures, and religions so much so we ban them altogether from our borders, our neighborhoods, and our homes. Our nation’s politicians of recent are doing nothing to foster any change in these attitudes and are actively fanning the flames of fear of immigrants and a president who took action.

Thinking of the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, when was the last time you have celebrated it with strangers from outside of your family?