Tell Trump Mexicans Are Here to Stay- Opinion Column

“Learn from your mistakes,” is probably one of the most overstated sentences, four words that are meant to mold us into rational human beings. But if there is a group of people that have not absorbed this lesson, it is those who under the protective wing of Trump’s xenophobia and racism are trying to expel any living organism that natively speaks Spanish, looks Hispanic and can not perfectly pronounce every word of the Declaration of Independence. You think they would have learned from their mistakes from the Gold Rush when in the late 1800’s Mexicans were segregated, lynched and accused of murder and killed without a fair trial. What rather seems to have happened is that stereotypical labels have evolved– instead of being called ‘lazy’ and ‘dumb’ Mexicans are now ‘drug dealers’, ‘job-stealers’ and ‘rapists’ who can't even properly speak English.

  Before throwing these words around recklessly, those who employ those words need to consider why Mexicans even are in their country in the first place. They need to know Mexicans didn’t immigrate out of want, but out of need. To put things into perspective, here is a mind-boggling figure– Mexico, in 2016, managed to produce 55.3 million poor people yet Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world according to Forbes, is estimated to be worth around $74 billion. This economic discrepancy is what constantly makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. Mexicans are naturally hard-working people because they have to be, the country demands them to be that way because otherwise they may sink deeper into poverty. Senators, deputies and leaders of government are not there to help– they, instead, look the other way as they steal government taxes. According to Transparency International who assessed all country members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mexico ranks as the most corrupt of all. Furthermore, according to The Guardian, the crime rates have reached a 20-year-high. Out of of love for their family and for a better future, they have to leave. 

And where do they go? Up north, to the Land of the Free. The country that is the leader of capitalism, the place where the American Dream comes true. A place where Mexican families are safe and with numerous opportunities that are in the reach of their fingertips. Who would not want that? The argument has been so persuasive that as of 2015, there were 11.6 million Mexican immigrants residing in the U.S. Dreams of naturalization were born and it seamed that they would now be both Mexican and American. A new identity was born. But what also had just met its Renaissance was xenophobia and racism. On live T.V, as Obama's term came to an end, Mexicans were painted all with one big, brush that was soaking in prejudice and stereotypical claims.   The justification to ask Hispanics whether "are you illegal?" or "do you speak English?" with no shame was born and by 2016, 52% of the Mexican immigrant demographic had experienced discrimination. 

This discrimination is triggered when someone is overheard in public spaces speaking Spanish. The language that is rich in color, emotion and culture has been vilified as a threat, a sign that a neighborhood may not be safe, an indicator that the surroundings may be plagued with gangs and drug dealers. Others just see it as evidence that Mexicans are, in fact, lazy. Why don't they bother to learn English properly? If they came all the way to America, they should at least bother to learn how to communicate properly, right? But how can someone ever be willing to learn the language of a country that constantly stresses that they do not want them there, stressing they are all illegal and that, at any given moment, they may be threatened with deportation regardless of their citizen status? I believe the answer is no one. It appears that the welcoming hand of the Statue of Liberty is rather meant to be used to push immigrants down into the cave of fear and ignorance rather than to bring them out into the light of freedom and opportunity. 

Nevertheless, it can't be overlooked that Mexico is the crib for drug lords and the main highway that allows Colombian cocaine to enter the U.S– a clandestine institution that does in fact, perform its crimes in Spanish. It is true that every country and every ethnic group has people that have rotten and have tainted the purity of their people.  I acknowledge that everyone has a right to fear the probability that amongst the many Latinos that enter America, there is a chance that a very small percentage are criminals. But just like not all Americans support the KKK not all Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers. 

All hostilities aside, the only way for a country to continue thriving is for its people to co-exist. To celebrate its diversity and its linguistic heritage. To respect one another. To support each other. The fear of 'the other' needs to be brushed aside. Prejudice should be something buried in the very depth of the back of everyone's mind. Stereotypes should be nothing more than an 11 letter word found in the dictionary. So rather, what I call for, is to learn from our mistakes but also to understand why it was wrong that they were committed in the first place.