Unless you just got here to the EvR0ck Inititive (my blog), you’ll know that I live in New York City where everyone is talking about the influx of migrants that’s descended upon the city. My friend from back in MA asked me if I had noticed the population, and my answer was no, but only because I hadn’t been into Manhattan in a while (I live in Queens).
a few days after Austin asked me about them, I had to take a trip into the lower east side for a reason that I can’t recall at present, and so I found myself crossing Tompkins square park on the long route to union square. there were hundreds of people there on what was nothing but a normal week day. I had never even seen that many people in the park on a nice Saturday, let alone what I think was a Tuesday , just so many people. I read that over 100,000 have come from latin America and the Caribbean since roughly this time last year.
They are not always welcomed, in fact they are often treated like shit by new yorkers. there is a prevailing xenophobic sentiment and a lot of fear being drummed up about these people seeking a better life.
so, this being my blog…what better place to express my opinion on the migrant crisis. it makes me think of the martin Scorsese film “gangs of new York” which has a lot of historical accuracy. I think of the brutal treatment of the Irish who were filing into the ports in the 1800’s, stones being thrown at them. there are people out in the city right now protesting the migrants in their MAGA hats, and I have a few questions for them.
first of all: where did your fucking ancestors come from? seriously, they were all seeking a better life and fleeing some kind of persecution or economic situation that wasn’t sustainable. i’m going to go out on a limb and say that the big difference is that the current influx of migrants isn’t white and European. you don’t have to burn crosses to be a white supremacist, it’s a paradigm. just be honest with all of us, brown people make you uncomfortable, 100,000 brown folks is a lot.
I have to speak to the whole “we should help our people before we help the migrants.” the people who say this in one breath, want to tell you to pull yourself up by the bootstraps in the next breath as they cut food stamps and other “entitlement” programs. they act like poverty is a moral failing without acknowledging their own generational wealth. these are the people that pretend the homeless are invisible as they commute from long island or wherever to wall street or wherever with their 8 dollar lattes. I have been that invisible homeless person, and while I wanted and needed a few bucks, at least the human dignity of being seen would’ve gone a long way.
a lot of the migrants didn’t even arrive here in New York, they were human trafficked by right wingers like Texas governor Greg Abbott because NYC has a legal obligation to shelter anyone who asks for it. fuck, that’s why I came here four years ago.
these anti migrant people almost all claim the flag of Christianity, which Is so funny because Christ’s literal teachings were about helping people like the migrants. it never fails to amaze me how much of Jesus’s point was missed by the people who claim him as their lord and savior.
What if they take our jobs? listen, no one is going to take your job, your boss is going to give it to them because it’s better for his bottom line. capitalists gonna do capitalist shit. don’t blame the migrants who work harder for cheaper, blame your boss.
think of what these people had to go through to get here, look at how hard they work to try to stay. I have a lot of respect for the migrants, I think they are cut from a different cloth. my lazy, entitled American ass could never make it in that life, and i’ve been through a lot.
I don’t really research blog posts, but I read this times article
listen, I am really poor, I don’t even put this link in my posts unless I absolutely need help, please think about getting me a coffee or even a few. I bet there is a dollar amount that isn’t much to you but would make a big difference in my quality of life: https://ko-fi.com/evr0ck17#
