Monday, April 7, 2008

On the side of decency and humanity part I

Yesterday my husband and I were having a conversation about what people are thinking when they say nasty things about the immigration movement. I was remembering a hearing I attended in Austin and the Texas Legislature where one politician from Humble Texas asked why didn't DREAMERS go back to Mexico and have their country pay their tuition. I have to admit this is laughable, if anyone knows anything about Mexico as a nation-state, they are very aware that MOST young people in the country don't get past "secundaria" -- 8th grade...

Our current problem (the 50% drop out rate in the U.S.) -- is caused by lots of subterranean reasons: among them, inequity in funding of inner city schools, a not so subtle push by the U.S. government (and powerful citizens) to keep a majority of the population uneducated (we don't want to give the upper middle class kids more competition).

In Mexico its actually very black and white - there just isn't a way for most kids to go past 8th grade. Tuition is charged for the higher grades and most people barely have enough money to eat. Many many kids are desperate to go to school. That is why-when they immigrate and have their own children, the next generation generally knocks itself out (like the DREAMERS) so they can carry on their parent's dreams of going to school.

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