I received a response from a reader strongly disagreeing with my writing on the abuse leveled by the heinous 287g program in Nashville. Here is my response in hopes the reader will see it, even if we continue to disagree.
This is America, afterall. Good people can disagree. But let's back our opinions with our names or at least our e-mail addresses to continue the discussion so some common ground can possibly be found.
Dear dintn,
I tried to go to your blog site to contact you personally but there was no visible name and your profile would not come up.
I hope you are not ashamed to use your real name with your opinions. That is the least we should offer each other as Americans in the marketplace of ideas.
As I offered to the other reader, please meet me at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Nashville so you can meet the people who are part of the story of abuse by 287g. That is the most real evidence I can offer. And we will respect your right to tell these people that they are not experiencing what they are experiencing.
The Tennessean reported earlier this year that most of the people being deported do not have a criminal record. One can rationalize that it is a crime to be illegally in this country, but it is only a misdemeanor with a payable fine. Would we say someone who is stopped for a broken headlight or not wearing a seatbelt has a criminal record, since he or she receives a ticket for a misdemeanor offense payable by fine?
Of course not. Yet 287g was sold to the public as being a program that would only deport people with criminal records. Now, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall denies that truth. We all know better.
Just like with the case made to sell the war in Iraq, you can't make something good come from something wrong.
You do not want evidence; you want absolution for your wrongheadness and your fear of people who are different.
That is not possible. The nation and world are changing. Get used to it. My post on Monday's USA TODAY story shows that your kind of thinking will be overthrown at the ballot box by 2020 at the latest. And rightly so.
Thanks,
Tim Chávez
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2 comments:
Keep us posted if either one of them takes you up on the invitation.
Why is it that you can't simply respond to the original post without starting a whole new blog entry abhouit my identity? You make a whole story about me not posting my real name on the internet like it's headline news? Would you prefer I simply draw you a map to my front door?
Do you really need attention that bad?
No thank you. I'll put my reply in the original post, there's no point it having in go in all directions...
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