Editor,
There is an old legal maxim: “Hard cases make bad law.”
The implicit knowledge behind this statement - of how society is affected by the legal institutions of this country - has universal application. More directly, it has application to undocumented immigrants in New Mexico.
To invoke an adjacent topic seen often in the local community, the Native American plight that occurred in the U.S. through colonial times, in sum, fits the definition of genocide.
Natives had a right to self-determination within their communities that was denied. Inter-warring was a commonplace aspect of indigenous societies, and the extinguishment of warring peoples is an inherent aspect of all human history; yet whether Native civilization was impacted most through language decline, disease, the seizure of land, or abject war, the living descendants of that conflict have a duty to embrace their heritage.
I was once informed by a prominent community organizer from UNM that this school represents “White institutions.” The young Native woman who posited this broad argument thought this justified her censoriousness, despite the great irony that she benefited her whole short life from federal taxpayer-provided income and scholarships, and indeed had her platform partly because of these “White institutions.”
As demonstrated by the political efforts made to organize reservations in the U.S., however, indigenous rights are being acknowledged today. Contrary to post-Colonialist doctrine, which many of our UNM professors enjoy proselytizing, it is the European thought system that teaches us the legitimacy of indigenous self-determination. The basis of enlightenment ethics is that people have inborn talents deserving of volitional pursuit.
I mention this young woman’s misguided statement because arguments of a similar race-baiting ilk are made against the idea of securing immigration flows into this country.
It is European-informed civilization that allows indigenous grievances to not just be brought to light, but even be distinguishable from the rest of history. The same applies to youths attending this school, benefiting from its institutions, who question the legitimacy of deporting illegal immigrants.
Naturally, the arguments in support of maintaining illegal immigrants (let alone the constant inflows thereof) pale in comparison to the Native plight.
Consider the argument that illegal immigrants work jobs “no one else would.” This has tenuous grounds in reality, and is simultaneously extremely demeaning. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that only 4% of illegal workers in the United States work in agriculture, yet this very bizarre stereotype about illegal immigrants persists. If I had to guess why this myth persists, it’s probably because certain political interests benefit from the public believing this untruth.
A lot of youths wonder how college was so affordable for their forefathers while currently being so unaffordable for they themselves. Stagnant wages and federally-subsidized programs for underachieving students are partially to blame, but how about that labor competition for your part-time jobs? This is to say nothing of UNM’s tuition reduction agreements with the state of Mexico, which increase UNM’s student demand pool (bad for everyone’s low tuition!) and serve as outreach to foreigners before out-of-state U.S. citizens.
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As people recognize the indigenous rights of self-determination, it seems many U.S. citizens have yet denied themselves the same rights to the soil that has now, incontrovertibly, become theirs.
Perhaps many of the serious issues in students’ personal lives are indeed because of “White institutions,” but many at UNM are apt to be surprised by their self-effacing nature against the interests of U.S. citizens. These institutions, which I would call Politically Leftist, hoist up a select few at the expense of all New Mexicans – be they Black, Brown, Native or White - and should be rigorously challenged at every turn.
Brian Macklin
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