After Elian, Liberal Racists Declare War on Hispanics Richard Poe April 27, 2000 An extraordinary article appeared on the front page of New York Press this week (April 26 - May 2, 2000). It was headlined, "Just Nuke Miami." In it, left-wing pundit Alexander Cockburn wrote: "There is a sound case to be made for dropping a tactical nuclear weapon on the Cuban section of Miami. The move would be applauded heartily by most Americans. Alas, Operation Good Riddance would require the sort of political courage sadly lacking in Washington these days." Cockburn is joking, of course. I am sure he does not really wish to incinerate tens of thousands of Hispanic men, women and children. But, as a Hispanic American myself, I don't find his joke funny. Indeed, it is deeply disturbing to find that genocide against Latino families has become an acceptable topic of humor among the hip, trendy and politically correct crowd. For many years, the U.S. government has found it convenient to use Cuban-Americans as pawns in its conflict with Castro. Now that Cuba is ready to open its doors to U.S. business, Cuban- Americans are no longer needed. In fact, they are in the way. So the press has declared open season on Cuban-Americans. And all the liberal glitterati are jumping on the bandwagon. Articles like Cockburn's help me to understand how it felt to be a Jew in 1930s Germany. At that point, the real killing had not yet begun. But if there was one sure way for a stand-up comic to get a laugh at the local cabaret, it was to crack "jokes" about what should be done with the Jews. My father was of Russian Jewish descent and my mother of Mexican descent. The Jewish half of me takes genocide very seriously. Now the Mexican half of me must learn to take it seriously too. Mexican-American author Richard Rodriguez penned an article last week for Pacific News Service titled "Elian - The First Cause That Could Unify Hispanics" (April 20, 2000). He observed that the Elian crisis has forever changed the relationship between Cuban- Americans and other Latinos. "Before Elian Gonzalez floated into our lives," wrote Rodriguez, "many U.S.Hispanics couldn't stand Cuban-Americans. ... They are the richest, best-educated, and (bottled or not) the blondest among us. ...Cuban-Americans, alone among Hispanics, have never portrayed themselves as `minorities' or 'victims' in the United States. Just the reverse: Cubans have described America as rescuing them from victimization." That description reminds me of my mother. Though she is Mexican-American, she thinks more like a Cuban-American. Her family were middle-class people who fled Mexico to avoid being slaughtered by Pancho Villa. Anyone who owned property was fair game for the so-called "revolutionaries" in those days. My grandparents found refuge in this country. My mother taught us to love the United States as a haven against oppression, violence and tyranny. Like the Cuban-Americans, my mother does not identify herself as a minority. She votes Republican. She (unfortunately) did not teach her children Spanish. She raised us to be assimilated Americans. Because I have a light complexion, a middle-class upbringing and an Anglo-sounding name (which my Jewish grandfather invented: his real name was Pogrebisky), I have always had the luxury of being able to choose when and where to reveal my Mexican heritage. If I don't tell people, they don't know. This ability to blend in has given me a great advantage in U.S. society. But today I no longer feel that it is right or moral to blend in. There are times when a man must make a stand or he is not a man. "Elian changed everything," Rodriguez writes in an April 22 update of his article. "For the first time, watching TV footage of the bonfires and arrests in Little Havana on Saturday, we have been seeing Cuban Americans as minorities. ... The arrogance that had always separated them from other Hispanics is diminishing." According to Rodriguez, sympathy for the Cuban-American cause is growing among non-Cuban Hispanics. He writes: "In the days before the federalistas seized the boy and reunited him with his father, Puerto Rican and Dominican flags had joined the parades through Little Havana. And in the Cyclone fence in front of the house of Elian's great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, the predawn raiders may have noticed the flags of Brazil and Mexico ... ." Like all Americans, Latinos are divided on exactly what to do about Elian and his father. But a growing number - myself included - are beginning to realize that an attack on Cuban-Americans is an attack on all of us. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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