Michael, you've made numerous assertions and defended none of them. "The line must be drawn somewhere as to who are citizens and who are not."
Why? And, more importantly, why must this line be drawn in Minneapolis? Even if one agrees with you that "as a country" (again, why are we talking about this issue with this misleading national verbiage? It's a local issues list) we must safeguard voting in congressional and presidential elections as a unique right of citizenship, why does it matter how Minneapolis chooses to organize its elections? How does it undermine the rights of citizenship if my Somali neighbors get to choose their mayor and school board? "These people come here with the understanding that they will not the same rights as citizens and they do so of their own free will." I don't really care about immigrants alleged understanding of their lack of rights. I think it would be the morally right thing to do to allow them to have a say in our local decision-making processes, to welcome them with open arms and encourage voter registration, rather than fortifying the obstacles to these positive civic behaviors. More importantly, I believe that allowing and encouraging the active participation of all residents of Minneapolis is in my best interest. I believe democracy works best when everyone is involved. I believe I will be the beneficiary of better public policy if the energy, intelligence, and compassion of all my fellow Minneapolitans - including my non-citizen neighbors - are brought to bear on our common problems. (And as I'm sure you know, Michael, the energy, intelligence, and compassion of our non-citizen neighbors is immeasurable.) For a concrete example of this concept, I'd like to share a couple of my experiences of the public hearing process of the Civilian Review Redesign. I attended the hearings in the Somali community on the West Bank and in the Hispanic community on the North side as a Green Party observer. One of the themes I heard again and again was that the conflicts and disconnects these communities had with the MPD were exacerbated or created by lack of access to local government. They were stuck. These highly organized communities (with strong churches and other groups) felt absolutely helpless when dealing with city employees, because they had no direct recourse to effect the composition of local government. I should point out that mayor Rybak's staff, especially Kinshasha (I'm sorry, I don't know your last name) were incredibly supportive and approachable, as were CM Lilligren and, to a lesser extent, Zerby. But this was obviously a new twist on the situation (would Campbell and Herron have been as active?), and one which we cannot trust to continue without systemic change. If these communities could organize themselves into a voting bloc, what positive effects could it have on the behavior of Minneapolis police officers, not just in their communities, but throughout the city? "Their interests do not have equal weight with yours. The rights and responsibilities of citizens and aliens are not equal." I guess you and I just disagree on this point. I think that human rights are universal (self-evident, anyone?) - including the right to self-determination and participation in the disbursement of one's own tax dollars. And we obviously hold non-citizen residents to the same standards as citizens in most cases. If a non-citizen murders someone, are they not legally responsible? Don't non-citizens pay property tax through their mortgage or (more often) rent? "This logic is flawed, e.g., the easiest way to guard against home burglary is to leave your home unlocked." No, your analogy is flawed. If my home is burgled, I am personally harmed. There is a victim. If non-citizens are to legally vote, there's no victim. Far from being harmed, I'm helped. The only way you can claim harm at the hands of non-citizen voters is if you fear their involvement, for whatever reason. Fear of the other is pretty close to the definition of xenophobia. Kudos to Rep. Kahn and my own Representative Davnie for being on the right side of this issue. Thanks for the good work, you two. Robin Garwood Seward _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
