Garwood, Robin wrote:
As to Jim's only argument, that those of us who are willing to extend localWM: I think this issue includes what I would consider a spurious notion of nationhood. I remember being taught in grade school (HUAC era) that being a citizen of this country was second only to being Catholic (cracks me up just to type it). It was emphasized that "foreigners" were trying to take our homes away from us and take over our country and we wouldn't be allowed to practice our religion, be with our families, yadda-yadda. You know, standard horror movie stuff. That's xenophobia. It teaches one to assume that anyone "foreign" -- a term that can be construed to leave 99.99% of the world's population on the outside looking in -- was suspect and thieving and godless. [An aside: my first school was in a poorer, immigrant area, this was not mentioned the first five years of elementary school. It became part of the curriculum when we moved "further up on the hill" in Cincinnati terms. All 4 grandparents spoke with an accent.]
voting rights somehow devalue citizenship:
The idea that citizenship is a meaningless concept to me and the others who
agree with me on this issue is spurious. Of course the concept of
citizenship is important to defend. Of course becoming a citizen has
tremendous value. Most of these "perks" would remain, if Minneapolis chose
to open voting to non-citizens. For instance, the ability to help elect
presidents, legislators, senators, governors, all of whom have tremendous
effects on the lives of all residents of this city and country.
The contradiction is in New York Harbor on the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...." And what? Make sure they stay tired, poor, and huddled?
What the immigrants need to learn is not that they'll be able to vote after they jump through hoops for citizenship, but how the system operates on a day to day basis. For that they have to not only vote, but put up candidates.
If we let them vote in local elections, they'll learn to use the system that much quicker. It will then be more difficult, once they do obtain citizenship, to keep them tired, poor, and huddled. They'll be more practiced in the system and may even, dare I say it, move the bleedin' system 'alf an inch off it's bloomin' arse? We can't have that now, can we?
WizardMarks, Central
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