Arizona laws = manifest insanity

A continuation of the themes begun in Arizona Laws = Clash of Civilizations:

From Manifest Destiny to manifest insanity

By Roberto RodriguezThose politics, fueled by hateful and cowardly politicians and the hate-radio universe, are undeniably anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant. Yet in truth, they actually are anti-indigenous. In effect, the politics that we are seeing are undeniably an extension of Manifest Destiny. Its modern expression is Manifest Insanity, an attempt to maintain the myth of America conceived of as a promise of a pristine, God-given home reserved for English-speaking White Anglo Saxon Protestants–this amid the browning of the nation.

These Arizona laws are part of a spasmodic reaction to this demographic shift, an attempt to maintain a political and cultural dominance over [brown] peoples seen as less than human and as defeated peoples. These laws seek to maintain this narrative of conquest. This is why the loss of some 5,000 Mexicans and Central Americans lives, primarily indigenous peoples, in the Arizona/Sonora desert in the past dozen years mean little in this clash. The same is true in regards to the recent killings of two Mexicans by U.S. agents along the U.S./Mexico border.
And:Ethnic Studies indeed is a threat to the myth of America–the mythical America where genocide, land theft, slavery and dehumanization are denied or are but mere footnotes, as opposed to being the recognized foundation of this nation. (Unchallenged, this glossed-over view is what permits U.S. citizens to view permanent war as a God-given birthright). With such a denial, the concept of “Occupied America,” an occupied continent, becomes unfathomable. The narrative of an empty continent, incidentally, is what permits the myth of no occupation.

The best that Raza Studies critics do is attempt to dehumanize Mexicans/Chicanos. In their conjured-up narrative, Mexicans/Chicanos are neither legitimate Americans, nor legitimate human beings. Neither are they afforded the status of indigenous peoples. At best, they are mongrels, undeserving of full human rights.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Conservatives Hope Minorities Will Forget and Natives Lead Arizona Law Protest.