# Colorado Politician Calls Mexican Immigrants "Illiterate Peasants" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 22, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349 "2008-04-22T02:25:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/61 "2008-04-22T17:04:46Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] In part by their service in the Union army during the Civil War. So the answer is to send illegal immigrants to Iraq. Marc [/QUOTE] And then the other part is all about the Bennigans baby. Have yourself some Potato O’ Skins and a Killians on us. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/62 "2008-04-22T17:06:58Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Christ, shut up. [/QUOTE] Firstly, thanks for the compliment but I’m not The Saviour. Secondly, the truth hurts doesn’t it? Made you wince? Wish for it to stop? Too bad. What you are spewing here are lies and half-truths. Hispanics have not taken over fast food restaurants. And if they have, go speak to the managers about their hiring practices. Mexicans are not, by and large, illiterate. Nor are they peasants. But I see it makes you feel good to think that they are. What does that make you? At the very least, a fucking idiot. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/63 "2008-04-22T17:11:43Z")
[QUOTE=Lamar Mundane] Oh, and **DudleyGarrett**? You think Northern Virginia has a lot of Hispanic immigrants? The entire Western half of the United States laughs at you. [/QUOTE] I’m sure there are lots more elsewhere. But, read more [here](http://www.google.com/search?q=herndon+immigration&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8). It’s a Google link, but there are some problems here… problems that the area hasn’t had to deal with before. I suspect one of them is that this area is an up-and-coming yuppie haven while at the same time there were lots of [il]legal immigrants funneling in. It came to a brief head a year ago. But the bigger storm is still brewing. The people that have lived here for 10 years or more wonder what the hell happened to their little Herndon. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/64 "2008-04-22T17:53:03Z")
Forgive me if I missed the answer to this earlier in the thread, but do they count as illiterate (sp?) if they can read and write Spanish, but not English? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/65 "2008-04-22T18:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=zamboniracer] Forgive me if I missed the answer to this earlier in the thread, but do they count as illiterate (sp?) if they can read and write Spanish, but not English? [/QUOTE] Since the country doesn’t have an official language, it doesn’t make much sense to call them illiterate if they speak and read Spanish. Republican rabble-rousers’ MMV. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/66 "2008-04-22T19:12:08Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Do you really think that piece of trash that was aimed at me deserved more? [/QUOTE] Obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/67 "2008-04-22T19:48:37Z")
[QUOTE=Caffeine.addict] Are you serious? I live in DC and go into Alexandria and Arlington somewhat frequently. We must go to different fast food places. Most of the ones I’ve gone to have people who speak English as their native language. [/QUOTE] Wrong. I live in Alexandria, and lived in Arlington before that, and Falls Church before that… I haven’t been to a single fast-food restaurant around here that isn’t fully staffed with Latinos with thick accents. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/68 "2008-04-22T19:55:58Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] I’m sure there are lots more elsewhere. But, read more [here](http://www.google.com/search?q=herndon+immigration&sourceid=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8). It’s a Google link, but there are some problems here… problems that the area hasn’t had to deal with before. I suspect one of them is that this area is an up-and-coming yuppie haven while at the same time there were lots of [il]legal immigrants funneling in. It came to a brief head a year ago. But the bigger storm is still brewing. The people that have lived here for 10 years or more wonder what the hell happened to their little Herndon. [/QUOTE] Dudley is correct about the huge numbers of Hispanics in Herndon. I was born and raised in the town neighboring Herndon. The low cost of living there is lower compared to neighboring areas of Fairfax County - due to older affordable housing (apartment complexes, etc.) That is what attracted them. Then it evolved into the hub for day laborers to wait for work, and it went from there. However it’s not just Herndon… In various areas of Arlington and Alexandria, you will see multitudes of Hispanic men waiting in groups on practically every corner, all day long, waiting for work. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/69 "2008-04-22T20:02:12Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Then it evolved into the hub for day laborers to wait for work, and it went from there. [/QUOTE] Well, that’s just the free market in operation, and of course free markets are the lifeblood of America. **Dudley** , why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/70 "2008-04-22T20:06:05Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] I think you should - it’d be living up to the principles that used to make America something to be admired. You know, the words on Lady Liberty and all that. [/QUOTE] I don’t think we ever threw the doors open wide. There was always some measure of selectivity. If we threw the doors open wide, we’d be overwhelmed by the poor all over the world and our infrastructure would buckle under the strain. I’m all for Guest worker programs and making it easier for people to become citizens and for allowing non-citizens to have drivers licenses and all that, but there has to be some sort of criteria for allowing people in. People say that one of the reasons we don’t have Islamic terrorism like Europe does is that our criteria are more selective. Where they have poorer populations from former colonies, like the French Algerians, we have largely more educated and successful Muslim populations. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/71 "2008-04-22T20:06:14Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Well, that’s just the free market in operation, and of course free markets are the lifeblood of America. **Dudley** , why do you hate America? [/QUOTE] Dude, I just want a Big Mac and fries. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/72 "2008-04-22T20:09:43Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] Dude, I just want a Big Mac and fries. [/QUOTE] No, senor, usted quiere una hamburguesa “Grande Mac” y papases fritas. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/73 "2008-04-22T20:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] No, senor, usted quiere una hamburguesa “Grande Mac” y papases fritas. [/QUOTE] That’s what she said. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/74 "2008-04-22T20:13:50Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] 'Course, the same is true of Texas . . . sorry, Tejas . . . and probably AZ and NM, too. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I grew up in NM and I couldn’t really see the big deal for a long time. I’m starting to get it. I don’t really care. Hispanic immigrants don’t bother me, but my Uncle and his Girlfriend in an affluent NJ suburb make some mention about how they are taking over down there. I’ve known very nice hardworking Mexican families and degenerate gangbangers. I can kind of see it from both sides. I am willing to hire Mexican immigrants to do work for me. I don’t really care. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/75 "2008-04-22T20:17:10Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] I don’t think we ever threw the doors open wide. There was always some measure of selectivity. [/QUOTE] Actually, it was pretty wide-open, with no barriers **at all,** before the [Chinese Exclusion Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act_of_1882) of 1882 and the [Emergency Quota Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Quota_Act) of 1921. (The [Naturalization Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization_Act_of_1790) of 1790 did not address immigration as such, only naturalization.) ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/76 "2008-04-22T20:19:40Z")
[QUOTE=Biggirl] Yeah, I’m looking at you **mswas** and **Dudley**. [/QUOTE] Literacy and intelligence are not really intertwined. A person might be literate in Spanish, but they are still functionally illiterate in English. As far as peasantry goes, they are from largely agrarian areas. Over-sensitivity toward this sort of thing is silly IMO. It’s up there with ‘Obama hates his Grandma and the Working Class.’, just more gotcha identity politics. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/77 "2008-04-22T20:20:59Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] I don’t think we ever threw the doors open wide. [/QUOTE] Never said you did. Said you should. [QUOTE=mswas] There was always some measure of selectivity. If we threw the doors open wide, we’d be overwhelmed by the poor all over the world and our infrastructure would buckle under the strain. [/QUOTE] So if I understand, you don’t want to do it because it’s hard, expensive and potentially dangerous? That’s fine. Practicality before Principle. Perfectly understandable. I take it you guys will be melting down the statue any day now, right? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/78 "2008-04-22T20:22:05Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Actually, it was pretty wide-open, with no barriers **at all,** before the [Chinese Exclusion Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act_of_1882) of 1882 and the [Emergency Quota Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Quota_Act) of 1921. (The [Naturalization Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization_Act_of_1790) of 1790 did not address immigration as such, only naturalization.) [/QUOTE] Well that shows that the doors were not wide open throughout our history. In 1790 they had no method of enforcement, and later when they could enforce it, they did. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/79 "2008-04-22T20:24:20Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] Never said you did. Said you should. [/quote] Why would watching our nation’s infrastructure be overwhelmed by poor people seeking the good life they saw on Television, be some sort of rhetorical win? > [@](#): > > So if I understand, you don’t want to do it because it’s hard, expensive and potentially dangerous? That’s fine. Practicality before Principle. Perfectly understandable. Practicality before principle yes. > [@](#): > > I take it you guys will be melting down the statue any day now, right? :rolleyes: As I said, I’m not horribly concerned by Mexican immigration myself, but I’m not going to pretend the issue is simply a matter of some facile ideological consistency. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/80 "2008-04-22T20:24:25Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] Dudley is correct about the huge numbers of Hispanics in Herndon. I was born and raised in the town neighboring Herndon. The low cost of living there is lower compared to neighboring areas of Fairfax County - due to older affordable housing (apartment complexes, etc.) That is what attracted them. Then it evolved into the hub for day laborers to wait for work, and it went from there. However it’s not just Herndon… In various areas of Arlington and Alexandria, you will see multitudes of Hispanic men waiting in groups on practically every corner, all day long, waiting for work. [/QUOTE] I also lived in Fairfax County for a number of years (Burke three different times and then Falls Church) and the DC area has ALL KINDS of ethnic groups represented, but there are a LOT of El Salvadoreans, Guatmalans, etc there, and many of them are illiterate (meaning they cannot read or write their own language, not English). I found this out because I worked with many of them in restaurants and would speak to them. I left DC Metro in 1993 to live out here in the Cincinnati area…there were huge amounts of immigrants there then, and lots of clogged highways…I can only imagine it now. I remember living in Burke in 1975, back when there were actually groups of trees that resembled forests, not lonely token bearers of leaves in a postage-stamp yard like you see nowadays. My how things change. Reston wasn’t anything more than a few farms back then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349.md?page=5)