# 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:** 5
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/81 "2008-04-22T20:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] 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? [/QUOTE] You could _build up_ your infrastructure - hey, with all the new workers, and the taxes they’ll be paying. Just like you did with all the Irish peasants…and the Polish peasants…and the Scandiwegian peasants. What’s the difference between the illiterate peasants of the 1890s and the illiterate peasants of the 21st C.? [QUOTE=mswas] 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. [/QUOTE] Never said it was simple. But an ideological inconsistency it is, facile or not. ---
**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, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/82 "2008-04-22T20:38:16Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] What’s the difference between the illiterate peasants of the 1890s and the illiterate peasants of the 21st C.? [/QUOTE] [Color.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=310401) ---
**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, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/83 "2008-04-22T21:18:46Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] You could _build up_ your infrastructure - hey, with all the new workers, and the taxes they’ll be paying. Just like you did with all the Irish peasants…and the Polish peasants…and the Scandiwegian peasants. What’s the difference between the illiterate peasants of the 1890s and the illiterate peasants of the 21st C.? [/quote] We have jet planes today. Open citizenship means not just Mexicans, but Central Americans, South Americans, Southeast Asians, Indonesians, Chinese, Russians, Central Asians, Arabs, Persians, Africans Northern and Southern, Europeans Easterns and Western, Polynesians, etc… > [@](#): > > Never said it was simple. But an ideological inconsistency it is, facile or not. I’m sorry that not wanting to become the most populous nation on Earth overnight is ideologically inconsistent, but there it is. ---
**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, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/84 "2008-04-22T21:20:48Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Color.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=310401) [/QUOTE] Now this is just plain retarded. People viewed the Irish worse than the view Mexicans today. The difference is modern transportation and the fact that a billion people would move here if they could. ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/85 "2008-04-22T21:28:24Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] We have jet planes today. [/QUOTE] YThey had steamships then - no difference. It was enough to bring all those other immigrants I mentioned. [QUOTE=mswas] I’m sorry that not wanting to become the most populous nation on Earth overnight is ideologically inconsistent, but there it is. [/QUOTE] You should relish the challenge. As it is, you consume 30% of the world’s resources. Seems only fair, globally speaking, you should have 30% of her population. ---
**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, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/86 "2008-04-22T21:29:05Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] People viewed the Irish worse than the view Mexicans today. [/QUOTE] [At first.](http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Became-White-Noel-Ignatiev/dp/0415918251) But the Meskins will never “become white.” ---
**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, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/87 "2008-04-22T21:30:56Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Color.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=310401) [/QUOTE] Makes the State of the politician kind of ironic, doesn’t it? ---
**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, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/88 "2008-04-22T21:35:11Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [At first.](http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Became-White-Noel-Ignatiev/dp/0415918251) But the Meskins will never “become white.” [/QUOTE] I disagree. I think they became white this year showing that their vote can swing Democratic elections even when the Negro vote goes like 90% one way. > [@](#): > > YThey had steamships then - no difference. It was enough to bring all those other immigrants I mentioned. No difference between a steamship and a 747 eh? Funny, I always thought the smell of coal and the bitter Atlantic winds were remarkably absent every time I’ve flown. Also, mass media. A lot of those people didn’t know about America, or know how to get there, and the mass transit didn’t make it relatively easy for them to do so, not like today. Back in the day it was a one way trip, without a clear picture of where you were headed. Today you have television shows that show you exactly what it’s like and you can get there in about 48 hours from anywhere on the globe. As for your America bash at the end, piffle. ---
**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, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/89 "2008-04-22T21:55:10Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] No difference between a steamship and a 747 eh? [/QUOTE] You’re right, my bad - you can pack a lot more people in steerage than in a 747. [QUOTE=mswas] Also, mass media. A lot of those people didn’t know about America, or know how to get there, and the mass transit didn’t make it relatively easy for them to do so, not like today. [/QUOTE] The kind of people you wish to exclude couldn’t afford a paper aeroplane, much less an airline ticket. There’s as much chance of them rocking up on the chitty-chitty bang-bang as a 747. Interesting factoid - the most popular song sung by Coloured minstrels, dating back to the Civil War, is “Daar Kom Die Alabama”, about a Confederate battleship that visited Cape Town. America wasn’t as unknown as you’d think, even then. [QUOTE=mswas] As for your America bash at the end, piffle. [/QUOTE] It’s not a bash, it’s the truth. ---
**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, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/90 "2008-04-22T22:01:04Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] You’re right, my bad - you can pack a lot more people in steerage than in a 747. [/quote] Today we have 747s AND boats. But how long would it take the steamship to get here? It’s about ratios. How many people could 747s bring across in the same amount of time as the steamship crossing would take? > [@](#): > > The kind of people you wish to exclude couldn’t afford a paper aeroplane, much less an airline ticket. There’s as much chance of them rocking up on the chitty-chitty bang-bang as a 747. That’s not true, there are plenty of people who can afford it. Enough to overwhelm the infrastructure. > [@](#): > > Interesting factoid - the most popular song sung by Coloured minstrels, dating back to the Civil War, is “Daar Kom Die Alabama”, about a Confederate battleship that visited Cape Town. America wasn’t as unknown as you’d think, even then. I am not saying it was unknown, just that people were far less informed on the whole. They knew about America, they just didn’t know what it was like here because we weren’t piping images into their living room. You know, like this internet you and I are using to communicate with. > [@](#): > > It’s not a bash, it’s the truth. Yeah, I know, it’s that it’s a non sequitur that makes it a bash. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/91 "2008-04-22T22:07:41Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] I would like to see a cite that immigrants are actually pheasants. [/QUOTE] \ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/92 "2008-04-23T02:21:25Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] I’m also guessing those screeching liberals who are condemning the politician for his comments don’t live in areas where there are lots of recent Hispanic immigrants or know really anything past a few Googled links. It’s tiresome. [/QUOTE] I am the OP, and I teach in an inner city high school that is 95% Hispanic, numbnuts. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/93 "2008-04-23T12:06:24Z")
[QUOTE=Frostillicus] I am the OP, and I teach in an inner city high school that is 95% Hispanic, numbnuts. [/QUOTE] “screeching liberal” – check. “live in areas” – whoops. Tell me about your tough life in the barrio. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/94 "2008-04-23T13:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=nyctea scandiaca] 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. [/QUOTE] Born in DC, grew up in Fairfax County, have lived in Arlington, Alexandria (Fairfax County) and currently live in the District. The fast food places across from my high school had quite a few students working in them. Currently where I live in the District, the vast majority of the fast food workers that I have run into are African American. (Popeyes, McDonalds, and a Burger King). I haven’t eaten in a fast food place in Arlington in a while but when I lived there I would occasionally eat in the Wendy’s? near Courthouse Metro and I don’t recall them being all that non English speaking immigrant heavy. I went to the California Tortilla not that long ago near Courthouse and had a similar experience. I agree that there are a large number of Hispanics in the area. In Northern VA, they are the largest minority group at this point. However, Northern VA has large numbers of immigrant groups of all sorts. Annandale has a large Korean and Korean American population. You have Eden in Seven Corners which is entirely Vietnamese. I don’t see the Hispanics as integrating differently then other minority groups. The vast majority of their children speak English fluently and Spanish less so. By the grandchildren’s generation, they don’t really speak much Spanish. Again, they aren’t any different than the Asian immigrants and they aren’t any different than the Poles, Italians, and other immigrant groups from 100 years ago. Does anyone have any kind of cite for the claim that the majority are illiterate? **Dudley** it looks like half of the hits on Google are for immigration attorneys. From what I recall the issue in Herndon exploded because they wanted to build a day laborer center in Herndon. It was a typical NIMBY thing. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/95 "2008-04-23T14:10:06Z")
[QUOTE=DudleyGarrett] You can’t be serious. [/QUOTE] Yes, I can. But I’m half-joking in this thread. Impotent fury makes me want to point & laugh… ---
**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 23, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/96 "2008-04-23T16:12:24Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Today we have 747s AND boats. But how long would it take the steamship to get here? It’s about ratios. How many people could 747s bring across in the same amount of time as the steamship crossing would take? [/QUOTE] Who said there’s _one_ steamship? [QUOTE=mswas] That’s not true, there are plenty of people who can afford it. Enough to overwhelm the infrastructure. [/QUOTE] I highly doubt it - the people who could afford to come to the US are generally the same people who have no need to come to the US because they are top of the heap where they are. [QUOTE=mswas] I am not saying it was unknown, just that people were far less informed on the whole. They knew about America, they just didn’t know what it was like here because we weren’t piping images into their living room. You know, like this internet you and I are using to communicate with. [/QUOTE] If you think TV and the internet provide a more accurate image of what it’s like to live somewhere than books and newspapers, you’re mistaken. Plus, I thought we were talking about illiterate peasants here? Where do they get the electricity, money or time to have TV and internet? Have you ever been in a real Third World country? [QUOTE=mswas] Yeah, I know, it’s that it’s a non sequitur that makes it a bash. [/QUOTE] It’s not a _non sequitur_. It very much signifies. You were basically saying that there was no good reason America should let in anyone at detriment to current Americans. I supplied what I consider good reasons - payback and fairness. YMMV, but the only counter I can easily see boils down to selfishness. Perhaps you have a different tack. I’d be interested to hear it. But just waving the charge of selfishness away because it is pejorative isn’t a counterargument. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/97 "2008-04-23T16:19:27Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] Who said there’s _one_ steamship? [/quote] There are lots of ships and planes today. Is this going somewhere? > [@](#): > > I highly doubt it - the people who could afford to come to the US are generally the same people who have no need to come to the US because they are top of the heap where they are. That’s not true at all. > [@](#): > > If you think TV and the internet provide a more accurate image of what it’s like to live somewhere than books and newspapers, you’re mistaken. Plus, I thought we were talking about illiterate peasants here? Where do they get the electricity, money or time to have TV and internet? Have you ever been in a real Third World country? You think that literacy is a requirement to watch Television? > [@](#): > > It’s not a _non sequitur_. It very much signifies. You were basically saying that there was no good reason America should let in anyone at detriment to current Americans. I supplied what I consider good reasons - payback and fairness. YMMV, but the only counter I can easily see boils down to selfishness. Perhaps you have a different tack. I’d be interested to hear it. But just waving the charge of selfishness away because it is pejorative isn’t a counterargument. America uses a disproportionate amount of resources, but it also props up the world economy. Sticking to ideology is all well and good if you want to be a bilious curmudgeon but it’s not rational policy. You want to reduce it to selfishness but be my guest. The existance of a wealthy America has been good for the world as a whole. A good example is that we keep the level of piracy down so that global trade is possible. Part of the point of American foreign policy that is a point of contention constantly, domestically and abroad is the policy of trying to stabilize the rest of the world economy for trade in order to bring up the standard of living of the rest of the world so they don’t need to move here. ---
**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 23, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/98 "2008-04-23T16:27:58Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] A good example is that we keep the level of piracy down so that global trade is possible. [/QUOTE] Er… what? Worldwide, shipping-related piracy cost approximately $16 billion last year. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/99 "2008-04-23T16:42:36Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Er… what? Worldwide, shipping-related piracy cost approximately $16 billion last year. [/QUOTE] So what’s your point? My cousin on the USS Hayler took down pirates on a number of occasions. ---
**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 23, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349/100 "2008-04-23T16:58:40Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] So what’s your point? My cousin on the USS Hayler took down pirates on a number of occasions. [/QUOTE] And where, exactly, did he do that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-politician-calls-mexican-immigrants-illiterate-peasants/446349.md?page=6)