Apartheid and Beverly Hills

"Millions of Hispanics, mostly poor and uneducated, have immigrated to America illegally since the early 1990s. Most are Mexicans and most of them are high school dropouts. Compared to what they might have had in a slum or impoverished rural area of Mexico or Central America, these immigrants have done well here. It has been a different story for their neighbors--middle class Americans. For them, illegal immigration has often meant a deterioration of their neighborhoods, public schools, and their quality of life--especially across America's Southwest. Some have watched their culture erode: It's not uncommon to see Mexican flags flying in Spanish-speaking enclaves in towns and cities from Texas to California. ... Most middle-class Americans are fed up with illegal immigration. ... You definitely won't find any Mexcians crowding into low-rent apartments in those areas, creating Spanish-speaking enclaves resembling shabby parts of Mexico. ... In exclusive towns like Westport, Connecticut (pop. 27,000), a place I'm familar with. It's composed almost entirely of very expensive single-family houses. Oh, and something else about Westport: It's overwhelming white. ... In Austin, which prides itself on being inclusive, multicultural and diverse, gang activity is surging, say police. However, Austin's politically correct media tiptoes around the Hispanic character of gang violence. It's not as if Connecticut has no illegal immigrants; it does. The working-class city of Danbury just north of Westport--a 40-minute drive away--is home to thousands of illegal immigrants from Ecuador and Brazil. They comprise an estimated 20 percent of the 80,000 population. Angry residents blame the invasion for straining the city's schols and social services and lowering its quality of life. ... So why has nothing like this happenened in Westport? It's thanks to draconian zoning rules. ... Back in the mid-1980s, before illegal immigration was a problem, critics of Westport's zoning policies accused the town of creating a 'zoning wall of exclusion.' As a consequence, middle-class people working in one of Westport's many office complexes couldn't afford to live in the town; they had to commute from less affluent towns and cities in the region. Westport's homes also were too expensive for policemen and firemen, school teachers, and social workers. ... In other affluent bedroom communities in the northeast's blue states, that's how they do things. ... Spinning the story around an open-borders agenda, the Times portray's Irving's residents (its white residents) as narrrow-minded hicks. Yet even the Times cannot ignore some of the changes that have happened in Irving due to illegal immigration, primarily from Mexcio. Residents of Danbury should pay close attention. ... Hispanic birthrates have been explosive in Irving and across the nation. Many of these children are the offspring from millions of illegal immigrants whom Congress allowed to stay under an amnesty in the 1990s. Today, Irving's future may be found in its public schools: 70 percent of kids enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade are Hispanic, notes the Times. More than a few experts on immigration have expressed concern that the sons and daughters of these immigrants tend to do poorly in school, and dropout up until the fourth generation. Indeed, compared to other immigrant groups, the children of Hispanic immigrant groups have the highest dropout rates, say experts. ... You have to wonder how liberal elites at the Times would feel if such problems suddenly visited their neighborhoods--drunken illegal aliens stumbling about in the street. Driving without a license and insurance. Or contemplating their next violent crime? ... Why do liberal elites at the New York Times find it so much easier to identify with illegal immigrants than with middle-class Americans?," my emphasis, David Paulin, 3 May 2009 at: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/illegal_immigration_liberal_el.html.

War story time. In about 1998 I was riding a bus in Beverly Hills (BH). A Negro lady on the bus complained of her 14-mile 40-minute commute from South Central. I asked her if she knew why she commuted so long. She said no. I told her because of apartheid. She said what? BH calls it zoning. I asked her if she could rent an apartment in BH. She said there weren't any. She then said only South Africa (SA) had apartheid. I asked her if Shaquille O'Neal could stay in any hotel in SA? She said sure. He's got millions of dollars. He can go anywhere. I asked her why should she worry about apartheid in SA when we have it here. She looked quizzically and said, "You're right". It's not only Northeastern states that use zoning for exclusionary purposes. I don't need to see Irving. Los Angeles Unified School District is 73% Hispanic.

"Compared to what they might have had". In high school I read Charles Dickens Oliver Twist. My English teacher was a flaming pinko (FP). FP railed out against the evils of industrialization, London's black snow, 72-hour work weeks and the exploitation of the masses. I said nothing and did some research. In those days farmers frequently worked 98 hours a week. Armed with this I asked FP if London's factory workers were held at work at gunpoint. He said no. I then asked him why they didn't return to the farms. FP said nothing. I said my conclusion is: factory work was the best option they had. I then asked FP if he knew if farm or factory work had longer hours. FP didn't. He became furious as I exposed his ignorance. If I had done this today, I'm sure FP would have me sent to a re-education camp.