What's Happened to California??? (dangerous, car, racism)

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

I don't think that statement is what draws the racism questions. It's the comments that usually come after people question the statements concerning the financial burden some believe the illegals are having on the state. Not everyone agrees on the "facts" tossed around in that specific debate, and the debates tend to fall apart when facts are debated and picked apart.

And we've seen plenty of negative comments citing the Spanish language, references towards Mexicans instead of "illegals", and plenty of blanket statements that ooze with ignorance. Just like all Mexicans get grouped together with illegals, you will sometimes get grouped in with the racists who share your view on the subject. It's something you and the American citizen with Mexican heritage have in common in this debate... unless of course that citizen is a dirty "anchor baby"... LOL

I do see your point and concur I do know many Mexicans and El Salvadorans who I consider my most trusted friends, and they tend to share my views on the illegal immigrant issue. They know what its like to have been through the immigration process legitimately. For many years mainland Europe has had an open borders policy and it has created havoc with the economy and many now regret the decision. I welcome immigrants to this country, but I want them to do it the legal way

[nightbird47]

My mother grew up in North Hollywood, when it was a seperate town. It was a couple of large hills away from Hollywood, which was also a town. Los Angeles was a small area around downtown. She and her friends would dissapear in the morning and come home for dinner and nobody worried. The Universal backlot was there then, and she and her friends grew up playing on it as well. It wasn't even fenced. My grandfather was a master set dresser for one of the studios and they knew all the stars of the time.

I can't even imagine the Valley and LA like that even though in the 50's it was all new and full of young families with kids who still did talk to each other. The traffice wasn't a nightmare and the people weren't so in a rush they didn't want you to delay them. And people dreamed and had hope their kids would have a better life.

I think that I wonder what my soon to be 19 year old son will have to do to make it and how I never quite got to where my parents were, and I feel very uneasy about the future. The generations when I was growing up, even though they'd gone through horrible times, were not so hopeless as people feel like now. Sad, and worse for the kids who have to navigate that future.

[Cyanna]

Originally Posted by californio sur

My issue with your original statement is this: If you lived in an all-white neighborhood and experienced crime [the usual stuff: burglaries, vandalism, auto theft, etc. that occurs in every city] would you say: "And the white people are STILL stealing the things we've paid for...our cars, cells phones, government tax dollars, etc..."? No, you wouldn't even mention the ethnic or racial background of the criminals. Evidently, based on your earlier post, you live in a heavily Latino neighborhood. Many majority Latino neighborhoods in Los Angeles metro are poor or struggling working-class. So the crime committed in those neighborhoods is mostly a reflection of the overall population: Latino. Since the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles county is Latino [mostly Mexican and Salvadorean] it is logical that the criminal activity would be mostly Latino. Just like in all-white areas of the nation; the crimes would be committed by whites. Poor white people like poor brown or black people commit the most crimes because they are desperate and some will do whatever they can to get want they want. Crime is color-blind.

When you move to Simi Valley and let's say your house is burglarized by a white person will you say it is just those "white" people? No, you would say a burglar robbed me and not even bother to mention that he was white\ anglo. Are all the people who live around you in your current location Mexican? Sounds like a overwhelming majority are so wouldn't it be logical that the majority of crimes are committed by Mexicans. So does that mean all Mexicans are criminals?

This one is easy to answer, LOL! As a matter of fact, YES, if a white person was guilty of committing a crime or a disturbance I would definately mention it. Just last Friday night I had to deal with a woman high on drugs and out of her head. She was going up and down the driveway and yelling in the open windows of my tenants. She was also throwing herself into the walls and when on the sidewalk trying to hit people with her backpack. When the police arrived I told them that she did NOT look Hispanic or black, and I believed she was caucasian. It was the officer who said..."Are you SURE she wasn't Hispanic?" I re-emphasized she was white.

In answer to your other question...No, not all Mexicans are criminal. I've helped a few come back to the USA LEGALLY through letters of support to the Embassy in Juarez

I know there are also plenty of white criminals as well as black ones, but as you've surmised, I live in a predominantly Hispanic area.

[Highnlite]

Embassy in Juarez

?

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by californio sur

For those nostalgic for the old California, I highly recommend reading a book written in the 1930's by authors who were paid by the government to travel the nation and described what they observed. "The WPA Guide to California" was just one such book that included a thorough road guide to the entire state. The way California was in the 1930's reminds me of rural areas of the Central Valley today. For example the San Gabriel Valley was just small towns surrounded by citrus groves for miles.

Here's a brief quote on Monrovia: "Pop 10,090, Monrovia is surrounded by orange, lemon and avocado groves and other orchards. Poultry raising and small gardening are important in the vicinity. The town is noted for a wide variety of trees and shrubs; in the northern part of town is a papaya plantation."

Monrovia was one of the larger towns but all of them were separated from each other by 10 or more miles and reached by two lane roads [no freeways or even 4 lane highways]. Just farms of groves and other agriculture.

The entire state of California is covered and almost unrecognizable compared to today. I have this book; you can get it for $10 on Amazon or other book websites:
Guide To California 1940 WPA Print from Zazzle.com

Thanks for the book info. In the 50s, Orange County was covered in orange groves (go figure) and to go from a beach town to one inland, say Newport Beach to Santa Anna or Anaheim, you drove on narrow, two lane roads with orange trees protected by rows of eucalyptus on both sides of you. It really smelled divine. You knew you were getting close to Anaheim when there was more open farmland and the smells of orange and eucalyptus were replaced by the scent of strawberries planted and tended by Japanese farmers.

[AwayAndBackToSac]

Originally Posted by Highnlite

I found it on the internet,

Thats the facts.

Yup...


No sorry. Please, if you know the website, let me know. I just don't buy it.

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by Highnlite

I found it on the internet,

someone doesn't know their history.

Here in a nutshell:
1846
Zachary Taylor invades Mexico from Texas, takes Monterrey
Kearny invades from Kansas, takes Santa Fe, splits his army, part proceeds south to El Paso and beyond, deep into Chihuahua, part heads west, takes Arizona and Southern California. Kearny is nearly defeated by the Californios, he has to be rescued by Kit Carson slipping through the Californio lines in the rainy dark and running to San Diego to get help from Commodore Stockton, who has already occupied San Diego.
Fremont, already in California arrests the governor of the north Vallejo, and proceeds south to join Kearny.
Winfield Scott lands at Veracruz conquers Mexico City, and occupies it for two years.

US Navy takes most Mexican Pacific coast ports and holds them for up to two years.

It was an invasion and dismemberment. The United States of America took half of the Republic of Mexico, killed thousands of Mexicans, occupied the capitol and major seaports for several years and forced a treaty on the Mexicans at gunpoint.

Thats the facts.

Always amazes me how many Americans don't know their own countries' history. California was invaded and conquered by the Americans. The people of California put up a fight but were outnumbered and lost. The Republic of California was just one of a number of Southwest provinces of Mexico that the United States decided to take for themselves. The Spanish-American war was the overthrow of a legitimate government who did nothing to the U.S. to justify being defeated and their territories taken from them. Even at the time of the war when the U.S. forces invaded Mexico City, the American people were a little embarrassed by their own unadulterated greed. Today the U.S. condemns other nations for doing the very thing America did to Mexico.

[Highnlite]

The Spanish-American wa

miss type, I bet you meant the Mexican war,

Yep, the parallels between "Polk's War" and "Bush's War" on Iraq are uncanny, and sad.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by californio sur

Always amazes me how many Americans don't know their own countries' history. California was invaded and conquered by the Americans. The people of California put up a fight but were outnumbered and lost. The Republic of California was just one of a number of Southwest provinces of Mexico that the United States decided to take for themselves. The Spanish-American war was the overthrow of a legitimate government who did nothing to the U.S. to justify being defeated and their territories taken from them. Even at the time of the war when the U.S. forces invaded Mexico City, the American people were a little embarrassed by their own unadulterated greed. Today the U.S. condemns other nations for doing the very thing America did to Mexico.

You realize that is not the war you're speaking about right?

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by Highnlite

miss type, I bet you meant the Mexican war,

Yep, the parallels between "Polk's War" and "Bush's War" on Iraq are uncanny, and sad.

Thanks for the correction. The History Channel covered this Mexican-American War recently; it was a real eye-opener and black eye for the U.S.