I'll give up my binoculars when they can pry them from my cold dead hands!
Posted on 08/15/2005 4:28:03 PM PDT by joeu
Letter from North America: “ ‘Ling Chi’ [lynching’s] Shadow”
BBC Special Internet Correspondent: Fang Hu Zhai
‘Ling chi’, using a knife to dismember a person piece by piece, was a method of torture practiced in ancient China. I am using ling chi here however as a borrowed translation to describe the history of ‘lynching’ in the United States.
Most of the history of lynching, the “illegal punishment” by hanging of a criminal without any legal process whatsoever, is tied to southern white racists. In the past, they wantonly killed blacks, other minorities, even white people who opposed their views, and thus made the term ‘lynching’ a roundly condemned action.
A group of volunteers calling themselves Minutemen recently appeared in Arizona. A white organization it spontaneously came together to patrol the border between the US and Mexico. The group believes the US government’s control over drug trafficking and illegal border crossings is wholly lacking. Stating that there is not enough resources on the border they have spontaneously armed themselves and, with their binoculars, created an extraordinary scene as they undertook supervision of the border. Shortly after they appeared they began to telephone the US Border Patrol to let them handle any incident
Criticism
Ordinarily this activity would not be extreme or illegal but after the Minutemen began they attracted a lot of criticism. Critics say essentially the Minutemen protest against illegal immigrants is racist and that there is little difference between their methods and the lynching used historically by white racists against blacks.
In March of this year during a Mexican trip the US Secretary of State Condeleesa Rice announced: “The US will not tolerate any illegal activity by the Minutemen” and that, although the government can not interfere in the activity, the first instance of illegal activity [by Minutemen] will result in law enforcement intervention. In reality, instances of white racists committing illegal acts against Mexicans are not unheard of . In the sparsely populated desert of the US-Mexico border area illegal alien deaths are common. The reason behind the deaths is essentially the result of unresolved problems. In the nineteenth century the lynching of Mexicans was not only done by ordinary white people but also by the government through the Texas Rangers. From 1848 to1928 there were 605 cases of lynched Mexicans, making them the second largest group persecuted in this way. (REFERENCES). Texas Rangers often hung Mexicans in front of the court house. (PUBLIC RECORDS).
Minutemen Campaign
The individual behind the Minutemen, Jim Gilchrist, is a retired accountant. Beginning in August of last year he began to use the internet for a nationwide recruitment of followers to prepare for April of this year in southern Arizona. News reports pointed out that human rights organization immediately struck back with organizers demonstrating at his home. He was also threatened by Latin American drug traffickers.
Jim said he didn’t realize that it would stir up so much trouble and wished he could go fishing. When he began he thought he would get a dozen or so people. He didn’t imagine that in two months there would be 800 people. Jim said that he himself is not a racist. His son- in-law is Mexican. He is not satisfied that the US government policy can handle the problem of illegal immigration. He said past immigrants kept their own culture and learned English, striving to blend into English society but the current situation is totally different. Some reports say he believes illegal immigration is a plot to have Americans speak Spanish.
It is worth pointing out that some scholars support Jim’s point of view. California history professor Victor David Hanson wrote ‘Mexifornia’, warning that without adopting appropriate measures California will be in fact dominated by Mexican immigrants.
But relying on the Minutemen will not solve the problem of illegal Mexican immigrants. California University social scientist Professor Gilberto Gonzales says the only way to solve the Mexican immigration problem is to end the hundred year-old policy of a US empire over Mexico.He says the US policy of colonization towards Mexico has destroyed the economy and caused many Mexicans to look north for a better life.
I agree with Professor Gonzales. I also think the US wants to keep Mexico in an impoverished state and in this way preserve an army of low income Mexicans wishing to work in US agriculture.. The US also needs Mexican low wage earners while avoiding any increase in the burden on the tightrope walked by US taxpayers.
The appearance of the Minutemen is complicating US- Mexican relations. Jim may have good intentions but there is no guarantee that good intentions will have good results. Establishing the Minutemen movement is tantamount to letting the devil out of the bottle to run amok. Even if he isn’t a racist, can he prevent white racists from participating in this type of campaign? 2005-08-08
Colonization? WTF is this moron talking about?
Oh yeah? Then ya can both ESAD.
He must be smokin' some of that opium. Maybe he was thinking of Tibet.
He's a moron ~ that's what he's talking about. Guy undoubtedly thinks the US sends all it's work to Mexico to be done by gangs of slave laborers or something.
So now the BBC has now become a mouthpiece for Chinese propaganda. I thought U.S. corporations pretty well had a corner on that market.
hrmn... last time I checked, the demographic makeup of the Minutemen was pretty diverse. This reads like a ChiCom "American Imperialist Running Dog" bit.
"This reads like a ChiCom "American Imperialist Running Dog" bit."
That it does.
This is the mindset of the BBC staff.
Oh great...now they're going to want our binoculars too...
Did it ever occure to this ...., no I guess it would not have, that long before southern white's where lynching people, the practice was done in the wild west to horse/cattle smugglers.
Enough said.
Ordinarily this activity would not be extreme or illegal but after the Minutemen began they attracted a lot of criticism. Critics say essentially the Minutemen protest against illegal immigrants is racist and that there is little difference between their methods and the lynching used historically by white racists against blacks.Damn, that is offensive.
What the hell kind of lynch mob sits in lawn chairs, being shot at but not returning fire and when they see a violation of law does not take action themselves but instead calls law enforcement? This is closer to a neighborhood watch than any of the other things it gets called.
How can a news organization cite such "critics" with no sense at all of reality checks?
And why after reading the BBC for years do I expect anything different? Maybe I'm the stupid one.
ping
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
The only colonization going on here is this swarm of Mexicans and others that refuse to assimilate or learn English and have attached themselves on to our welfare system sucking it dry.
lynch (v.) 1835, from earlier Lynch law (1811), likely named after William Lynch (1742-1820) of Pittsylvania, Va., who c.1780 led a vigilance committee to keep order there during the Revolution. Other sources trace the name to Charles Lynch (1736-96) a Virginia magistrate who fined and imprisoned Tories in his district c.1782, but the connection to him is less likely. Originally any sort of summary justice, especially by flogging; narrowing of focus to "extralegal execution by hanging" is 20c. Lynch mob is attested from 1838. The surname is either from O.E. hlinc "hill" or Ir. Loingseach "sailor."
And why do we let them get by with lies!
Lynching is the illegal execution of an accused person by a mob. The term lynching probably derived from the name Charles Lynch (1736-96), a justice of the peace who administered rough justice in Virginia. Lynching was originally a system of punishment used by whites against African American slaves. However, whites who protested against this were also in danger of being lynched. On 7th November, 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, the editor of the Alton Observer, was killed by a white mob after he had published articles criticizing lynching and advocating the abolition of slavery.
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