Texas,
I will grant you that you are close to the action. And I will grant you that you have seen and heard firsthand things I and others have not. But you must also grant that you have not seen and heard everything on the matter. No one is denying what you know to be true in light of what you've lived. And, granted my speculations about what they were "saying" (believing that actions speak louder than words--I was trying to interpret their actions through hyperbole) is based on my own narrow view of human nature (seasoned with my own personal views, attitudes, feelings). What did we see yesterday? A single voice? A single ideological bent? A single group? A single segment of the illegal population? Yes...and No! They were together, but they were different. Different accents, different nationalities, different reasons for being there (perhaps), etc. Therefore, yesterday is open to different interpretations. Since your experience and my own are relatively narrow ones, given the broadness of the issue, mine cannot necessarily be used to refute yours, nor yours mine.
Your perceptions about the nature of some are no doubt right on. Some are really here just to cash in, just to get freebies, just to be taken care of. They've heard all about our generosity (or, in today's terms, our foolhardy liberal ways) and they want some. I have been a school teacher in inner city schools for some time. I have seen the welfare mentality at work (uh, I have seen it at idle...you get the idea.)
Others of those folks are here because they want to annex a big chunk of America to their land. They have been stirred up by the angry Left which always does whatever it can to bring America down. These want us to vacate and give them what they think belongs to them. They will never become part of America. They hate us. Period. Within each of these 2 groups there are those who subscribe to both avenues of approach to America (bring America down by sucking her dry). There are also those whose idle ways are not so nefarious.
Still others (and this was the group I was thinking about) have come thinking they could be a part of something new, exciting, full of hope. They want to live in America. I would say they want to be Americans, but I don't know if they even know what that means. For sure, they haven't come the way immigrants have come in the past (Legally, for starters, but also willing to become American--today's immigrant comes as the Liberals will allow him--hold onto as much of your own nationalism as you want, don't you worry, America won't impose being an American on you. A while back I posted asking the question what was the difference between European immigrants and today's immigrants. The answer is the hyphen. European immigrants came and became Americans. Today's immigrants become Mexican-Americans, Korean-Americans, Nigerian-Americans. Those folks who were demonstrating yesterday were comprised, in part, by a certain percentage that have placed their hope in a liberals view of immigration--come, stay, we'll feed you. These folks will be bottom-feeders as long as they hold to this notion. My thinking was, that in order to take jobs (yawn, get ready, here we go, you've all heard this before) that no American will take, they must have left something somewhat less desirable behind. Perhaps this is granting them too much of the benefit of the doubt. But, I don't wish to paint them all with the same brush, and I have friends and family members who are recent arrivals who still subsribe to the ideals of America that make her great and believe by coming here they can find those for themselves. I believe this mindset was also on display, in part (in small part?--if it will make you feel better, in small part) yesterday.
Actually, I saw more of an entitlement mentality than any other. I wish I could say that I saw more but I didn't. True, we can't paint them all with the same brush.
Part of their entitlement rationale is NAFTA. NAFTA forced many of Mexico's farmers off their farms and a lot of the farmers came to the U.S. for work.
Another problem with the entitlement mentality is the lack of education. One of the hospital admission questions is how much education an individual has in relationship to his understanding of the disease process and care. You would absolutely be surprised with the number of Mexicans with a 6th or 7th grade education. You assume when you look at an American age 25 or 30 that this person has a high school education. Not true with Mexicans even though they are dressed nicely and speak nicely. These people can be easily lead in the wrong direction and so many believe they are entitled to welfare even though I know some who sell their food stamps. There are a few with high school and college educations.
When I read the list of sponsors for May 1, I knew it was bad news. They even had listed "Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation" which is none other than a Latino street gang.
I am glad to know that those in your family are coming over with the right attitudes. We, as a country, need immigrants with good attitudes and the immigrants will also profit from a good Attitude.