Immigration and Richmond
by Robert Russo
In my piece on urban sprawl I mentioned how real estate developers entice Northerners to move to our climate leading one to ask "is Richmond part of Northern Virginia?".* If the effects of this unmonitored political and cultural transplantation are true, what does one wonder about the influx of our foreign friends into this city, without bias, many of whom can’t tell us themselves or even understand such urban considerations? This week I will relate some glimpses into non-English Richmond I received during the brief time I worked as a translator.
Immigration is one of the most harrowing issues we have faced this year as a nation, for we are all immigrants ourselves but are presented with overcrowded gates, illegal residents and a thinning cultural identity. We associate these issues with Florida and California but it is in our area as well. It is a conundrum that goes beyond party lines, so I will not attempt to dissertate all its facets or propose one policy but that we should bring people’s issues to their own attention, as we must, in language they understand.
The nations of Europe are polarized on this debate, where religious freedoms are being denied Jews and Muslims to preserve a way of life.** We used to live in a world with one group advancing in political power but not culture and the other advancing in culture but not political power; now we have a world in which the superpowers are invading poor countries politico-economically while those countries are invading the superpowers culturally with their numbers.
Employers of large labor forces in Richmond such as landscapers, supply centers and janitorial services often have an Arabic, Spanish and French translator on hand and this is how I came to know my Egyptian friend. Five Egyptians were hired for his shift and he has a brother and cousin who are both convenience store managers and employers of non-English speakers, so I can only guess at the number of recent immigrants from his country in this city. He and his friends are all Christian, not Muslim, which made me wonder if there is religious persecution in his homeland. Workers born and raised in Virginia are often suspicious of these ethnic groups, wondering what it is they talk about, thinking perhaps they all live in one room and are pooling their resources here intending to return to their country and live off the proceeds.
I first picked up my friend while hitchhiking and taught him to drive, even though he had a $30,000 car gifted to him with his son’s name on the license plate. I took his son to the first dentist he had ever seen in his life, to find out he had eight cavities and a fungal infection from being hand-fed at the dinner table, and yet the father has a cell phone which I have never owned. One day I had to stop one of his buddies from towing his car home with rope (and not very good rope). To this day I am not able to ask my friend what he really thinks about life, why he is here or if he has any aspirations besides cleaning bathrooms to support his family. I watch him with his new car and cell phone oblivious to traffic lights and stop signs as people swerve to avoid him. He has no comprehension of the community in which he wants to be a citizen, its history, those who govern him, the voting process, or political matters.
One day during a meeting one of his compatriots stood up and explained, in good English, that thousands of their countrymen in Egypt want to come to America but have difficultly taking English classes because our language, and culture, are unpopular there. So we have a completely self-serving enterprise in which other cultures dislike ours but want to reap the rewards of capitalism and escape their native situations. What makes immigration a strange non-party issue is the fact that it is the lowest class (some not citizens at all) that are fighting it, so the protestations of helpless foreigners we are used to seeing on CNN are now in our own democracy.
My superior during this time said something to me that was the most startling of all. Being from DC he complained of how there is "nothing" of interest in Richmond, no reputable colleges, no major sports teams, no nightclubs. With one of our most difficult problems being the overgrowth of Richmond, what will result from these new voices coming to the table? They came here to secure their own prospects, they certainly do not care about our culture. In our quest to bring representation to these new Americans and know what they care about on a national scale, will we find they are not interested in the Constitution at all?
Having seen some of the bank tellers, tax preparers, physicians, teachers and employers that have to deal with my Egyptian friend I wonder how they have had to prepare for many exactly like him. If the police respond to a domestic disturbance and people can’t understand them then explanation must not be required for any cop to make an arrest. If a local representative can't communicate with his next door neighbor then no obligation exists to represent people. Knowing how government works and what decisions are being made is not required for my friend’s survival in this city, which raises the question, will the day come when no citizen is expected to know more than him?
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/26/AR2006032601175.html?nav=rss_realestate
**http://www.japnaamsingh.com/2004/11/religious-headwear-ban.html
Question of the Week: What personal experience have you had with recent immigrants and did it give you insight into the social scenario? Please send your opinions to henrico@richmondliberty.org.
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