So many words…so little common sense: We hear from Rich Pellegrino. You may want to get a cuppa coffee for this – yes he is serious, this is a rather short missive for this guy – who is A Friend Of Jerry’s)

Comments:

Dear Friends,
Reading your articles and posts here, I feel your pain and your fears however I feel that your efforts to blame others for your problems are mostly wasted energy for a variety of reasons, a few of which include:

1) Blaming others may be a short term relief for whatever your particular problems are however it never solves the problems; really, the problems just get worse until you take the time to look inside and really face your fears and insecurities. It is like placing a band aid on a sore which is already infected–a waste of time and energy. (It also always takes a lot more energy to hate or persecute others than it does to love and welcome them. We always knew that love provides many health benefits but now studies also show that the secret to longer life is “compassion” for all people and living things.
2) The current Latino immigrants are no more the cause of your problems than the Irish and Italians were in their time as immigrants, or any other ethnic group for that matter. And, just as each of those groups started out on the bottom of the society, they arose to secure their place in this great American experiment, mostly through hard work but also through fighting the dominant groups for their rights. This time is no difference than history repeating itself, and the Latinos will become citizens (all polls indicate that a path to citizenship is only a matter of time–probably two years), and will be even more productive contributors to our society than they are now. So just as those who supported the rule of law through “Jim Crow”, or “Slavery”, or “Apartheid”, were on the wrong side of history and eventually had to apologize for their wrongdoings–the same will go for those currently supporting any draconian anti-immigrant legislation or even the enforcement of the curr ent outdated and really largely abandoned immigration laws.
3)Even with all of the anti-immigrant legislation in GA, which is some of the harshest in the U.S., there is little change in the immigrant community other than they have gone “underground”, and little change in the law enforcement community, except for “spot” enforcement–so the alleged crackdown is mostly rhetorical–though millions of taxpayers money will be spent trying to defend and implement such measures–another grand waste of time, energy and resources. (In fact, even in conservative Cobb, where I reside and run an immigrant welcoming & protection organization, I am finding many more people, both white and black, willing to help and welcome the immigrants, and also public officials and the police working behind the scenes with us to do the same–even though their public pronouncements may differ. It appears that they too sense the tide of history turning in favor of the immigrants,as do the media as they are constantly contacting us for pro-immigrant stories now, which did not happen in the near past. Also reading your website,it appears that even you are grasping at straws to find instances in which these new laws are really affecting anyone or effecting any change.)It appears that the delay of the federal govt in enacting immigration reform is giving ordinary Americans of good will of all races the opportunity to come together, welcome and protect the immigrants, undocumented or not, so that true reform when enacted will grant them an even clearer path to citizenship.

So,in closing, ( note from D.A. – FINALLY!)I know that you are good people (as I have personally enjoyed your company and non-violent behavior at rallies, protests and counter protests) who are trying to help yourselves, families, communities and nation through combatting what you perceive to be an evil. However I would suggest that you really search inside and see why you are hurting without blaming anyone else.
Then you can begin your own healing process and we can begin healing our nation. In fact, since my organization is an “immigrant welcoming and protection” organization, and we are all immigrants in this country–I will extend our assistance and resources to each one of you to help you solve your problems–whether they be job, housing, or family related–or you just need counseling to find out what is wrong internally that is making you feel like lashing out at others. Worrying about insecure borders, which are really out of your control even if you patrolled them in person, belies a deeper insecurity and a fear of something–which we will help you uncover and resolve. You see, we all have fears and insecurities–the only difference is if we are willing to admit to them and then deal with them in constructive rather than destructive manners.
Warm regards,
Rich Pellegrino

pilgrim1@mindspring.com