“The write up in the Citizen has set a benchmark early in the year for least professional and balanced but highest agenda filled commentary disguised as a news item. Yuck.”

My letter published in the Dalton Times this week WE NEED MORE LETTERS TO EDITORS!

Below is the original “news” piece from the Dalton (Georgia) Citizen newspaper on a propaganda movie, both aimed at sympathy for criminals and marginalizing any American who dares speak up for border security.

Below that my response to the Dalton Citizen in a letter to the editor. We thank the Dalton Citizen for the space and the e-mail sent to me from its publisher.

‘A national disgrace’

Documentary tells of discrimination against Hispanics; community leaders preach acceptance, just treatment

Misty Watson
mistywatson@daltoncitizen.com

A beloved place of worship was torn to the ground after the discrimination against those who worshipped there continued to escalate.

But the discrimination wasn’t because of their religion or what was taking place at the simplistic outdoor chapel — consisting of an altar, benches and tables — where Mass had been celebrated for 20 years.

It was because the people worshipping there were Hispanic migrant workers.

No, this didn’t take place in Dalton, or even Georgia. It happened in San Diego and was recorded in the documentary “The Invisible Chapel,” which was shown publicly by the Coalition of Latino Leaders (CLILA) at Dalton State College on Sunday evening, with approximately 100 people, mostly Hispanic, attending.

Even though the discrimination shown in the documentary did not take place locally, a discussion in the college’s auditorium following the film, proved that many people — Hispanics, whites and blacks — are tired of seeing and hearing of discrimination against Hispanics.

“I for one welcome them, and I hope others will,” said Paul Zock, a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. “It’s criminal to criminalize someone for trying to better themselves,” said Zock, echoing a sentiment expressed in the film.

Bobbie Warmack, with the Latinos for Education and Justice Organization (LEJO) based in Calhoun, said “what we’ve seen in the film is happening here.”

“Houses without windows are being rented here” to Hispanics, she said. “Living conditions are terrible.”

John Carlos Frey, who directed the documentary, lived with the impoverished, Hispanic migrant workers in “little houses” made of tarps, without running water or bathrooms.

Frey watched the migrant workers get paid minimum wage for working in the surrounding communities on farms or in factories, hoping to achieve the “American dream.” And he watched as neighbors and the media began targeting the migrant camp, including the beloved church that remained invisible to so many people previously.

Some neighbors, who had spoken out against the camp, visited it to tear the tarp homes with knifes or razors. Many of the clothes in the homes were also cut, and the homes were raided of what little personal items they contained, according to the documentary.

“My purpose was to show a human side of the story … more importantly, these are hardworking individuals of faith,” said Frey, speaking first in English, then repeating himself in Spanish to those in attendance at the college on Sunday. “This is a portrayal the media in this country does not show.”

If a black church had been burned in the South, or if a Jewish synagogue had been defamed with graffiti, “we would have learned about it, but because this was a church of migrant workers whose church was taken apart, you didn’t,” he said.

The documentary showed members of a local Catholic church who were presiding over Mass celebrations and were helping the migrant workers with many of their immediate needs, such as fresh water and food, as well as teaching them English. Many people attending the viewing on Sunday, said they wished more individuals, especially Christians, would help Hispanics.

“What kind of nation are we?” asked Jerry Gonzalez of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO). “We talk a lot about this being a Christian nation. What side would Jesus be on? It’s a national disgrace to be treating fellow human beings the way we are. We must speak out. Our responsibility as a Christian is to speak out.”

Gonzalez said “minutemen” like the ones who persecuted the migrant workers in the documentary exist in Georgia as well.

“We must do something,” he said. “Registering to vote is very important. We must engage our communities of faith on this. It’s important to raise a voice of conscience in this debate.”

Carlos Castro said he thinks the message of acceptance and helping one another presented in the documentary is one that needs to be shared “with our community.”

“I hope God gives us the way to open the minds of American citizens,” Castro said.

The persecution shown in the documentary seems like something that would have taken place a long time ago, Zock said.

Tommy Pinson, director of the Dalton Community Center, agreed. Pinson said the type of persecution he sees of Hispanic people is much like what he and other black people experienced decades ago.

“What I’m hearing is very similar to what we heard in the 50s and 60s with blacks,” Pinson said. “We had churches burned. We had people held in jail unjustly. Be a civil rights movement. It takes everyone here to make a change. When there’s injustice, don’t be silent. Work as a group and things will eventually change.”

Others encouraged people attending the viewing not to be discouraged.

The film showed that even after the chapel was torn down, the migrant workers found other places to worship. One man named Generoso, which translates into ‘generous’ in English, donated $1,000 to construct a new, more permanent chapel.

For Generoso, $1,000 is more than a month’s pay, according to a female member of the Catholic church who spoke several times in the documentary.

“He chose to continue living like he did so a chapel could be built,” the woman said.

In the film Generoso says he won’t be deterred by discrimination because “there’s only one God and we’re all children of God.”

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The Coalition of Latino Leaders (CLILA) is an organization that offers several services for Hispanics in the community, including English classes, voter registration and education, gang forums and civil rights advocacy. For more information visit the Web site www.lidereslatinos.org. Information on the site is in English and Spanish.

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Article was ‘disgrace’
Published: January 16, 2008

“What kind of nation are we”… indeed? What kind of a nation allows millions of people to cross our borders illegally in a war on terror in the name of increased profits for the business class which is illegally employing black market, taxpayer subsidized labor? What kind of nation remains silent in the face of the ethnic tribalists who make their living defending and promoting the organized crime of illegal immigration without any conscience?

The comparison of illegal aliens shacked-out in our nation to Americans of any race or ethnicity who have demanded equal protection under the law is sickening. More so that the agenda is obviously promoted and shared by what is passing itself off as a newspaper with journalistic integrity.

The write up in the Citizen has set a benchmark early in the year for least professional and balanced but highest agenda filled commentary disguised as a news item. Yuck.

When Georgians are asked “what kind of nation are we?” by the open borders/illegal alien lobby who are using religion and the name of God in their never ending and shameless effort at legalization again, the answer should always be: A nation of laws that will not be intimidated by the absurd name calling from the far, far left.

The “national disgrace” is that these people have woven their way into the mainstream media with the willing help of semi-educated editors and reporters who clearly have forgotten any exposure to a code of ethics.

Jerry Gonzalez is wild with panic that the sheriff in Whitfield county has implemented local enforcement authority under section 287 g of federal law. The illegal aliens that are his golden goose are leaving Georgia. Readers can expect more of the same silly “illegal is a civil right” smearing in the future as a result.

D.A. King

Marietta