Wake Up Amerika- F*#k Yeah!

I wanted to share an email forward that I received this morning. It pissed me off so I had to respond. I've included the sender's email address in the message. I implore you to reply to her! See my response after Ilene's "patriotic" ( and completely ignorant) message.

-----Original Message-----
From: Ilene Langham slorydr@embarqmail.com
To: Barbara Scalzo Bscalzo@embarqmail.com; CS
owen48@sbcglobal.net; Deb & Bob Schutte
debschutte@gmail.com; Karol Moore KMoore7570@aol.com;
Leona Curtis leonacurtis@gmail.com; Linda & Ron Moore
Lindr86@aol.com; Mary Cluett marycluett@aol.com; Mary
Jo and Bill Loder billjoloder@comcast.net; mvrfla@comcast.net;
Pat Harrington patharring@comcast.net
Sent: Sun, Jul 11, 2010 9:39 pm
Subject: A Map of My Country


A Map of My Country.....


From A Texan;

My great grandfather watched as his friends died in the Civil War, my
father watched as his friends died in WW I and WW II, and I watched as
my friends died in Vietnam. None of them died for the Mexican Flag.
Everyone died for the U.S. flag. Just this week, here in Texas, a
student raised a Mexican flag on a school flag pole; another student
took it down. Guess who was expelled...the kid who took it down. Kids
in high school in California were sent home this week on Cinco de Mayo
because they wore T-shirts with the American flag printed on them.
Enough is enough. The below e-mail message needs to be viewed by every
American; and every American needs to stand up for America. We've bent
over to appease the America-haters long enough. I'm taking a stand.
I'm standing up because the hundreds of thousands who died fighting in
wars for this country, and for the U.S. flag can't stand up. If you
agree, stand up with me. If you disagree, please let me know. I will
gladly remove you from my e-mail list. And shame on anyone who tries
to make this a racist message.


A Map Of My Country:

Let me make this perfectly clear!


THIS IS MY COUNTRY!

And, because I make This statement DOES NOT

Mean I'm against immigration!!!

YOU ARE WELCOME HERE, IN MY COUNTRY!

Welcome! To come through legally:

1. Get a sponsor!

2. Get a place to lay your head!

3. Get a job!

4. Live By OUR Rules!

5. Pay YOUR Taxes!

And

6. Learn the LANGUAGE like immigrants have in the past!!!

AND

7. Please don't demand that we hand over our lifetime savings of Social Security Funds to you.
please forward this even if you are afraid of offending someone.

When will AMERICANS STOP giving away THEIR RIGHTS??? We've gone so far the other way... bent over backwards not to offend anyone. But it seems no one cares about the AMERICAN CITIZEN that's being offended! WAKE UP America !!!

If You agree.... Pass this on.

If You don't agree.. Delete It!!!


Greglocklear@mac.com's response:

What surprises me most about so many educated, so-called patriotic "citizens" in this country is their dedicated display of complete ignorance and hate. Receiving this email this morning absolutely infuriated me. I MUST respond to this paranoid, racist and ANTI-AMERICAN moron.

Ilene (and anybody who forwards this message), you must realize that you are sensationalizing an issue that is far more complicated than a flag which, by the way, is a symbol, a thing, a piece of cloth, and not a person. I find it hard to believe that the kids who were wearing American flags were simply sent home for that reason. Were they being hateful toward other students who were celebrating Cinqo de Mayo? Do you know the context around these events personally? You write as if there is a conspiracy at hand. Did you also support McCarthyism and blacklisting?

Let me also remind you of one basic fact: "America" is 234 years old. The real American "citizens" who have been here for thousands of years and spoke many different languages, NOT the Queen's English, are now practically extinct. We wiped them out with disease, guns, greed, hate. They are confined to reservations--many are living in complete poverty without even the basic resources given to every other citizen.

I'd also like to remind you that all of your fathers, sons, granddaddies and great-grandaddies who fought in the great wars probably enjoyed the cheap labors of illegal immigrants. Did they and do you buy food from some of these corporate farms? McDonalds, Hormel, Tyson, Purdue? I don't because, among other things, they treat their cheap labor, i.e., illegal workers, like animals. Did you stand-up to the Mexican busboy who was working hard for tips to buy medicine for his dying grandmother and to feed his family in Mexico? He's undocumented because of the complete bureaucratic mess that is the INS. I personally worked alongside this man who should be recognized as a hero, not a blight. I agree that immigration reform needs to happen. But please be responsible about the message you send out. We're not "giving away our rights," for example. What rights have you actually given away?

This reminds me of the parable of the burning church. "Which is more important, Christ asked, the building or the people inside?"