English First’s Jon Crisp Needs to Freshen His Race-Baiting Playbook
Race baiting as public policy is a rather nuanced proposition, a play for two masters. One must telegraph to supporters the evil of the intended target (insert your choice of inferior race, religion, or ethnicity here), while simultaneously sounding upright and sane to the broader legions.
But English First’s Jon Crisp, “chairman emeritus” of the Davidson County Republican Party, seems to be working from an aged playbook. In a recent mass email, he warned that Nashville is nefariously close to becoming a “Sanctuary City for illegal immigrants… such as San Francisco.” This, apparently, is bad. Very bad. Writes our crusader:
“Sadly in general, today’s immigrants are not the same as those of our past and seem to want to reap America’s bounty while not committing to our culture. Will we become a patchwork quilt of third world nations that have set up shop in Nashville?"
Forget, for a moment, the not-exactly-bulletproof walls of Crisp’s argument. When you’re talking race-baiting, a cogent thesis is a bit much to ask. But we should be demanding originality. And when it comes to immigration, the old’ These New Guys Are Not Nearly as Cool as When My Ancestors Showed Up is seriously unfresh.
Recall, if you will, the Irish Potato Famine, when the Micks arrived and were denounced as the Mexicans are today (though they did get points for producing a superior whiskey). The Irish, in turn, bagged on the Italians, who bagged on the Germans, who bagged on the Polish, who bagged on… well, you get the point.
The first generation was always a little slow to pick up the language. The second generation did just fine. But by that time it didn’t matter, since guys like Jon Crisp had already found a new race/religion/ethnicity to denounce.
For the longest time, Jews were deemed too inferior to join country clubs, and thus deprived of the right to wear funny pants. And the Papists? They took their orders from a guy with a weird hat in Rome, and therefore lacked the fashion sense to be proper Americans.
In fact, archeologists believe the tendency to always vilify the new guy dates back to the Pilgrims. Upon their arrival, teepee values across New England plunged 17 percent, as Indians fled to the suburbs. “At least them low-life Vikings knew how to properly skin a deer,” declared one tribal pundit of the era.
If Jon Crisp wants to repeat the failures of history, more power to him. But we urge Nashville to rise up and demand what it deserves: fresh material.
Comments
But he's not racist by any means. One of his son's best friends is African-American.
Posted 07/17/2008 at 02:30:25 PMAs a Jew who wears funny pants, do I need to join a country club? And which local ones will have me? And no, the JCC is not a country club so don't even try.
Posted 07/18/2008 at 11:22:43 AMJack, we appreciate your effort in trying to be a complete American. However, just wearing funny pants is inadequate. You will need to join a country club and purchase a new leisure wardrobe in a fetching array of pastels. You may also wish to talk to your fellow Jews. Until they start going to church on the right day of the week and take off their beanies during the National Anthem at Predators games, they are merely reaping the benefits of America while not fully committing to the culture.
Posted 07/18/2008 at 11:50:49 AMSomebody send him some brie, chablis and one of these:
http://www.cafepress.com/StopCrafton
Posted 07/18/2008 at 06:26:02 PMIt frustrates me that people in positions of influence in this city can base arguments so blatantly on ignorance and lies. The premise behind English First is that this wave of immigrants is not learning English like the previous ones did. That is false. I disagree with one aspect of the above article: when you suggest that the Italians, Germans, Poles, etc. learned English by the next generation. Often they didn't. In fact, they sometimes isolated themselves in Italian (Polish, etc.) neighborhoods and spoke primarily that language for more than one generation, while true English fluency came later. Today, the children of immigrants tend to be completely fluent, as you say, in part because of TV. If the premise for English First is false, then why are they REALLY pushing it? Let's call it what it is: they are uncomfortable being around people who are different from them. Period. Call it xenophobia. Call it racism. Whatever word you use, they can dress it up in as much apple pie Americanism as they want, but that's what it is.
Posted 07/21/2008 at 05:21:09 PMYou liberals are always so intolerant.
Posted 08/16/2008 at 10:23:05 PM