Essay 566

Marching and more in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Monday featured marches, rallies and boycotts galore. Organizers claimed 70 cities participated nationwide. Over 400,000 folks congregated in Chicago. Two rallies in L.A. attracted another 400,000. Houston and Florida saw 30,000 each, while San Jose tabbed 50,000. At Farragut High School in Chicago, 85 percent of the students didn’t show up for classes.

Of course, the day recorded plenty of sound bites.

“I think it’s only fair that I speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves,” said a Chicago marcher. “I think we’re just too many that you can’t just send them back. How are you going to ignore these people?”

“We have far exceeded our expectations,” said Mahonrry Hidalgo, chairman of the Immigration Committee of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. “The events are intended to show solidarity and, at the same time, send a message that injustice against the immigrant community is unacceptable. This is not the end of our struggle. It is the beginning.”

“I cannot fire anybody over this, but I would have liked to see some other way to express themselves,” said one business owner. “It’s the small businesses that are hurt by this.”

“If I lose my job, it’s worth it,” said an immigrant from El Salvador. “It’s worth losing several jobs to get my papers.”

“When the rule of law is dictated by a mob of illegal aliens taking to the streets, especially under a foreign flag, then that means the nation is not governed by a rule of law — it is a mobocracy,” said Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project.

“I want my children to know their mother is not a criminal,” said a worker who came here illegally in 1986 from Mexico. “I want them to be as strong I am. This shows our strength.”

“They do have the right to march, but we’re spending a lot of taxpayers’ money right now with all of the police and firefighters along Wilshire, and all the closed businesses,” said one L.A. resident.

• A federal judge halted enforcement of New York City’s new anti-graffiti law. The law sought to prohibit folks between 18 and 21 to have spray paint and broad-tipped markers. “There is no rational basis to single out 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds more than any other group in the adult population,” ruled the judge. Somebody should tag the judge’s bench.

• TGI Friday’s served a diner a hamburger featuring part of a restaurant worker’s finger. The restaurant worker allegedly cut himself, and in the rush to get him to a hospital, no one noticed the finger bit which landed in a meal. “We absolutely acknowledge the seriousness of this incident, and we are very, very sorry that this occurred,” a restaurant spokesperson said. Diners are encouraged to avoid the Chicken Fingers.