Re: Hit and run of multiple cyclists

On Sat, 8 Mar 2025 12:42:41 -0600, AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

On 3/8/2025 12:00 PM, zen cycle wrote:

On 3/8/2025 12:20 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 3/8/2025 9:04 AM, AMuzi wrote:

On 3/7/2025 10:56 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

>
That wasn't the case when my parents and I arrived in
the USA via
Ellis Island in about 1953.  This was the tail end of
Senator Joe
McCarthy and the Red (Russian) Scare:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism>
the HUAC:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-
American_Activities_Committee>
and the associated cold war Communist witch hunts.  From
my parents
point of view, and from that of most immigrants from
Europe, the
committee was a copy of Hitler and Friends had done
before WWII.  If
you were a socialist, communist, gypsy, anarchist, or
even a pacifist,
you would be "denounced" by the committee or by some
random person,
and deported to some place unpleasant.
<https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/
denounce>
"to tell someone in authority about a person's illegal
activities,
especially illegal political activities"
>
No trial was needed.  For the freshly minted immigrants
to the USA,
this was a very real concern (or fear).  My parents and
friends were
seriously worried.  I was also worried, but because I
really didn't
understand what was happening, I just followed their
example.  For a
time, we became very wary of neighbors, police,
officials, anyone in
authority, etc.
>
My extended family did their best to try and "fit in"
and become an
American.  We learned to juggle the knife and fork like
Americans,
instead of just holding the fork in the left hand and
the knife in the
right.  We spent quite a bit of effort learning to read
and write
English and understand American slang.  At the time, I
was a 5+ year
old and had no difficulty learning all the languages
required to
communicate with the neighbors, relatives, schools, and
of course, the
Americans.  However, in public, all the immigrants made
it a point to
only speak English.  My original native languages were
German and
Polish, which my insisted should only be spoken indoors
at home or at
a relatives house.  Anywhere else, it was "speak English
or say
nothing".
>
This is 2nd hand from various relatives.  None of the
immigrants spoke
about "rights".  If they were Jewish, and lived in the
wrong
countries, they literally had no rights.  Having rights
in the USA
seemed so improbable to some immigrants that they
literally did not
believe that it was possible.  I was told that one
immigrant received
a summons for some minor legal matter.  My parents
caught up with him
as he was busy disposing of his possessions and
preparing to leave the
country.  He explained that it was better to leave than
to get thrown
in an American concentration camp.
>
I can go on forever with such stories but I would prefer
to do
whatever I did on Friday evening before I discovered
computers.  I
think it's sufficient to say that being an immigrant can
be a very
traumatic experience, full of bad information and
misinterpretations.
It's no surprise that they do strange and difficult to
explain things.
>
>

>
I believe you but experiences vary a lot.
>
All four of my grandparents immigrated at the beginning
of the 1900s, lived in Italian neighborhoods and spoke
little English. They were Resident Aliens, not citizens,
all their lives. (in the 20th century, aliens had to
register annually but there were few or no other
impediments to their lives).
>
In 1934, my eldest aunt on my mother's side wrote to the
President, as my grandfather's work was cut to half time
and he was very close to losing his house for nonpayment.
She was a sixth grader and the only person in the family
with adequate English. By whatever good luck, their
mortgage was extended. My mother and all her siblings
voted straight democrat all their lives.
>
p.s. all my uncles in both families served in WWII. My
father, the youngest, turned 18 as the war ended and did
not.

>
My Polish grandparents arrived when your Italian ones
arrived. They did become citizens, but they certainly
suffered discrimination.
>

Back to the original link, the subject of the cyclist's
efforts are illegal aliens, not actual immigrants.

>
There have been plenty of tales of legal immigrants and
even U.S. citizens suffering arrest and imprisonment
because they didn't look "American" enough - IOW white
enough.

 
Not tales, documented incidents:
 
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-s-ice-agents-arrest-
puerto-rican-military-veteran-in-deportation-raid/ar-AA1xNWx9
 
"They did not ask me for documentation for my American
workers, Portuguese workers, or white workers,"
 
 
 
 

>
An obvious error and it will be promptly rectified if it
hasn't been already. Meanwhile, we're deporting illegal
Russians, who do not have the vaunted BIPOC status, along
with all the rest.
>
I regularly get citations for no seal belt.  Since there's
never a good ending to arguing with police or sheriffs, I
take the ticket, say thank you and write the Court. They
citations are always dismissed. (1965 = exempt)

No seat belt... on your bicycle? Or your antique rear engine
Chevrolet?
--
Cheers,

John B.