disturbing the comfortable

I came across a couple of related stories on the anti- and pro-immigration bru-ha-ha; both of them include over-reaction and downright stupidity. One is over in eastern Oregon, where there is a large percentage of immigrants—it’s a major farming area where the land-owners depend on a docile Spanish-speaking population to do the labor, and where Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” runs through my head whenever I’m over there. The other piece is from Southern California, where the students at a school in the suburb of Inglewood were subjected to a severe lockdown to prevent them from attending pro-immigration demonstrations. The lockdown was so tight the kids had to go to the toilet in buckets in their classrooms.

Inglewood: I lived there back into the late 1950s; I remember talking to a couple of Inglewood cops about a rumored ordinance that black people weren’t allowed on the streets after dark. The cops nodded yes. Some things remain the same...only the cast of characters changes.

I’ll lead with the story from Hermiston, over in eastern Oregon. It kind of ties in with the Oregon state legislator who took off in his private plane to join the minutemen on the AZ-Mexico border and hustle votes from the racist right... This first story sounds, to me, like the candidate was doing a little grandstanding. Anytime a politician or wannabe politician says, "I'm a proud American," warning bells start ringing.

Candidate faces charges in flag tussle
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002934698&zsection_id=2002111777&slug=tugofwar17m&date=20060417
By The Associated Press

MILTON-FREEWATER, Ore. — A candidate for the City Council has a court date this week on charges resulting from a tug of war over the Mexican flag.

Police said Greg Sterling confronted students in front of the City Hall during a demonstration April 6 and that officers had to pull him away from the students and flag to arrest him.

Sterling, 50, said the demonstrators provoked him. He called the assault charge "made up."

"I didn't think I was doing anything illegal," he said. "I'm a proud American and I wasn't out to hurt anybody and I think I was taunted."

He also is charged with disorderly conduct. Both charges are misdemeanors. Police said the assault charge involved a female student who received minor injuries. He's to appear in court Thursday.

Milton-Freewater Police Chief Mike Gallaher said two police officers watched Sterling exchange words with students on the sidewalk.

Sterling pulled two or three of the students into the roadway, and six more followed, Gallaher said. He said officers had to stop traffic.

Sterling said he happened onto the march. He said he asked the students not to display the flag, but they called him "gringo" and said, "This flag is going to be here someday."

Then students surrounded him, he said, and that led to "when I was tangled in the flag."

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company


School Makes Kids Use Buckets for Toilets
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060417/ap_on_re_us/immigration_classroom_buckets&printer=1;_ylt=ApcxOnglltajhsbwWexFnhdH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

A principal trying to prevent walkouts during immigration rallies inadvertently introduced a lockdown so strict that children weren't allowed to go to the bathroom, and instead had to use buckets in the classroom, an official said.

Worthington Elementary School Principal Angie Marquez imposed the lockdown March 27 as nearly 40,000 students across Southern California left classes to attend immigrants' rights demonstrations.

Marquez apparently misread the district handbook and ordered a lockdown designed for nuclear attacks.

Tim Brown, the district's director of operations, confirmed some students used buckets but said the principal's order to impose the most severe type of lockdown was an "honest mistake."

"When there's a nuclear attack, that's when buckets are used," Brown told the Los Angeles Times. The principal "followed procedure. She made a decision to follow the handbook. She just misread it."

A message left by The Associated Press for the principal at the school before business hours Monday was not immediately returned, and Marquez did not return telephone calls from the Times.

Appalled parents have complained to the school board. Brown said the school district planned to update its emergency preparedness instructions to give more explicit directions.

Parents and community activists asked the school board at its April 5 meeting to explain the principal's decision. They also sought promises that the lockdown wouldn't be repeated.

"There was no violence at the protests, so this was based on what?" activist Diane Sambrano asked. "It was unsanitary, unnecessary and absolutely unacceptable."

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
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School Makes Kids Use Buckets for Toilets
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060417/ap_on_re_us/immigration_classroom_buckets&printer=1;_ylt=ApcxOnglltajhsbwWexFnhdH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-


A principal trying to prevent walkouts during immigration rallies inadvertently introduced a lockdown so strict that children weren't allowed to go to the bathroom, and instead had to use buckets in the classroom, an official said.

Worthington Elementary School Principal Angie Marquez imposed the lockdown March 27 as nearly 40,000 students across Southern California left classes to attend immigrants' rights demonstrations.

Marquez apparently misread the district handbook and ordered a lockdown designed for nuclear attacks.

Tim Brown, the district's director of operations, confirmed some students used buckets but said the principal's order to impose the most severe type of lockdown was an "honest mistake."

"When there's a nuclear attack, that's when buckets are used," Brown told the Los Angeles Times. The principal "followed procedure. She made a decision to follow the handbook. She just misread it."

A message left by The Associated Press for the principal at the school before business hours Monday was not immediately returned, and Marquez did not return telephone calls from the Times.

Appalled parents have complained to the school board. Brown said the school district planned to update its emergency preparedness instructions to give more explicit directions.

Parents and community activists asked the school board at its April 5 meeting to explain the principal's decision. They also sought promises that the lockdown wouldn't be repeated.

"There was no violence at the protests, so this was based on what?" activist Diane Sambrano asked. "It was unsanitary, unnecessary and absolutely unacceptable."

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.