Sometimes The Border Crosses You (Know Your History) | Mickey Z.

[Tace]

Photo credit: Mickey Z.

Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

July 21, 2014

“The cup of forbearance has been exhausted.”

- President James K. Polk, 1846

According the Washington Post, Texas Governor Rick Perry “reportedly plans to dispatch the Texas National Guard to the U.S. border with Mexico” to deal with “the continued surge of young immigrants, most of them from Central America, crossing the border.”

"If the federal government does not do its constitutional duty to secure the Southern border of the United States, the state of Texas will do it,” Perry explained.

Hmm… I smell a history lesson brewing.

This seems as good a time as any to provide a little context on the concepts we call “the Southern border of the United States” and “the state of Texas.”

Pretexts
When James K. Polk was elected in 1844, he had every intention of creating a pretext to stir Americans into action against Mexico. One of the issues of the 1844 election was the annexation or Texas -- or “reannexation,” as Polk called it. Apparently, no one bothered to remind him that Texas was not part of the original Louisiana Purchase.

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http://worldnewstrust.com/sometimes-the-border-crosses-you-know-your-history-mickey-z

[politicat]

1. I feel like I go through this argument with my family on a regular basis.

My parents are native Midwesterners who moved us to the Gadsden purchase in the early 1980s. I was young enough to start picking up local culture, learned Spanish and Norteño culture as my primary culture from that point on. I consider myself a Norteño, despite having Anglo-Irish genes. My parents, not so much.

This is a long-running argument we have -- a parent says something nativist, like irritation about language or standoffishness -- and I remind them that we/they are the interlopers, that we/they are the ones who failed to learn the local language and customs, that we are the invaders and have only had an iffy title for a century, while the locals have had access, rights of passage and settlement, and citizenship since 1598. That my parents' claim and the claims of all midwestern migrants, are highly questionable and of incredibly short standing.

As you can imagine, this is a painful thing for them to hear and always causes huffy self-defensiveness on their part, but I will not stop. It has helped, over the years -- either they're dealing with their racism (slowly) or keeping it out of my face, either of which is an improvement because at least they're thinking about it.

I am well aware of the fact that I do not live in the Louisana Purchase, and have not since I was 7 years old. (Currently, I live 1 mile south of the dividing line between Louisiana Purchase and New Spain.) I think knowing the history of the various treaties and purchases helps me to be a little more sensitive to local culture and certainly pushes me to consider indigenous people and their ancestral rights who share this land with me.

[Harolynn]

2. It's our land now

This argument is old. America's ancestors won/stole the land a long time ago. Nothing we can do about it now. It would be like blaming your great grandparents of your problems today.

In regards to Gov. Perry sending troops to the border, he is obviously doing it in preparation to run for president.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Court cases rely on historical patterns to determine the extent of wrong-doing.

And, also, to seek remedies for the people who have been aggrieved for so long.