By Mike Matejka
Every election season heats up and partisan feelings can easily create hot tempers. I am especially anxious about this election, to make sure we truly analyze our political problems, and not just make groups of people the “other” whom we blame our problems on.
The recent visit of Donald Trump gave us a microcosm to explore this question. When Trump threatens to block Muslims from entering the U.S., there is a presumption that all Muslims are radical extremists. Statements labeling a whole religion fail to realize that Islam is a world religion, with followers of numerous hues, complexions and beliefs. When I was younger I spent time in predominately Muslim Malaysia; I had friends from predominately Muslim Indonesia. I visited Muslim sites in India. At no time was I threatened or did I hear anti-American rhetoric or hateful words. Instead, I learned, listened and shared with the Muslim people I met, getting to know them as individuals.
Are our economic problems caused by immigrants? On these forums many times I’ve spoken about wage stagnation for average Americans. Is that wage stagnation a result of immigrants entering this country, or is it a result of deindustrialization, trade policies and anti-union activities by corporations and governmental leaders? If I was to play the blame game, I would look more to our political and economic system for wage and employment problems, rather than immigrant workers. My first question is why are people coming here? Of course, they want better wages and conditions, but why are they leaving their homelands? Instead of blaming immigrants, should we as Americans perhaps look at our governmental and corporate policies in Mexico and Central America? The sad story is that too often, we’ve promoted corporate power and military regimes in the Americas. This created dislocation that led people to flee. I would rather we concentrate on economic development, access to land, political freedom and the right to organize a union in those countries, than blame immigrants for our problems. In many cases, our policies have created the incentive for people to flee, rather than helping them build a secure nation.
It is complicated and difficult to solve economic and political problems. It is easy rhetoric to stereotype and blame whole groups of people. I hope we as Americans take the high road and don’t scapegoat other people, but carefully analyze what is going on in this global economy and seek answers that create fairness, opportunity and democracy.
Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and daughter and their two dogs. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.
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