February 05, 2009 Diversity Is Strength! It’s Also…Selling Your 14-Year Old Daughter?A recent cultural offense in Time and more details have only added to the ugly. The first reports were bad enough. A father from Both men are
illegal aliens from The Greenfield PD has been propagandized with the usual ethnic sensitivity training—look at this PowerPoint presentation [16.2 MB] on the fine points of Oaxacan indigenous culture on its website. But the police appreciation of diversity did not extend to endangerment of a child. The initial charge against Martinez was
Penal Code section 266D, taking money or valuables
in return for allowing a person to live with someone to
whom they are not married, a felony. (Slavery is illegal
in Police Chief Joe Grebmeier noted that
" ‘There was no force, fear or coercion,’ [Chief Grebmeier]
said. ‘What we're dealing with now is a difference in
cultures. All of this would have been perfectly legal
where they came from.’ [...]
“But culture
clash or not, Grebmeier said, he was compelled to
enforce the law. He said he had appeared at community
meetings to warn recent immigrants against pursuing
underage marriages. And when his department looked into
reports about the 14-year-old girl, finding a matchmaker
and ‘documents used in the negotiation,’ he acted. " ‘I'm tasked with protecting my community, and 14-year-old girls need a lot of protection,’ he said. [Teen's arranged marriage is allowed in native Mexico, By Steve Chawkins, LA Times, January 15, 2009] It would have been nice for the Chief to voice more enthusiasm for the rights of women and girls present in American culture, rather than make excuses for Mexican illegal aliens. But politically correct police chiefs are common in Mexifornia, At least Grebmeier did arrest the perp when the chips were down. The Mexican apologists began squawking just a few
days after police arrested daddy “ ‘The use of terms like 'sell' is incorrect, because these are dowries that are requested,’ according to a statement by FIOB representatives Gaspar Rivera Salgado and Rufino Domínguez. ‘We know dowries are not an exclusive practice of indigenous communities. Other European and Asian cultures used to use them in the past and some still practice the tradition—yet they aren't accused of “selling” their daughters.’ " [Oaxacans Indignant Over Case of Man who 'Sold' Daughter, By Mireya Olivera, Translated by Elena Shore, New America Media, Jan 17, 2009]. Actually, a dowry is defined as
"the money,
goods, or estate that a wife brings to her husband at
marriage" which is the opposite of the Mexican
arrangement. Even misogynous Time magazine used the correct terminology:
Bride Prices:
Native Mexican Custom or Modern Day Crime?.
Its February 1 article on the
"San Juan Copala village council secretary Macario Garcia claims the
bride price makes the husband commit to the marriage,
reducing breakups. ‘It is so the man gives value to his
wife and so he won't easily leave her for another
woman,’ Garcia says, sitting in the shade of a wooden
hut under the glare of rugged hilltops. In the ancient
tradition, he explains, the suitor negotiates the
marriage with the family through a so-called
‘ambassador.’ After a deal has been struck, the suitor
then goes to meet and collect the bride at Seven wives? Say, even generous Mohammed allowed only four to his randy followers. (Although Mo's assurance of 72 virgins in the Islamic Paradise must certainly rank as the top ogasmatronic religious promise in history.) As a cultural aside, ordinary Americans still expect
foreigners to assimilate to our law and customs, even
after multiculturalism has been relentlessly promoted by
elites as the highest good for decades. A 2005
Rasmussen poll found that two-thirds (67%) of
Americans said that those who move to the A 2006 Zogby poll determined that only 26 percent believed that current immigrants were assimilating adequately, and 67 percent thought immigration should be reduced so the melting pot could begin to work on those already here. Assimilation is working in one respect: By the time Salinas County held the preliminary hearing on Friday, Jan 30, daddy Martinez was duly lawyered up with counsel who said his client was "as much a victim as the girl in this case". The courtroom scene must have been Here's a fascinating bit of Mexican culture that turned up during the hearing:
"[Defense attorney J.]
Hernandez maintains the case involves ‘me la robo,’ a
custom sometimes carried out in parts of Is this the kind of diversity we
want in In addition, the couple never did get married—apparently the Triqui custom is far less formal—but Gallindo did have sex with the girl every day of the two weeks that they were together. If they wanted to live according to
their tribal culture, they should have stayed put in But the day ended with Judge Larry Hayes charging
daddy Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised at "Frustrated by what they saw as the Police Department's ineffectiveness, parents, school workers and even some students turned to the INS.
“'These guys come
out here twice a day, you can set your watch by them,'
said one downtown worker who asked that her name not be
used. ‘They stare
at the girls, and follow them and push up against them
and intimidate them.
“'It's so
infuriating,' she said. 'I've complained to the police,
and they just shrug and ask, "What do you expect us to
do about it?" It's just sexist.'"[A
Town Divided: INS deports 39 after schoolgirls and
parents complained of harassment, By
Maria Alicia Gaura,
San Francisco
Chronicle,
Kidnapping and rape are crimes. The parents were simply trying to protect their kids by taking pre-emptive action against a dangerous situation where those crimes might happen. Needless to say, the parents were called “racists” and threatened by the local reconquistas. But the moms who raised the alarm were Hispanic, just like most people in town (88 percent in 2000). This situation was another case of non-assimilation.
Mexican males regard public harassment of women and
girls as normal behavior and the right of men. But it must not have worked out well. Perhaps billboards showing sex dolls dressed as office workers sent the opposite message to what was intended. The government apparently gave up on efforts to shape behavior, and turned to simple physical restraint; the authorities designated a number of buses in the capital city as not available to men, to the great happiness of women thrilled to be able to get around without being groped. As one Mexican man remarked about the necessity for the program: "Truly in this society there is no culture of respect for women." Amen to that. Yet many Americans are shocked and dismayed when they catch a glimpse of Mexican culture's dark side. The press loves to pontificate about When a 14-year-old girl is sold by her father for cash and beer in a farm town 80 miles from San Jose, Americans should realize that the diversity train has run off the tracks and needs to be stopped entirely. Brenda Walker (email
her) lives in |
