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Star Parker Star Parker, born in 1957, is the founder and leader of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education, a nonprofit organization that advocates on issues of race, poverty, education, and inner-city neighborhoods. At one time a single mother living on welfare in Los Angeles, Parker eventually returned to college for a bachelor's de-gree in mJ.rketing. She went on to establish an urban Christian magazine and become a strong advocate for conservative Christian political views. In 1992, her business was destroyed in the Los Angeles riots. This experience intensified her focus on faith- '' based and free-market approaches to solving the problems of poverty. As a social policy consultant, Parker fi·equently appears on national television and radio stations, including CNN, MSNBC, and Fox, and she often testifies before Congress. Parker has published three books: Pimps, Whores, and Welfare Brats: From Welfare Cheat to Conservative Messenger (1998), Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Em/aves American's Poor and What We Can Do About It (2003), and White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay (2006). This opinion piece was published on WorldNetDaily .com, an independent news website, on April 18, 2006.

Pre-Reading Journal Entry The issue of immigration- especially questions of who should be permitted into tl1e country and who shou ld be permitted to stay-has recently been hotly debated both by politicians and pund its and by everyday people . What do you think would hap-pen if U.S . immigration laws were strictly enforced and those who were here illegally were sent back to their home countries? What positive effects would there be? What negative ,efkcts would there be? What do you think would happen if all immigrants who were here illegally were allowed to stay and start the process of becoming citi-zens? Take some time to respond to these questions in your journal.

Se Habla1 Entitlement When it comes to matters of economy, I think of myself as libertarian. I be-lieve in fi·ee nurkets, free trade and limited government. But I must confess, our Latino neighbors are challenging my libertarian instincts regarding our immigration conundrum .

The recent pro-immigration demonstrations around the country have 2 been a major turnoff.

There is something not convincing about illegal immigrants demon-strating to claim they have inalienable rights to come here, be here, work here, become citizens here-and make all these claims in Spanish.

Hearing "We Shall Overcome" in Spanish just doesn't provoke my sym- 4 pathies. I don't buy that, along with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

1Spanish fo r " is spoken " (editors' note ).

Parlzcr Se Habla Entitlement 565

our Creator endowed anyone with the right to sneak into the United States, bypass our laws and set up shop. Maybe our immigration lavvs do need fix -ing. But this is a discussion for American''citizens. In English.

This could be the finest hour for the political left if we really can be 5 convinced that illegal immigration is a right, that those here illegally are in-nocent victims, and that the real guilt lies with U.S. citizens who believe our laws mean something and should be enforced.

Draping these bogus claims in the garb of the civil-rights movement is 6 particularly annoying.

The civil-rights movement was about enforcing the law, not breaking 7 it The Civil War amendments to the Constitution were not getting the job done in what has been a long struggle in this counny to treat blacks as hu-man beings. If Americans were kidnapping Mexicans and selling them into slavery here, I might see the equivalence. But these are free people, who chose to come here and chose to do so illegally.

Just considerit1g Mexicans, how can we understand their taking to the 8 streets of our country to demand rights and freedom when they seem to have little interest in doing this where they do have rights, which is in Mexico? There is no reason why Mexico, a country rich in beauty and natural re-sources, cannot be evety bit as prosperous as tl1e United States.

It's not happening because of a long history of mismanagement, corrup- 9 tion and excessive government. Although Mexico is a democracy, for some reason Mexicans seem to need to be north of the Rio Grande to get politi-cally active and demand the benefits of a free society.

Last year the Pew Hispanic Center surveyed adults in Mexico and asked 10 tl1em if they would come to the United States if they had the means and op-portunity to do so. Forty-six percent responded yes. Almost half of Mexican adults said they'd rather live here! When asked if they would do it illegally, more than 20 percent said yes.

Yet in the contest for the Mexican presidency, the leading candidate is a ll leftist former mayor of Mexico City who is polling in the high 30s.2

Maybe you can figure out why almost half of Mexican adults say they 12 would ratl1er live in tl1e United States, presumably because of the oppornmities our fi·ee society affords, yet vote for a leftist candidate who will continue policies in Mexico that choke off any prospect for growth, prosperity and opportunity.

So forgive me for being a little suspicious of the wholesome picture be- 13 ing painted of tl1ese folks who are pouring across. our border allegedly just to

·be free, work and maintain traditional families. Anyone who lives in Southern California, as I do, knows that the 14

Latino-immigrant community is far from the paragon of virtue that the

2With a very narrow margin, the more conservative Felipe Calderon ultimately defeated the left· ist Andres Manuel LOpez Obrador in the Mexican presidential election of 2006. ·

566 Argumentation-Persuasion

forces who want to encourage open borders would have us believe. I see much of the same troubling behavior that blacks get tarred with . Much of the gang behavior in Los Angeles, unfortunately, is Latina-related. The L.A. Unified School District is over three-quarters Latino, who drop out at the same alarming 50 percent rate as inner-city blacks. Out-of-wedlock births among Hispanic women approach 50 percent.

Those who want to hoist the banner of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island 15 and the American tradition of immigration should remember that when im-migrants were passing through Ellis Island at the early part of the last cen

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tury, the federal government accounted for about 3 percent of the American economy. Today it is 25 percent.

Part of the package deal that comes with showing up in the United 16 States today is our welfare state as well as our free economy. Illegal status is really a temporary situation, anyway. Illegal immigrants' children who are born here are U .S. citizens. Significant demands are being made on our tax dollars in the way of schools, health care and government services, including law enforcement.

Yes, let's encourage freedom. But freedom is a privilege and a responsibility, 17 We have enough people already here who think it's all about entitlement. 18

Questions for G!ose Reading

l. What is the selection's thesis? Locate the sentence( s) in which Parker states her main idea. If she doesn't state her thesis explicitly, express it in your own words.

2. Why does Parker object to pro-immigration demonstrators adopting the strate-gies of the American civil rights movement?

3. In paragraph 15, Parker contrasts the size of the federal government a hundred years ago with its size now. To what does she attribute its increase?

4. Why does Parker object to the feeling of entitlement that she claims immigrants have? '

5. Refer to your dictionary as needed to define the following words used in these-lection: entitlement (title), libertarian (paragraph 1 ), conundrum ( 1 ), inalienable (3), provo!u (4), bogus (6),garb (6), and paragon (14).

Questions About the Writer's Craft

l. The pattern. Which of the two possible strategies for organizing a refutation (see pages 485--486) does Parker use in her essay? Do you consider the points she makes in the refutation sufficiently persuasive? Explain.

2. Other patterns. In paragraph 14, Parker compares and contrasts the Latino and African American communities of southern California. What is the purpose of this comparison? How effective is it?

3. The second paragraph of the Declaration ofindependence begins: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable llights, that ·among these are Life, Liberty

Parker Se Habla Entitlement 567

and the pursuit of Happiness ." There are echoes of this sentence in paragraphs 3 and 4 of Parker's essay. What is the effect of her adopting this vocabulaty?

4. Throughout the essay, Parker uses langpage that describes her reactions to pro-immigration demonstrations and arguments: "a major turnoff'' (paragraph 2 ), "not convincing" (3), "doesn't provoke my sympathies" (4), "particularly an-noying" (6), and "a little suspicious" (13). What do these phrases contribute to the tone of the essay? How do they help Parker communicate her argument more convincingly?

Writing Assignments Using Argumentation-Persuasion as a Pattern of Development

l. Parker, an African American, claims to have been "turned ofP' by the pro-immigra-tion demonstrations that took place in spring of 2006 in an attempt to influence immigration legislation pending in Congress. She objects to the pro-immigration movement's adoption of the strategies of the American civil rights movement-the language, the demonstrations, and the songs sung in Spanish. In contrast, in "The Border on Our Backs" (page 559), Roberto Rodriguez, a Mexican American, is elated by these demonstrations, claiming that immigrants are finally asserting their human rights in the great tradition of the civil rights movement. What do you think of demonstrations in the United States by illegal immigrants? Do you sympa-thize with the immigrants' arguments? Do you think their demonstrations further the immigrants' cause, or set it back? Write an essay in which you argue that dem-onstrations by illegal immigrants are (or are not) justified and appropriate, citing at least two or three reasons for your position. Be sure to support your reasons with examples wherever possible.

2. Parker characterizes herself as a libertarian in matters of economics. Libertarians advocate that individuals should be free to do whatever they wish with them-selves and their property, as long as they do not infringe on the liberty of others. Libertarians also believe that people are responsible for their own actions. They strongly oppose welfare programs, which they believe force taxpayers to provide aid to others. In fact, Parker's final reason for opposing illegal immigrants is that they contribute to the growth ofthe welfare state (paragraph 15 and 16). Write an essay supporting or opposing the libertarian position on the welfare state. Argue that government does (or does not) have the responsibility to help individuals in times of need (poor economic conditions, disability, and natural disasters, for ex-ample). Be sure to address whether the effect on individuals of such government assistance is empowering-or whether it perpetuates dependence. Use specific examples to support your position.

• Writing Assignments Combining Patterns of Development

3. Imagine what your life would be like if you moved to another state or country alone or just with your immediate family. Then write an essay in which you pro-vide examples showing how your life would or would not change if you moved to a strange place. Consider the language barrier, if any, in your education, your