Cruel irony

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Although I agree that fenceless friendly nations make better neighbors, I am shocked that Kendra Kirk proposed that music ought to be used to deter illegal immigration (“Replacing border fences with ballads,” 2/25/2009). I am especially disturbed by the cartoon drawn by Lauren Caldwell in this article, which is presenting the idea that life in Mexico is somehow better, while “America is boring.” Clearly, these two individuals have not been following the news in the past few months as to the slaughter that is occurring in Mexico as a dual result of the corruption rampant in all levels of the Mexican government and United States’ unwillingness to accept its responsibility for causing some of the economic, social, and political conditions that have ultimately led to the Mexican Drug War. The poor people caught in the crossfire rather die crossing the river or the desert or with the “coyote” to the Promise Land than die in the hands of drug dealers. At least in the former they attempted to change their lives; in the latter, their lives were taken away from them. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about listening to someone proposing for you to remain in your place, where you have to live working for low wages, where your family has to huddle together in small, roach-infested conditions, and where your kids have no future. Singing to poor people to remain in their place will clearly not deter them from taking the dangerous journey if there is no food on the table. Singing to poor people will not ensure a better education for their children. Singing to poor people will not solve their poverty. Want to solve illegal immigration? Solve the poverty gripping Latin America. Perhaps Latin America needs to sing to the American people about poverty for the “norteamericanos” to finally realize this simple solution.