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The plight of migrant farm workers deserves attention

I was deeply moved by Saundra Amrhein's June 20 account of migrant farm worker Clara Morales, and I hope she achieves her ambition of a college education.

For those of us, like me, who were born and raised here and have enjoyed all the advantages of a middle-class upbringing, it's hard to imagine the obstacles facing someone like Ms. Morales, and my prayers and good wishes go out to her. I am pleased that some attention is being given by the press to the conditions under which migrant workers such as Clara live and I hope it will cause many in our community to re-evaluate any prejudices they may have.

Farm workers such as these live in circumstances only a little better than that of black slaves in the antebellum South. Indeed, migrant workers are often exploited in such a way as to constitute a modern form of slavery. Thank you for sharing Clara's story and casting a spotlight on these contemporary "people of the abyss."

Why put illegals in the limelight?

Re: Summer reaping, June 20.

What part of this am I not getting? The story is about a family that is illegal. They are here illegally, they work illegally. Am I missing something? They are breaking the law and they are being put on the front page of the newspaper in a sympathetic story.

I understand their plight. However, there are poor, disadvantaged families everywhere - even in America. We have legal, U.S. citizens working laborious jobs, struggling, competing for scholarships. So why should we be sympathetic to someone who is outright, on the front page of the paper, committing a crime? Moreover, nobody is doing anything about it except writing newspaper articles.

Abandon bilingualism

Re: Turn every immigrant into an American, by Charles Krauthammer, June 17.

While I do not think illegal entry is forgivable, I must agree with Charles Krauthammer about the problem of assimilation of illegal immigrants and bilingualism.

There are some who wish to expand bilingualism under the argument that both English and Spanish will be required to perform in the business world of the near future. But the downside of speaking one language in the workplace and another at home, in my opinion, tends to create and sustain a form of isolationism of the type seen in neighborhoods such as Miami's "Little Havana."

I can certainly understand the need to stay connected to the culture and history of one's homeland, however, these tight nationalistic communities tend to encourage a loyalty to the homeland, rather than to America. They deter the assimilation process.

Bilingualism should be abolished, and English should be our primary language, used for all documents, job applications and most certainly for acquisition of citizenship. It is a massive problem, and still no one seems ready to address it.

A living will and a clock

Re: Terri Schiavo and Jeb Bush.

When Terri Schiavo's case first became public, I was one of those who made sure that my wishes were put in writing, witnessed, notarized and put in a place known to my friends and family that I do not want to be kept alive unnaturally when in a condition such as Terri Schiavo's.

Now I know that in addition to that, if any loved one of mine is found unconscious and/or dying, I need be sure to write down what time I found him in case some politician decides 15 years later that I might have been negligent while waking suddenly in the middle of the night and hysterically trying to deal with a horror such as Michael Schiavo faced.

Remember, when your loved one is dying in front of your eyes, find a clock!

Getting the last word in

Re: A nearby resting place, June 21.

Michael Schiavo continues to prove what kind of human being he is. Placing the words "I kept my promise" on Terri's grave marker was not for Terri, for if her death was the result of his promise to her, then she already knew that.

No, it was a message to her family and those who opposed him that said, "I am in control, I have the last word." The hatred in his heart knows no bounds. Until he can move beyond it, he will never be truly at peace.

Proof is in the promise

Re: A nearby resting place.

To anyone who thinks Michael Schiavo's inscription on his wife's grave is an insult to the parents, think again. When Terri and Michael married, each promised the other to love, honor and obey. Michael kept that promise until Terri's death. He never allowed her, as her parents did, to be a political pawn in a game of "who loves her more." By keeping his promise, Michael has proven he had the greater love.

A self-serving inscription

Michael Schiavo should have saved his self-serving, pat-himself-on-the-back comments for his own tombstone. Terri's should have been about her, for her.

I was in Michael's corner until this final episode of his getting the last word. He is living proof that people can usually pull off looking normal, decent and intelligent - and then they speak.

Injustice always must be confronted

Re: Letters on Terri Schiavo, June 18.

Many of these letters followed a theme: Conservatives should let poor Terri Schiavo rest in peace and just move on.

Really? To them I ask: what about Emmett Till? What about the three dead civil rights volunteers in Mississippi? What about the Holocaust?

As a reader, I regularly see contemporary references to injustices that took place long ago and understand that injustice should never get a break from the bright light of truth.

Fission's waste remains a problem

Re: Renewed faith in the "fuel of the future," by Bob McGehee, June 15.

Bob McGehee makes a strong case for expanding fission nuclear power plants as the "fuel of the future." I disagree totally if he promotes fission. Fission produces extremely dangerous waste material in spent fuel rods, which are very hard to store and are currently "stored" in rusting barrels at nuclear plants spread across America.

He points to the increased power production at the Crystal River plant. That increase elicits the obvious question: How much waste has this increased production created? And how are the added fuel rods stored?

If McGehee had used the word "fusion," I would agree completely. Fusion should be the "fuel of the future."

[Last modified June 23, 2005, 00:45:20]