White reveals self with choice of words

David White still doesn't get it. The statements in his latest letter alone are evidence not only of the racist undertone of his purported "survey," but also of his skewed view of our community and the responsibilities of the Elgin City Council.

First, despite his attempts to convince us that he is solely concerned with the effects of illegal immigration, his whole letter targets Hispanics only. No mention is made of any other immigrant group with an undocumented population, which includes Canadians, Europeans, Africans and Asians, to name but a few.

Second, he charges Mayor Ed Schock with failing to separate illegal immigrants from legal without even realizing that he is doing the same thing. For example, he states that "U-46 states that out of its total enrollment of 39,794, that 6,000 are limited English and 16,763 are from low-income families." Does this mean they are not U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents or otherwise authorized to be here? Absolutely not.

There are no statistics documenting the percentage of school children with or without permission to be here. He further states that "there are 48 percent more Hispanics in our schools than whites, blacks and Asians." Again, does this mean that the growth was due to the undocumented population? Absolutely not, for the same reason.

To state that "anchor babies, the children of illegal aliens, have contributed heavily to these figures" is also not only unsubstantiated, but misplaced. Whether he likes it or not, according to the U.S. Constitution these children are U.S. citizens (because they were born here) who are entitled to the same rights and privileges as any other citizen.

Only a Constitutional amendment can change that, which his group is free to lobby Congress for, but is a task far beyond the duties of the Elgin City Council.

Moreover, by using these same statistics in a survey and Web site targeted to address illegal immigration, he further misleads the public into thinking that these numbers apply to only those not authorized to be here.

I commend our mayor and city council for recognizing the benefits of immigrants to our community, both historically and currently.

I commend our community for embracing all people, whether black, white, brown or somewhere in between.

It is for these reasons that I recently moved from my all-white community into Elgin, so that my children could be a part of a community that reflects the real world with its increasing diversity rather than trying to run from or fight this reality.

A reality not, as White would have us believe, caused by the Hispanic "invasion," but by the way the world is changing and becoming more interconnected.

Of course, those who choose not to be part of such a community are free to move somewhere that is more in tune with their notion of "our culture," whatever that may be.

Shirley Sadjadi

Elgin