It was my normal Friday evening. Bill and I picked up the baby from daycare, came home and I fixed the baby dinner. Like normal, I put her in her highchair and proceeded to turn on the TV. My normal routine is to watch the evening news while I'm watching Melina eat dinner. I turn on KDKA, which is our local CBS affiliate. I'm listening to the news like usual and something caught my attention. There was a story on working illegal immigrants in a nearby town. This reporter, Marty Griffin, was going up to these workers and asking them if they were legal. I was APPALLED! Who does he think he is? He is NO ONE of authority to ask these sort of questions! He actually went up to these workers and asked "Are you legal?" Then the generalizations started flying, "I tried to talk to the crew, they did not understand." Did he stop to think that they just didnt want to talk to him? If someone came up to me and asked such questions, I wouldnt speak either, but that doesnt mean I dont understand! Then the kicker, the reporter goes up to one of the men and asks, "You have uh, citizens ID? No ID? Where are you from, Guatemala? Central America? Mexico, youre from Mexico" Why would you target just ONE country like that? Why Guatemala? Why not Ecuador, El Salvadore, or any other country for that matter? You would think a reporter in this day and age would know how to ask questions. Shouldnt the question have been, if any question at all, "What country are you from?"
It turns out that 12 out of 13 of them have legal papers! Can you imagine what these people feel like? He also called them "illegals" throughout the entire newscast. No matter what their status, aren't these people human too? Is it so hard to say illegal alien or illegal immigrant...but illegals? It's simply un-human.
I was so appalled at this broadcast that I talked to my father about it. If you dont know, my father is Mexican. I gave him all my reasons of why I was so disturbed at this broadcast and he agreed with me. Can people now just go up to others because as Mr. Griffin put it, "they look to be illegal" and ask to see their legal papers or ask if they have legal status in this country?
This is the news clip: http://kdka.com/video/?id=28459@kdka.dayport.com
I did what I could do, I wrote to the local news station about how disturbed I was with the reporter and the story. This is the email I wrote on Monday:
"I am *extremely* disgusted in the lack of sensitivity towards the immigrants in the story on the Friday evening news at 6. Marty Griffin went to different Verizon sites and asked the workers if they were legal. First off, he has *NO* right to ask that sort of question, he is not INS or even a person of authority. Second off, when he went to the man in the truck, he asked him if he had legal papers and then asked "Are you from Guatemala?" How can you target ONE country like that??? That's just PURELY ignorant! There are *MANY* hispanic countries in this world and to pick one out is disgusting! I'm thoroughly disgusted at this broadcast as I AM HISPANIC!!!!!!!! Do you have *ANY* idea what it would feel like to have someone come up to you and ask if you are legal, or if you have legal immigrant status in this country? If you did, there's *NO CHANCE* you would have *EVER* aired this broadcast or ever let it happen! This has happened to me and it is the most disgusting feeling to have...especially since I was BORN in Virginia. This was the most disgusting piece of news I have EVER seen! Does the editor or anyone in this newsroom have any idea what RACISM is?? To say that someone *LOOKS* illegal? HOW IGNORANT CAN YOU GET?????????? I have spoken to my Hispanic friends who were also OUTRAGED at the broadcast. I await a response..."
I wasn't sure I would get a response but I did! The reporter called and left a VM on Monday. It was a bit snide when he said "I dont think youre watching the same broadcast that I produced." So I went back and watched the news clip over and over again. No, I was right. I quoted him correctly and I was getting more and more irritated each time I watched it. So I called back the next day, Tuesday, and left a VM for him to call me back or email me. Mr. Griffins producer called me back Tuesday afternoon. She informed me that he read my email over the air Tuesday morning and he wanted to interview me on Wednesdays show.
So, I am scheduled to talk to him tomorrow...or this morning on the air. I will NOT back down from my views and hopefully will get an explanation of why he felt the need to single these people out.
More to come after the interview.
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Comments: 19
Here's hoping they don't repeat that mistake with you.
As a boss we're supposed to ask, so we don't get fined. You can't make it a law to hire illegals and not give us the authority to ask.
As a landlord we're supposed to ask so we don't get caught up in any rulings that have been made.
As a homeowner if an illegal came onto my property and robbed/sued me for any reason I would be very concerned. If robbed I could never find them to press charges, our own Gov't couldn't find him, they are all invisible! In any lawsuit the illegals have the lawyers and money on their side. Take the 2 border agents, unless we're all lawyers in civil rights we could think we're all doing thing and still be wrong.
But good luck tomorrow.
The video says they claim 12 have papers, but it hasn't been verified. I guess it's safe to assume none of them would lie! LOL.
I will never foget when my dad, who is filipino american, was at the DMV and the guy asked him for his green card. He assumed my dad was mexican. My dad was born in phoenix.
People are ignorant, stupid, judgmental and bigoted.