Glenn, This story ran in this morning's newspaper. The newspaper is owned by the Stephens' family. They also own the largest investment company outside of Wall Street. The Stephens introduced the Indonesian Riady family of the Lippo group to Clinton. Clinton later hired the infamous John Huang to raise money from the overseas Asian community and the rest is history.
The paper states that the benefit of the colonization process is the: "opportunity to enrich the community with cultural diversity, strengthening the whole with differing backgrounds." I'd just as soon as forgo the enrichment and remain a cohesive community.
"Also in January, the Public Broadcast System will air a report on "The Lehrer Report" news show. "
The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas
12/26/97
They come for industrial jobs that pay much more than they could make in their native lands, jobs that many Anglos choose not to take. They come to make better lives for themselves and their families. But they're not coming unopposed. Groups like the Multi-Culture Forum have formed to ease the changes that a community must go through when immigrants, many Hispanics, begin appearing in large numbers: welcoming the influx as an opportunity to enrich the community with cultural diversity, strengthening the whole with differing backgrounds.
Americans for an Immigration Moratorium (AIM) formed this May to take the polar opposite stance: keeping immigration numbers down. Others see immigrants coming into the area as a tidal wave threatening to take away their jobs, tax money and cultural identity. Regardless, the population of immigrants has jumped to the thousands in the Northwest Arkansas area, and doesn't appear to be diminishing. And the area has adjusted to meet the needs of new denizens. More business, hospitals and schools are trying to hire bilingual employees. Police officers are trained in "survival" Spanish. There are more stores to cater to Hispanic tastes in cuisine. Spanish music is on the radio. Classes in English as a second language are filling up in public schools from kindergarten to college levels. A fear that many have of culture clashes or more crime and gangs coming in with immigrants has not been realized. Area police and sheriff departments have not find a rise in crime as a result of a growing Hispanic population in the area.
The majority of arrests involving Hispanics came from traffic violations and a some alcohol-related offenses during the last year. There were also battery arrests, but they usually concerned Hispanics against Hispanics, not cross-cultural clashes. Al Lopez, an assistant to Rogers Mayor John Sampier, believes most of the year has seen positive changes for immigrants He believes the public meetings and forums have brought people together to brainstorm on how to integrate Hispanics into the area. "Even Dan Morris has created some consciousness in the area," Lopez said.
Dan Morris, who heads AIM, said his group holds a view that there is a need for tightly controlled immigration in order to prevent the domination of the country by millions of legal and illegal immigrants. Morris has repeatedly said he and the other members of AIM are not anti-immigrant and definitely not anti-Hispanic. He has said that he is opposed to a political system that lets an "out-of-control" level of immigration of illiterate, unskilled people form Third World countries become a burden on the American taxpayers. Morris has said that efforts to assimilate large numbers of immigrants have failed and gives Los Angeles as an example of what can go wrong. Lopez also cites Los Angeles as what Northwest Arkansas should not do. He said that there is a need to recognize that there is an immigration situation in Northwest Arkansas, but not like California or Chicago, or even New York.
The major concern that Lopez sees is a lack of communication. Meetings where opposing sides of the issue can air their opinions may be the answer. "We need to reach out and invite members of the community to join us," said Lopez. The issue of immigration is affecting more diverse communities in the country and is gaining more attention from media outlets around the nation.
The Clarion Ledger of Jackson, Miss., sent a reporter in November to report on the effects of the rise in the immigrant population in Northwest Arkansas. The newspaper will run a series on immigration that will also look at the growing immigration situation in Mississippi. Also in January, the Public Broadcast System will air a report on "The Lehrer Report" news show. A reporter and cameraman were also in the area in November to interview community leaders and cover an AIM meeting. Both the newspaper series and "The Lehrer Report" will come out in January.