I haven't found anyone debunking this email yet, b

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I haven't found anyone debunking this email yet, but it seems to have popped up recently (most likely as a result of recent immigrant protests in California).

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In this email, it says the government gives out free blahblahblah. These programs are available to US citizens. Undocumented immigrants are not getting subisidized housing or free food. There is no such thing as free healthcare in the US. And free education benefits everyone.

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I've found it on numerous websites, everything from the Free Republic to the Klu Klux Klan to MySpace, with the posters frequently posting the email below in a context to suggest that they themselves have written it (and very much not crediting any source whatsoever).

Since I could not find the source, but each posting is pretty similar, it most likely comes from (I believe, anyway) a right wing think tank that is most likely funded by a subsidiary of some contractor that stands to make a good chunk of change off of building a fence along the border.

I found nothing debunking this because there isn't much "fact" in the piece to debunk. This isn't surprising as this email isn't an appeal to intellect and logic, but to emotion - more specifically, hate and fear.

My first question would be, so why did you put up a birdfeeder if you were only going to complain about hungry birds coming to look for food?

In the first 3 paragraphs, the people who send this email around are once again reducing people to animals. In this instance, they are dehumanizing immigrants who come here looking for work. Oh, they'll say, it's just an analogy - and it is. But it is an analogy with an agenda.

Plus, it's inaccurate. America isn't a great big birdhouse offering free food to whoever wants it. I'm looking at 2 malnourished junkies sitting on the curb across street right now as I write this.

The behavior of the animals in this analogy is supposed to represent the behavior of immigrants. And I think it reveals something of the mindset of those who send out this type of email. I wonder if they actually know any immigrants? Ones who want to work and provide for their family.

They obviously have some kind of racist stereotype that they're getting from somewhere.In this email, it says the government gives out free blahblahblah. These programs are available to US citizens. Undocumented immigrants are not getting subisidized housing or free food. There is no such thing as free healthcare in the US. And free education benefits everyone.

Denying the children of immigrants access to education doesn't make them go away, it creates an uneducated underclass that most likely would believe bogus propagandistic emails that validates some sort of hate-based, fear-laced knee jerk response to complex issues while leaving them unqualified to hold a job.

In the long run, denying education creates more of an economic strain on us, but again, people who send out these kind of emails are not what you'd call forward-thinking people.

This email suggests that we need to revise our laws so that people born in America are not automatically citizens. Aside from how ugly this perspective is, can you imagine the expense at creating, monitoring and regulating a citizenship program?

I would expect that many of those complaining about Mexicans crossing the border looking for work would soon be complaining about Big Brother monitoring them. And they'd most definitely gripe about the taxes they'd have to pay to fund such a program.

Our taxes haven't gone up to pay for this immigration issue. Our taxes have gone up to pay for a war in Iraq. Remember, before Republicans took over all 3 branches of government, we had a surplus - A SURPLUS.

But the Republicans have squandered our treasury for a bad war, have given tax cuts to the rich (and to the same companies that are illegally employing undocumented immigrants - thereby "calling" the birds to your precious birdfeeder).

I very seriously doubt that anyone sending/receiving this email has a child in the 2nd grade where 1/2 the class can't speak English. That is hysteric pandering designed to cause the "white fear of a brown skin invasion."

Plus, kids are hardwired for language. If they can't speak English in 2nd grade, due to their natural developmental skills, they'll be speaking English inside a month or two.

As for the Corn Flakes with a bilingual box, so what? Kelloggs is a corporation. They want to reach as many customers as possible. Are the people sending this email advocating more government regulation of business and passing laws regulating what can be said on packaging? Interesting.

As for people waving other flags other than "Old Glory" squawking - I couldn't agree more. So let's first outlaw the Confederate Flag (after all they lost their racist war once already), y'know in the spirit of cleaning up one's own back yard. Then we can talk about outlawing the flags of other countries.

Wow - makes America sound better already doesn't? The government telling companies what words it can/can't use on its packaging (could we still use Spanish on tequila packaging? and at Taco Bell? Or would that be a crime?), saying poeple born here can't automatically become citizens and outlawing flags. Pretty. Talk about a shitty back yard.

As for the solution, the email proposes: "Maybe it's time for the government to take down the birdfeeder." What does that mean?
This email does not:

1. provide any sourcing for any of the "stastical claims" it makes
2. provide any indication of its origin, which should make it highly suspect to any rational person
3. provide any solutions to the complaint it makes

The email does:

1. dehumanize undocumented workers
2. feed into racist stereotypes
3. panders to white skin fear of dark skin people
4. advocate for nothing by hate.

Since it concludes with "take down birdfeeder" the only thing I can think of that it is advocating is the building of a wall (or blowing up the United States).

And since it is advocating for the building of a wall, logic would suggest looking to those who stand to gain the most from such a project. Contractors.

The only non-"right on, I'm with ya, we gotta kick them demon immigrants out" discussion I found was on Snopes.
This is amusing:

Strange. I have a birdfeeder in the backyard and there doesn't seem to be any more crap than before.

My inbox can be a different matter though.

So we have a tortured analogy which involves not normal birds - but demonic hellspawned birds which were considered too evil to be cast by Hitchcock in his famous avian titled film.

Then the analogy is placed alongside a collection of racist stereotypes and troglodyte posturing.

And what is it about these people who seem to consider rights and liberties to be a bad thing? Is it their way of saying they hate freedom except as a buzzword?

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