Live and Let Live!
By definition, family is a group of people living together and functioning as a single household, usually consisting of parents and their children. However the State officials in Manassas, Virginia are working to revoke the true essence of a family unit in order to convenience themselves and the “popular” family idea.
According to The New York Times article, “A Family or a Crowd”, senators in Manassas, Virginia are actually holding debates in hopes to redefine the this term. Due to the recent wave of Latino immigrants to the city, the local government has undergone investigation in areas such as real estate, city sanitation, and the service sector employment. It was stated that in terms of real estate in 2004 and 2005, “Manassas used its zoning code to move 400 people out of crowded single-family houses.” Nevertheless the issue of overcrowding apartments and houses remained at large, because of the multigenerational occupation of these small living spaces.
Senate argues that these overcrowded homes turned boarding houses cause much more problems than one may consider. Overpopulation leads to unclean streets full of trash, infamous “jornaleros” who stand outside areas of work such as hardware stores (Home Depot), kitchens, area in need of maintenance and construction. The senate has completed and is satisfied with their definition that has yet to be approved, however their idea only includes parents, children and siblings, and completely disassociates aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews etc.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, was planning to sue Manassas because the organization believes that the government is targeting a specific nationality, their argument cites a 1977 Supreme Court decision, that clearly states “the tradition of uncles, aunts, cousins and especially grandparents sharing a household along with parents and children has roots equally venerable and equally deserving of constitutional recognition.”
We believe that Americans do not have the same concept of family as the Latino population. Why is our community discriminated against because of who we choose to open our door to? Regardless of what the situation is this story is about a culture who is only trying to survive. We don’t understand the U.S justification, however United States supremacy is at an all time high and we can honestly say we fear for this countries future being that this country thrives on the labor and servitude of the Latino population.
a group of “jornaleros“, those who solicit work.
prof washburn said,
March 7, 2006 at 2:52 am
Fascinating entry, and I learned a few things, like “jornaleros” and their role in the American workforce.
You open with “By definition”; please include where you got this definition. From the dictionary? From the NY Times article?
You also write “the State officials in Manassas, Virginia”, but Manassas is a city, so it’s not the state officials who are trying to change things.
You write “The senate has completed and is satisfied with their definition that has yet to be approved”. What is the new definition? Who has to approve it?
Good information, but you have generated questions about the facts.
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