Preguuuuntame...

Una pregunta.
What year are we living in?
Last I checked, it was late 2007. But somehow I feel that things are going backwards. You see, raised in a border town, I never gave much thought to the color of anyone's skin or what language they spoke, much less if they had health insurance or how far they went in school.
What we learn from our past is supposed to shape how we live in the present and how we'll create the future. So didn't we learn anything?

Last week, this article was printed in the Tucson Citizen's Family Plus section. A Tucson couple, who already had two children, tried in-vitro fertilization to have just one more child. They ended up with four.

During a brief interview with the section's editor, Gabrielle Fimbres, the issues of writing a story about multiple births were raised.
The story idea had been in deliberation for weeks before editors at the Citizen decided it would be "a slice of life" story showing how the family was preparing their home for the quads.
The article states that the woman conducted the interview in Spanish, and suddenly a wave of comments about how this "illegal" woman is using these unborn children to be her "anchor babies."
Now I doubt this woman would have let the press release her name and photographs if she were illegal. Also, the article explains her reasoning for keeping all four children and why she suddenly can't afford them.
In May of 2005, Fimbres herself wrote a story about a family who already had two children and wanted to add one more to the clan (sounding familiar?) They ended up with three boys.
"The only difference is that they have blond hair and blue eyes," said Fimbres.
She also said the only comments that were left for "The Barker Bunch" were those of congratulations.

Ethical concerns can be raised about why the doctors choose to implant so many and why the parents decide not to reduce the number of embryos, the taxpayers who foot the hospital bill... and so on and so forth. But why all the negativity?

Even a Citizen columnist had something to say. "I hate to say it, but this is a seriously shoddy piece of journalism on the part of the Tucson Citzen," she writes about the recent article. (I won't mention her misspelling of Citizen) Lovely.

The woman's daughter did a very good job in her response to all of the comments and did it in a very positive way.

I'm not taking sides, I really am not. I believe (almost) anyone has a right to their opinion. Those excluded: silly people who don't do background research and blurt out the first negative comment that comes to mind.

Now, please turn your thoughts to this column, written by Gustavo Arellano, titled "Ask a Mexican," stating:

"Got a spicy question about Mexicans? Ask the Mexican at themexican@askamexican.net. Letters will be edited for clarity, cabrones—unless you’re a racist pendejo."

The "spicy" comments that the Citizen and the Arizona Daily Star receive daily about border issues and Mexicans could easily be diminished and peace restored if only people did their research and thought with an open mind.

Isn't that what we're working for?