As we near the holiday season, it’s common to see flyers on the windshields of vehicles parked at shopping locales normally hawking yule bazaars, along with art shows, craft fairs and the like. That wasn’t the case last week in Waukegan.
Instead, shoppers along the grocery store corridor on North Lewis Avenue found anonymous and racist flyers targeting the city’s Hispanic residents. It was a bold move by bigots, something akin to the old Ku Klux Klan parading in public in their white-sheeted uniforms.
Perhaps these flyers penned in English and Spanish by members of an invisible empire which were sent my way are omens of the intimidation undocumented migrants may face with the election Nov. 5 of former President Donald Trump. I’d like to think that is not the case, but there is fear of what’s coming next for immigrant communities.
Flyers such as those distributed on Nov. 17 are especially egregious in a city with a majority Hispanic population made up of industrious folks. Similar flyers have cropped up before in other locations, and they all have the same message: Conform to the “American” way of doing things.
“You would do well to learn some of the history of where you now live, so you can be a little more appreciative and less arrogant,” said one portion of the flyer, in all-caps and obviously written by a xenophobic zealot. “Many of you are coming across rude and entitled.”
I’m not sure if the distribution of these intolerant handbills qualifies as a hate crime or just prejudiced free speech. But they don’t belong in polyglot Waukegan.
“The beautiful homes, neighborhoods and schools that you and your families are now enjoying were built, maintained and paid for by the hard work and tax dollars of the people who were here, long before you came,” the one I saw continued.
Those people who came before were immigrants, too. From all over the world they came willingly, and settled in Waukegan long before the flyers’ writers showed up.
Armenians, Finns, Greeks, Irish, Lithuanians, Poles, Slovenes, Serbs and more emigrated to this corner of northern Illinois. Few of us aren’t the daughters, sons and grandchildren of immigrants.
Apparently, the U.S. — and Illinois in particular — being a destination for immigrants over the decades makes little sense to the authors of the unsigned broadside. “Your negative attitude and blatant disrespect are extremely misplaced because the world owes you nothing,” it said in a haughty and condescending tone.
The same could be said of anyone. Nobody rides for free, after all.
“While you are legally welcome, please re-evaluate your attitude and try to be more grateful,” the flyer concludes, while also mentioning language differences and speaking English. All the anti-immigrant tropes are there.
The handout also spells out grievances about immigrant dog owners not picking up after their pets using neighbors’ lawns for toilets, a practice not solely done by newcomers. The authors also don’t know Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, not a country.
I’m guessing there are security cameras around the grocery stores where the flyers were distributed. Several enlightened Waukeganites have complained to me about finding the flyers on their cars.
They believe city residents should be on the lookout for signs of racist or bigoted activities, especially seeing it is happening before Trump’s second inauguration. Don’t forget, that he campaigned on plans to deport millions of undocumented migrants, of which there are an estimated 12 million in the U.S.
While many Americans support mass deportations in theory, approval slips when confronted with the potential impact, a new Scripps News/Ipsos poll has found. The survey, conducted after the Nov. 5 election, finds a bare majority (52%) say they somewhat or strongly support the mass deportation of those in the country illegally.
That includes an overwhelming majority of Republicans (85%), and more than half of those who consider themselves to be independents (54%). But that support drops substantially, to 38%, when practicality enters the picture. That includes the issue of separation of families, and the impact on the nation’s economy, such as higher prices on goods and services.
It seems most Americans — including Latinos — still are looking at their pocketbooks and economic issues, as they said on Nov. 5 when voting to re-install Trump and his coterie in the White House. Immigrant services leaders in Lake County “know what’s coming,” as Dulce Ortiz, executive director of Mano a Mano Family Resource Center in the Round Lake area and Waukegan, told Joseph States in a recent front-page News-Sun story.
“It’s like you’re seeing this big tsunami coming at you,” she said. “But what do you do? Where do you go for safety.”
Illinois officials, including Gov. J.B. Pritzker, have said they will protect state residents from various Trump administration attacks. Yet, they can’t cushion them and us from the hateful flyers making the rounds in Waukegan.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
sellenews@gmail.com
X: @sellenews
