Another side of the story
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
By Richard Anderson
In a piece on
NewWest.net, columnist (and former
Planet staffer) Gil Brady described our July 4 cover story on immigrant entrepreneurs, “Taking Root,” by
PJH staffer Lucille Rice, as “breathlessly Polyannnish,” “ recklessly elitist” and “rosy tinted.” Certainly the article was a feel-good piece, and, yes, it did not mention the (obvious) point that not everything that enters our country, legally or illegally, is rosy and good.
It’s true that in the past few years, several high-profile, serious crimes were committed by immigrants (i.e. Mexicans). It’s also true that Teton County, Wyo., has experienced a crime spike – which our local constabulary has said should be expected when the population of a small community passes the 20,000 mark.
Not to minimize the seriousness of the crimes Brady alludes to, but before making generalizations about the effects of immigrants on crime rates, I would want to define what we mean by “serious crime” and see how many crimes over the same period of time committed by Anglos meet the criteria. Possession of 500 grams of meth with intent to distribute? Arson and burglary? Attempted murder?
It seems like common sense that recent immigrants to Jackson Hole would contribute to our spike in crime, including serious crime. While a statistically sound study that offers hard evidence of such a claim would be newsworthy, another less-than-scientific pronouncement of such is less so. As the Latino community has observed, the only time immigrants make the news is when they are accused of a crime.
Though that might be an overgeneralization, their point is well taken, and the
Planet’s story was an attempt to begin to correct that trend. Why didn’t the
Planet report the “other side of the story”? “Taking Root” WAS the other side of the story.
Finally, Brady suggests that our failure to discuss the immigrant-crime spike link was the result of political correctness, fear of being labeled racist. Well, yeah, I suppose. If I’m guilty of trying to not be labeled a racist, I can live with that.
I wonder, though, what kind of outcry we would hear if every time we wrote about hunting and hunters we included a paragraph or two about poachers, if every time we alluded to our Western heritage we reminded readers of the genocide perpetrated along the trail out West, if every in article about cowboys or roughnecks or carneys at the country fair (or lawyers, accountants and teachers, for that matter) we were careful to point out that a certain, if small, percentage are prone to substance abuse and domestic violence.
There is a curious question to be answered regarding the connection between our growing population – immigrant and American – and our spike in crime. It deserves to be plumbed and pondered. But so does the role of industrious and upstanding members of our community. Perhaps you’ll forgive us occasionally trying to bring you some good news. And forgive Brady for his grandstanding.
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Another side of the story | Planet JH News Article: Editorial
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