A letter to the editor from a local teen appeared yesterday in the Manassas Journal Messenger.
Suzie Eskelund
Published: July 20, 2008I am a 17-year-old caucasian girl who has lived in Manassas my whole life. I just want to say thank you for allowing the white, self-righteous and supremacist legal citizens of this fine, upstanding county
to once again have the important jobs back, like fast food and construction. I know it has always been my dream to work the drive through at my neighborhood McDonald’s and now you have made that
dream more possible. I am so proud to be a part of a city that is taking a stand against those pesky brown people. I was riding in the car with my Hawaiian friend when we got pulled over so the nice
policeman could make sure she wasn’t an illegal Latina. I know that in my heart I couldn’t be more thankful for those new laws that you helped pass to racially profile everyone with dark skin. Gee, I don’t even know why I’m friends with her.I know that no one who eats tacos and burritos can be a good person. I mean hey, I don’t want that new Chipotle on Liberia Avenue! These people just need to go back to Mexico and take their children.
They deserve to starve, be in constant danger, and have a poor education.After all, they were born in an inferior country! I don’t want any new customs in my life.
I want to be closed-minded and be surrounded by my pasty friends forever. Please get that diversity away from me!
Now people say that all Americans immigrated here. Well that may be true, but at least all of mine spoke English when they came here! Oh wait… except for my Danish, French, and German relatives.
But no matter, at least it wasn’t Spanish. When I was in high school and I was trying to learn another language, I had the hardest time and struggled through all three years. I hardly remember any of that
language, but who cares? Learning a second language may be really hard for anyone, but it doesn’t matter if your first language was English.Now I look around my upper middle-class neighborhood and see that there are far fewer children for my neighbors to play with. But I rest assured knowing that when they play tag, they won’t get tagged by Latino cooties anymore.
Next, we should give them disease-infested blankets; it worked when we wanted to get rid of Native Americans.
Thank you once again for your efforts to cleanse our community,
SUZIE ESKELUND
Manassas
Elena:
I wanted to let you know I just watched the video in the “About” section. You gave quite an impassioned presentation, and I hope many in the audience and on the committee were positively moved. You gave a human face to the issue, and what you presented was a superb witness against the inhumanity that pervades a great portion of the “anti-illegal immigration” crowd.
I’ve read that there is a meeting this Friday somewhere near you. At an Episcopal church I believe. Unfortunately I am away this Friday through Sunday, but if circumstances were different I would have been happy to come visit. Manassas/Prince William County is only three hours away from where I live. Perhaps another time.
Ed,
Yes, perhaps Suzie will come around to your way of thinking with time and experience; you can hope for that. Perhaps not, though. There are enough experienced adults on this blog with a different opinion to let you know that time and experience don’t necessarily mean that she will grow to see your version of “wisdom.”
Perhaps she will keep her valid opinion at least until she’s 18. Will it be so easy to dismiss her vote? I only wish that all the young people near voting age in PWC, Manassas, and Manassas Park could see how some seek to put tape over their mouths until they meet your responsibility standards.
andy,
Chief deane warned us that there could be an increased perception of racial profiling and it appears this has come to fruition.
I hope Suzie knows if she will be 18 by the election in November, she can register to vote now if she has not already.
(off topic) OK…now I’m not imagining things…I had a comment of mine removed on the other blog. I responded to someone who said a kook was blaming HSM for grafitti. I said that NotGregLetiecq admitted he was only joking and apologized. I asked how many times posters had blamed Mr. Fernandez for vandalizing his own site, and cited one such posting. And that is a reason to remove my comment?
I know, welcome to the club. It’s just frustrating. I was trying to play by Greg’s stated rules, and what I said was not an attack and not rude. What the heck?
Robb,
We would love to have you visit us!
Thank you for your kind words, many people , after I spoke, reached out to me. I have spoken many times before the Board on land use issues, but this time was different for me. I did not realize that I was so affected by the hate I had seen, until I read the words aloud to everyone.
No rhyme or reason diversity gal.
Elena, I give you credit for even reading the words aloud. I don’t know that I could do it.
Andy, perception is reality. You could very well be right. The friend could have been speeding.
Had all this business in PWC not turned so ugly it might not have ever occurred to the kids that it might be thought that her friend was Latino. They might have acted like normal kids and blamed it on teenagers being picked on.
Elena,
I have often wondered…what is your take on the BOS response to your reading of the blog and the slide show? It is hard to tell from film footage, as there is a quick cut-away from Corey Stewart. Did anyone say anything about it?
This is why 17 year olds don’t make the rules.
Perhaps, but at some point within the next year Suzie will turn 18. She’ll be an 18 year-old young adult who will bring her world perspective into the voting booth with her, as we all do.
Unless your planning to strip voting rights from 18 year olds, you should care very much about Suzie’s concerns. Am I the same person I was at 18? No. But I voted as a Democrat then, and I do now. The first time I voted my biggest concern was trying to find a way to reverse Reagan’s cuts to the federal student loan program. Now, it’s fixing health care and the economy.
Oops… I should have attributed the first line of my response to SA:
SA wrote:
Diversity Girl, Apparently the kids do not matter, even though they are the ones living the good life in public schools. (and private also) They have just as much right to address issues as anyone else does. Suzie will probably be voting in an election this fall. Maybe some of the readers might want to look at how the young are being courted by the candidates. Say what they want, agree or disagree, their vote might be making the huge difference if they are involved.
In general,
I find it disturbing that some of the contributers here not only dismiss what young people say, they actively try to lock them out of the process. Be careful. As a person who grew up in the 60’s, I advise you that you might awaken a sleeping giant.
I voted democrat too when I was 18. I’ve wizened up since then.
What floors me now is, basically, all we have is 287(g) and mandatory checks on those arrested. I thought that was what everyone wanted. Yet still all this hoopla and rhetoric…
Mando wrote:
Dictionary.com
Should wizened old men with their wizened old perspective on the world even be allowed to vote? Why should we care what they think? This is the New Millennium! We want to hear from the younger voters, who will be the next generation of leaders!
And, yes, that was snark!
Mando,
GHM, I used to be a Young Republican in high school…largely due to the influence of my parents. You can PROBABLY tell from my posts that I am definitely a Democrat now…have considered myself one since my freshman year in college. I guess you can say that I, too, have become wiser…as have my mother and brother, I can gladly say.
Party affiliations aside, young people shouldn’t be counted out for all of the reasons so many have listed above.
As for the hoopla, I don’t think for one minute that what is currently in place is all some people want. I was asleep and not talking about the issue before this all went down. I’ve seen and heard some pretty disturbing things during the continuing debate, so I plan to stay awake, keep listening, and keep talking.
Children are our future. This young lady very well could be 18 by November, and voting in her first presidential election. The fact she’s a teenager does not lessen the value of her opinion. This is her perception of her hometown.
And we ALL know perception is reality, right? 🙂
Mando said
This is probably the best question of the day. Mando, we have spent $4 million bucks because of the HSM shinnanigans. They continue to attempt to influence local politics, lie about our economic condition here in PWC, and lie about our crime. I guess we have just become the self appointed watchdogs for groups like this who try to take over our county.
PWC policy should be decided by its residents, not a small, select group of people who bring the political agenda of FAIR into the county. Policy should be subject to public hearings. None of the Immigration resolution was. The night of the million speakers, October 16, 2007 was not a public hearing.
But excellent question. Thanks for asking it. I think we are satisfied with it. I do not believe the Order of the Red Circle was pleased at all, judging from the face on Corey. Greg and Corey put that spin on it so it didn’t look like they got nipped back a bit. The film shows all this.
“PWC policy should be decided by its residents”
It has been. Residents got sick of what had become of our communities.
“As for the hoopla, I don’t think for one minute that what is currently in place is all some people want.”
If you don’t want 287(g) and mandatory checks then your outside of what the majority of residents want. People can bemoan the “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” all they want, but if those two items are repealed for some crazy reason, you will see a wave of citizen revolt like you’ve never seen.
“you will see a wave of citizen revolt like you’ve never seen”
only to have the wave break against the rocky shore of reality, it will waste it’s self untill it’s anger dies out and it submits.
It’s over…the nativist vision has failed.
rod, the resolution was a completely different animal than the 287(G) program and mandatory post arrest immigration checks. I don’t think many people here are against those two actions. Why would anyone want a criminal element released back into their community? Are you against those two points?
““you will see a wave of citizen revolt like you’ve never seen”
only to have the wave break against the rocky shore of reality, it will waste it’s self untill it’s anger dies out and it submits.
It’s over…the nativist vision has failed.”
You are very delusional my hooka toking friend. Either that, or you don’t read very well.
Sounds like the author of the Washington Post editorial is against the post arrest immigration checks at least that’s how the last paragraph of the editorial reads.
Maybe then rod is the one who wrote that editorial!
Wow! What an amazingly, brave, and informed young lady this is! The is the type of white girl that makes me extremely proud! She has the intellect to see beyond her own needs, to analyze life enough to realize that what we are doing to immigrants will affect her needs too, and to tell a community of racists exactly what they should hear!
Your parents should be extremely proud! I know I would be. Suzie Eskelund…you are my hero, young lady! I see bright stars and great successes in your future. How completely unselfish of you to stand up for people who are being treated unjustly, and to do so at the ripe old age of 17 is amazing!
Signed,
Another white woman with a husband being tortured while applying for asylum
To the racists of Manassas:
This country is much larger than Manassas. And we vote too! And we watch cities who demonstrate this vile behavior and react to it, by writing our Senators, the President, and Congressmen. We also write the newspapers, and many of us outside of your little enclave are disgusted with the arrogance and ignorance you have demonstrated in your city council meetings.
When your city needs Federal help to recover from the financial devastation created by your premeditated social genocide towards Hispanics, then don’t ask America for a thing! You’ve made your racist bed, now lie in it!
Don’t ask Latinos to offer your city any respect! Don’t ask other whites to value your opinions. And don’t complain when the rest of us ask that the Feds stop sending you any money for earmarked for FEHA, because clearly your agenda expressed the fact that you have no concern for equal opportunity!
And to Suzy and her family, I wish you nothing but peace, harmony and respect. You should be proud for raising such a bright young lady with enough courage to take on an entire redneck, racist town!
I support the 287g aspects (as redundant as it is) it’s the hate wave that will be broken. HSM is looking for any chance to grab the shotguns and start a suscession. The resolution is the limit as to how far they are allowed to go, but are they satisfied? Rick Bentley is not, I remember him only being content with tattoo’s, beatings and torture to drive them out. Are you of the same mind Mando? is the resolution enough for you are or you willing to do what it takes to drive every last illegal imigrant out, even if their only crime (if it can be so called) was crossing the border?
Mando, without public hearings and with a false sense of support built on an ocean of out-of-state,FAIR influenced emails, the BOCS passed a resolution that didn’t reflect PWC residents’ priorities. In fact, it didn’t reflect the opinion of the majority of the residents present at the marathon meeting. If the BOCS learned anything from this fiasco, I hope that it’s that they learned to recognize drummed-up emails sent by a lobbying firm from emails and calls from their actual constituents.
@ rod2155
No
@ Censored bybvbl
Sorry. I didn’t know you were the appointed representative of the majority of PWC residents.
Mando, I don’t claim to be. But I know HSM sure isn’t.
Censored –
Then watch statements such as these:
“the BOCS passed a resolution that didn’t reflect PWC residents’ priorities”
Individuals running for office that were commited to doing something effective to stem the tide of illegal aliens in PWC won (with the exception of Colgan) and those that didn’t lost. Spin it however you like, but that was the priority and wil of the residents.
Don’t forget that Colgan jumped HARD on that bandwagon too – he sent out a pricey colorful mail ad all about how tough he was going to be on illegal immigration. I remember very clearly thinking about walking over to hand it to the illegal alien next door who was hostile and chattering about me in Spanish at the moment I pulled it from the mailbox. I found it very heartening that even Colgan understood the political climate at that point. I’ve kept mine, for evidence.
Mando, Corey Stewart ran on an immigration platform. He would have run on any platform that he thought would benefit him. His signs were the ones mentioning immigration. Most of the people I know didn’t even consider immigration as an issue when they voted…even the Republicans I know. They voted party lines as they usually did. I don’t remember Supervisor Nohe running on an immigration platform. I’m using him as an example as he’s my supervisor and I’m generally satisfied with the job he’s done.
Since there were no public hearings, the only measure of how people felt on the issue that can be viewed with any degree of reliability is the large October BOCS meeting and the majority of the speakers as well as attendees were anti-resolution.
Moon,
FOIA is put there to ensure YOUR civil liberties are protected. as a die-hard democrat even you can appreciate that.
I rarely submit FOIA request, however in this case I have, did so today in fact. If for anything to prove this is all a farce. I dont believe anything in that letter to editor for a second. In fact, I bet I come up with nothing on the FOIA request and she didnt get pulled over at all.
and another thing…you pay a fee for FOIA requests and that is to cover the time for administrative processing of such requests.
There is a lot of misinformation being spread around and this blog spreads plenty of it. I doubt reading the FOIA request yourself would prove anything to you people, you believe what you want to believe, even if the truth stares you in the face you’ll still believe otherwise.
“Most of the people I know didn’t even consider immigration as an issue when they voted…even the Republicans I know. ”
Wow. Every mailer that landed in my mailbox was about immigration reform.
Mando, most mailers that land in my mailbox go straight into the trashcan or recycle bin – unread, even those from candidates I support.
Jennifer Lawson – Zepeda – apparently another person confused or doesn’t want to believe that the City of Manassas is a separate entity from Prince William County…..
You racist gringos of Manassas – you deserve being called for what you are! You will see the results when we show our numbers and overcome you! We will make sure everyone knows who you are and the place you live in is trying to force us out! We shall overcome!
VIVA LA RAZA!!!
Admin’s Note: This message comes from Leaving Point of Woods, Anon, Mayor of Munchkinland. IPAddress = 67.159.44.138. This has been a very popular tactic employed by those from the anti-immigrant side by flaming the tensions. It’s counter-productive to finding any solutions and proves some will go to any lengths to twist things for their own purpose.
Thanks for the note above. No surprise here. Some just think they are so cute. Just another form of bullying.
I don’t know how I feel about coming to this meeting on Friday. People are misinterpreting my letter to be about fast food. I have nothing against fast food workers and I have friends who do that very job. It wasn’t my intention to put them down, it was just the first example that came to mind. All I meant was that if you ask any teen these days you will be hard pressed to find one who aspires to do this as a life-long job. To those who do, good for them, but all I was trying to say is that I keep hearing people complain about how the immigrants are taking our jobs. Well, honestly, were you going to do that job if they weren’t? Probably not.
As for other issues, I was not the one driving the car. And I am free to call it as I see it. Sorry if my opinion of that incident was not something that you would like to acknowledge, but at that point in time it seemed obvious to us both that there was racial profiling.
I certainly hope I don’t become insensitive as I grow up, pay taxes, and get a mortgage.
I am 18 for the upcoming election and am already registered.
And finally, I completely overlooked the illegal/legal issue in my letter on purpose because from my perspective that doesn’t matter. People are people no matter where they are from. My point was only to say that public policy should not be based on bigotry and hate. Don’t you think these policies are affecting the legal immigrants too? Well they are, I have friends who will say that from experience.
I know I was dramatic in my letter and that was kind of the point, would anyone have paid attention if I hadn’t been? I’m sorry to have offended people but it seems that people are getting offended for the wrong reasons. All I meant was that diversity is OK and it’s happening and I’m not afraid of it.
Once again, I don’t know if I will come to this meeting. It’s been hard enough reading these comments, I don’t really want to be slammed in person. We’ll see I suppose. But I don’t regret writing this letter.
Suzie
Suzie,
Thanks for coming and commenting. I hope you noticed that most of the commentary here is supportive of your letter and your POV as a PWC teen. Did you see that it was the same three or four people harping on the fast food remark to the exclusion of all your other points? Because of the constant repetition it just seems like there are more of them. 🙂
I also hope you realized that many of us here tried to steer the comments and discussion back to the real point of your letter. Check some of my posts and you’ll see what I mean.
Again, welcome! And I’m so glad you’re registered to vote! Despite what others inferred, you have the right to vote, and the absolute right to use that vote.
Suzie, I was slamming your imperfect use of sarcasm and expressing my own anger about illegal immigration. But I didn’t mean it in any especially personal way. I don’t think you need to worry about anyone going to a meeting and attacking you personally – we’re all just woofing on a bulletin board.
On the fast food issue, there is something of a generational divide. In previous generations, there was no shame in working a fast food job and many people, later bound for college and likely professional success, worked those jobs during summers or after schools when young. It seems sad to us that that possibility is so slim around here now – the employers are hiring illegal immigrants instead, because they will work for less and will work more hours – no messy business of attending school during the day to inhibit the employer’s scheduling.
Welcome Suzie to the world of blogging, anonymous people can at times be vicious.
However, Rick has proven that although we disagree, for the most part we are not disagreeable.
Suzie, you are a brave an insightful woman. Please don’t be intimidated by childish tantrums and transparent tactics. My advice, go to the screening, watch it, and don’t “out” yourself unless you really trust the person you are chatting with.
As for the transparent tactic of feigning outrage over something tangential to your argument like fast food … well, I’m sure you can guess that they do that because they don’t stand a chance of contending with the substance of your argument.
This is not only because you argued it successfully, but because it has become the prevalent view in this county, and in this country. It is too difficult to take on your message, so they attack you, the messenger, hoping to intimidate others who might dare to speak out.
This worked for a short time last year. But if you take a look around, there are A LOT of people who are no longer intimidated. Members of the Board of Supervisors, members of the county government, ordinary citizens, the newspapers, the blogs, letters to the editor… it’s everywhere. People are no longer willing to be pushed around by anti-immigrant, hateful bullies. You are but one shining voice in a chorus, Suzie. Don’t be afraid. Don’t back down. Your uneasiness with being criticized (however foolishly) is their only hope and their only weapon against your sound reason and the prevailing sentiment it represents.
Re: Admin’s Note: to Pedro Cortiz, 22. July 2008, 18:27
Admin’s Note: This message comes from Leaving Point of Woods, Anon, Mayor of Munchkinland. IPAddress = 67.159.44.138. This has been a very popular tactic employed by those from the anti-immigrant side by flaming the tensions. It’s counter-productive to finding any solutions and proves some will go to any lengths to twist things for their own purpose.
You didn’t have to post his IP. The IP should only be known to the the operators of the blog and the user, and NOT publicly known. What he/she said was vile and disgusting – no disagreement there. But, you could have posted his/her aliases and left it at that. I looked for some kind of “privacy policy” on here but couldn’t find one. Nevertheless, I consider that a breach of a user’s privacy.
I have run and used various types of messaging systems since 1987 – long before the Internet was popular and ‘blogs’ were created. Never, in those 21 years, have I seen an operator/admin OUT someone’s connect info.
Now you’ve set a new precedent. You’re the first blog I’ve seen that posts a user’s IP. Who’s next? Anyone that disagrees with you?
Don’t respond. I won’t see it.
Diversity Gal,
I did read the rest of Suzie’s letter and I have to wonder why the cop did not tell her why she was pulled over. Suzie certainly had the right to ask the police officer why, and she deserved some sort of explaination. I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that perhaps Suzie and her friend were age profiled. With the rash of teen motor vehicle deaths over the past years, laws have changed and I believe that teen drivers can only have passengers that are a certain age, and can only have so many teens in the car with them. Maybe the cop wanted to take a looky loo to be sure there was no alcohol in the car. Did he take her license and run her plates? Or did he merely look at the licenses of Suzie and her passenger to determine their ages, and do a quick window peek into her car? I also read on some of the above posts that Chipotle was denied on Liberia. I thought that the restruant denied was Pollo Comperano (sp?) an El Salvadorian chicken franchise that was slated to go where Weiss Market used to be. There is a Chipotle on Liberia already by Wal Mart.
Suzie wasn’t driving the car.
Diversity Gal,
There is a youtube video on 9500liberty that is titled “corey stewart distances himself from Greg Letieque” At least I think that is the title or close to it. That was his “shock” at some of the things I had read from Greg’s blog. My understanding though, is that Corey is an avid blogg reader.
I think what some people are failing to grasp, is that the 287 G was already in place at the ADC. Now, in addition, to the ADC, police officers are required to run the check also. Seems quite redundent to me, and at some point, I believe it should go back to the ADC entirely (Lucky Duck, please correct me if I have this wrong). The whole point is that Greg, et al, are hoping for a climate of attrition. That PWC is so unwelcoming to “illegals”, “illegal alien apoligists and abetters”, not only will illegals beat feet out of town, but they will take all the other rif raf with them. THAT is what so many people object to, that tactic of promoting hate and intolerance.
Suzie,
Welcome, and please remember, it is easy to attack people from behind a keyboard, blogging can be a very unhealthy way of communicating. The hope of some, is that if they “degrade” you enough, you will stop speaking out, please don’t be intimidated and instead take what people say with a grain of salt.
I thought your letter was very courageous. Many adults are too afraid to put pen to paper and make their feelings and thoughts known to the world, you, on the other hand, showed great moral fortitude. Your parents should be VERY proud of you 🙂
es_la_ley,
In case you do return –
Maybe you haven’t been privy to the whole fiasco with the comment about ‘HSM being wiped out of existence’ but for some history, visit – http://www.bvbl.net/index.php/2008/06/24/topping-over-the-top/
Now this same person who made that outrageous comment pretends to be an illegal alien with wacky VIVA LA RAZA statements. It’s his antics that I’m opposed to. If he were to stop, and argue his position in a respectful manner then I wouldn’t have a problem.
If anybody wants to try and convince me that I shouldn’t post his ip or has a better course of action – I’ll entertain other suggestions.