For those who missed it, PBS ran a tribute to Woody Guthrie to celebrate his 100th birthday. Among the highlights was Ani DiFranco singing Deportee. The alternate title to the song is Plane Wreck at Los Gatos. It was written by Guthrie following the crash of a plane carrying 4 Americans and 28 Mexican deportees in Los Gatos Canyon, California. News media of the day, 1948, reported the names of the four lost U. S. citizens but referred to the others only as deportees. Guthrie wrote the song to protest the dehumanization of migrant farm workers.
Little has changed for some. Late last week reports came from the House of Representatives that immigration reform has effectively been killed. The House “Gang of Seven” has been abandoned by three of the four Republican members. Did you know that 91% of agricultural labor in California is still performed by Latino laborers; 81% by those of Mexican descent?
Please consider the enforcement-first/enforcement-only approach of some of our countrymen, combined with anti-immigrant laws like Arizona’s SB 1070 as you listen to Ani DiFranco’s haunting rendition of this Guthrie classic from the Kennedy Center celebration of Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=embe5qJXPKIThank you.
Contributor, aka tidbits. Retired attorney in complex litigation, death penalty defense and constitutional law. Former Nat’l Board Chair: Alzheimer’s Association. Served on multiple political campaigns, including two for U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR). Contributing author to three legal books and multiple legal publications.