this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2026
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To your point about Venezuelans not triggering the average amerikkkan as intensely as a Muslim does: I’ve noticed a bit of a sea change in attitude towards Latin Americans in my general area, almost to the point where some white amerikkkans are precariously close to developing some semblance of class consciousness. It’s all anecdotal but…
I was speaking with a neighbor some time ago and he said, I shit you not: “those goddam [pejorative] are taking jobs from us and the Mexicans!” A decade ago it was the Mexicans who were “taking our jobs”, but now this man — having worked along side them for several years — sees them as friends and allies. I’ve noticed similar sentiments from others as well. My own family of origin, even — racist as they might be — has come to know and love their Mexican and Guatemalan neighbors through church. They have deeply, deeply conflicting views on the recent ICE operations, and have expressed quite a bit of sorrow at the prospect of their church friends being swept up in a raid… but as soon as you talk to them about Somalis HOO BOY.
The thing is though, those folks all hate communism, socialism, or anything that isn’t AMERIKKKAN. So as soon as the trump admin starts throwing the isms around, they’ll hop right on board with invading whoever, whenever.
I don't understand, which group did your neighbor say is taking jobs from him and the Mexicans? Jews? Muslims? Billionaires? ICE?
Ah, yeah, sorry. Somalis. He just didn’t say it so kindly.
I just found it interesting that, despite being one of the most racist people I know personally, he lumped white/european amerikkkans in the same demographic as non-white Mexican Americans by perceiving both groups as victims of an influx of cheap Somali labor. The fact that he thought of Mexican-Americans at all as a group worth defending is a phenomenal leap towards class consciousness as far as this dude is concerned.
In a weird, perverted, roundabout way, the interaction gave me a small semblance of hope. To be clear, this dude is as white working class as it gets and he’s lived a ROUGH life. Sexual abuse survivor, recovering meth and heroin addict, and now single dad trying to do right by his baby while his baby mama is deep in the throes of addiction and just can’t clean herself up. Stuck in the perpetual cycle of poverty so many people are, he’s hurting and just hasn’t quite figured out that it’s capitalism that’s got a stranglehold on his and all our lives.
I stay as close with him as I can because, despite his hateful ideologies, he doesn’t mind that I push back against his racist rhetoric. More importantly, though, is he’s a mind worth changing and a life worth saving.
The gamer word
Somalis are Muslim and Africans while Latinos can be white and are christian