Hate Mail of the Weak
A glance at this week's insecure racists projecting their hate at me and other people of color
Previously on ‘Hate Mail of the Weak,’ I promised to share what happens when you answer a right winger’s complaint that “Spanish and Middle Eastern speaking people are conquering my Columbus suburb.” Yes, that’s an actual quote.
I periodically share this more personal side of my advocacy for human rights because it is important to me that you, my gracious supporters, see what I see. Apologies in advance for the harsh language in the screen shots below.
Let’s Address This in a new issue of “Hate Mail of the Weak.”
It started when a subscriber sent me a video by right wing firebrand Lizzie Marbach, where she claimed “Spanish and Middle Eastern” speaking people were "conquering” her Columbus suburb. Her video had gone viral for all the wrong reasons. They wanted my take on what they felt was a clearly racist video. Marbach, as some might recall, was fired from an Ohio anti-abortion organization for being even too right wing for them. She posted her video with this xenophobic caption:
Am I the only one who’s noticed that their neighborhood is being conquered by foreigners? Why are we allowing this to happen? I have 12 generations of ancestors that lived, worked, & been buried on this land. We should not be made to feel out of place in our own homes.
Clearly inflammatory, and clearly designed to ignite an angry response. Rather than lash out in anger, I posted my comprehensive video response (shared below). My video has so far garnered over 1.7 million views on social media, with more than 300,000 likes and more than 14,000 comments. Needless to say, it went viral for all the right reasons. Take a moment to watch my full video rebutting her anti-immigrant and pro-racist arguments, and let me know what you think. You can watch it on Instagram here, or on TikTok here, or just hit play below.
As my video gained popularity, Marbach was not pleased. And unsurprisingly, she immediately doubled down on her racism. In response to my video answering her questions about immigration, she tweeted a screenshot of my Wikipedia profile to highlight that I am a “Pakistani-born American author, activist and attorney.” All true, of course, but then she added her caption to explain why she cited my background:
Sorry, if you don’t have a grandparent buried here in America, I don’t want to hear your opinion on mass immigration.
Grandfather clauses have of course been a common tool of racists throughout American history to disenfranchise Black and brown Americans from having equal access to justice under the law. It was telling to see Marbach’s knee jerk reaction as one to revive a sort of grandfather clause. But perhaps the biggest irony of her attack on me for being an immigrant, is the fact that her European ancestors immigrated to the United States via mass immigration during a policy of actual open borders from Europe. As is well documented:
Between 1820 and 1957, of the approximate 41 million migrants to the US, over 34 million of these came from Europe. The most commonly documented countries of origin during this time were Germany (6.6 million), Italy (4.9 million), Ireland (4.6 million), Great Britain (4.5 million), and Russia (3.4 million).
Marbach is a literal city in Germany. These immigrants required no green cards, no visas, and were subject to no quotas. Instead, many of them benefitted from the Homestead Act, which afforded predominantly European immigrants 270 million acres of land for free—land taken from Indigenous Americans without a cent of reparations.
To be sure, no such mass immigration like that exists today, or has existed since the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act. My point is, for the descendants of the ‘open border’ European immigrants to now complain about documented immigration is hypocrisy of the highest order. Sadly these are the times in which we live, and they reemphasize how much more critical it is we activate, organize, and be relentless in our calls for justice and humanity.
Eventually Marbach placed all her social media platforms on private. That’s probably a benefit to the rest of us who don’t appreciate racist, anti-immigrant fear mongering. Her actions demonstrate once more that the most common response to condemning racism, is doubling down on racism. Our response must instead be to continue to share our stories and our values of inclusion and compassion. We do this by investing our time and resources to elevate people doing the work and building that more just and compassionate future. You have my promise to always speak up and uphold justice above all else, period. Let us continue to demand that more humane and just future for this generation and the next.
In closing, let me reemphasize my appreciation to each of you for supporting my work and advocacy. Whether you subscribe for free, or at $6/mo, or at $50/year, or sign up as a Founding Member at $500/year—your support to keep building is critical.
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Previous Episode of Hate Mail of the Weak
I first discovered Qasim Rashid while he was running for Congress in Virginia. I was really impressed with his honest, positive presentation. “This is the kind of person I want representing us in Congress.” I made a contribution to his campaign and have followed him ever since.
I believe Qasim is a true, patriotic American. It’s about his beliefs and his commitment to our democracy. It has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with race. Funny how people used to refer to America as “a melting pot” when that meant the Europeans Qasim refers to here. Now that many immigrants are people of color from Mexico, Asia, Africa and Middle Eastern countries, people like Ms. Marbach are concerned about being “conquered”. Sheesh!
Please keep on with your gentle truthfulness and rebuttals, Qasim. We need you now more than ever!
I never understood why immigration and speaking another language was a bad thing. I always think about how hard it is to leave your native land and start over in a place with a different culture and language. I work with immigrants from all over the world. I feel fortunate to have learned from them. I think the USA does a disservice in that we don't encourage speaking multiple languages.