PRO-LIFE Catholic made racist remarks about too many Hispanic babies

[elsker]

Woke up today to all of your beautiful responses and I feel very blessed.

Congratulations on your baby Elly. Babies are amazing!

I agree that in the last few years the church has been forced to enter the political fray due to the HHS mandate and immigration reform. I am here in the states because both sets of grandparents immigrated to central california. As a result I grew up in a household where I spoke english and the rest of my family spoke spanish and english. I identify as american and am extremely patriotic. My family could live abroad but our kids were born here so this is where we stay. With that said I am still sensitive to race relation issues. My DH joked that maybe they truly forgot I am mexican and just spoke freely. Maybe they did and I could take that as a compliment but theres still the issue of inclusion. Everyone should feel like they have a home in our church. I guess the reason why this hurts so much is because I go to church to openly practice my faith since now it is beginning to become socially illegal to mention religion in the general public. Frankly, I sometimes feel like I have to hide the love I have for our lord lest I offend an atheist or a “recovering catholic”. So when I finally can go to church I feel like a deep sea diver who can finally surface and breath the air again. When something happens in the church that makes me feel rejected I feel like “where else can I go.” This is the only home I have ever known and will ever want to live in.
I’m constantly praying for everyone, everyone please don’t forget me. Your sister in the lord, Mary

 

[LisaA]

I live in Texas, and this sentiment is all too common here as well, though not as much with those Catholics who are Pro-Life and well versed in the Church’s teachings and the pro-life movement. I am very white (blonde hair, green eyes, etc.) and so perhaps others feel more comfortable saying things like that to me. However, my husband is Mexican and so both of my children (and the third on the way!) are half white and half Mexican but 100% HUMAN, 100% CREATIONS OF GOD, and 100% LOVED.

When I hear comments like this, they are typically very politically motivated and center around the illegal immigration debate. I had one older (white) lady tell me point blank that the “Catholic Church should be Republican.” This was at a retreat no less. She started talking about illegal immigration and how it drains the American economy, hispanics are taking over, etc etc. Much to her surprise, I happen to have a degree in History and am working toward multiple certificates in theology and I was quite capable of defending her errant thinking. She apologized, but I am not sure that she likes me. When I see her I am now very uncomfortable.

That being said, remember that racist thoughts, attitudes and comments are more offensive to God than they are to people. We are, after-all His creation. They are in sin, and perhaps not even aware of the gravity of it. Pray for them. Pray for yourself that would would have the courage to defend those who cannot defend themselves and that you can see them as God does with love and mercy despite their failings.

I think being in a border state you will see more of the anti-immigrant attitude. I disagree that wanting abortions for Hispanic or black babies is a Republican cause. The Republican platform and most Republican politicians are decidedly pro life whereas the Democrat platform is very pro abortion. Thus I don’t think you can conflate being anti-illegal immigration with promoting abortion. Completely different actions.

Even more disgraceful is the attitude of Planned Parenthood that gladly accepted contributions to be targeted toward black women getting abortions. It was a ‘plant’ in that the person didn’t really intend to donate for aborting black babies but that Planned Parenthood gladly embraced the idea of targeting abortions to a particular race is truly a demonstration of the evil in that organization.

Lisa

 

[Abundant]

I think being in a border state you will see more of the anti-immigrant attitude. I disagree that wanting abortions for Hispanic or black babies is a Republican cause. The Republican platform and most Republican politicians are decidedly pro life whereas the Democrat platform is very pro abortion. Thus I don’t think you can conflate being anti-illegal immigration with promoting abortion. Completely different actions.

Even more disgraceful is the attitude of Planned Parenthood that gladly accepted contributions to be targeted toward black women getting abortions. It was a ‘plant’ in that the person didn’t really intend to donate for aborting black babies but that Planned Parenthood gladly embraced the idea of targeting abortions to a particular race is truly a demonstration of the evil in that organization.

Lisa

Just to clarify, I wasn’t referencing abortion of certain races as being a Republican cause…more the immigration issue. Either way, the part that was shocking to me was that she believed (vehemently) that the Church should have a political party. I told her word for word, “The Catholic Church should never have a political party because it is not a political organization. It is the body of Christ and it is on the side of human beings no matter their race or country of origin.” Certainly we tend to vote one way or the other based on the church’s guidelines, but that is never a straight party ticket.

I agree with you…Planned Parenthood is the devil! I recently watched a series of undercover videos at PP where a woman was told that it was okay to abort based on the gender of her baby. Another was told that if her baby was born still breathing after the late term abortion, they just would not resuscitate it or try to help it. And another was a man posing as a “pimp” who disclosed to the worker at Planned Parenthood that he had underage sex workers who ‘did not speak English,’ and he was told that he could forge guardianship documents to get them abortions because no one would check them anyway. The videos were absolutely horrifying to me.

 

[elsker]

Thank you abundant and Lisa

 I think it has been very shocking and may make older people feel a little uneasy seeing the world change as it has. It seems overnight all the familiar things of the past are quickly dying out. People write emails- not letters. No one talks about issues around the water cooler- they drink lattes and debate on internet forums. For some the pace is hard to adapt to and the change in the liturgy really was difficult for a lot of people to adjust to. I can definitely empathize with older generations. However, the world will change and we must try to find common ground by way of our faith. I want to be a member of a living church; one that's secure in her unchangible doctrine but flexible enough to see that good catholics come from all corners of the globe and love our church and have much to offer her. PJP2 said, "be not afraid."

love and prayers, mary

 

[LisaA]

Thank you abundant and Lisa

 I think it has been very shocking and may make older people feel a little uneasy seeing the world change as it has. It seems overnight all the familiar things of the past are quickly dying out. People write emails- not letters. No one talks about issues around the water cooler- they drink lattes and debate on internet forums. For some the pace is hard to adapt to and the change in the liturgy really was difficult for a lot of people to adjust to. I can definitely empathize with older generations. However, the world will change and we must try to find common ground by way of our faith. I want to be a member of a living church; one that's secure in her unchangible doctrine but flexible enough to see that good catholics come from all corners of the globe and love our church and have much to offer her. PJP2 said, "be not afraid."

love and prayers, mary

Yes I think you are right. Things are changing and what’s wonderful is that younger people do not have to shake off the legacy of racism and ethnic bigotry that used to be far more common. Our Parish is very ethnically diverse and various groups bring their traditions to share. I hope that we don’t have even a hint of racial prejudice or anything but a welcoming attitude toward all…born, unborn alike!
Lisa

 

[Cojuanco]

This kind of thing, though, makes me a little teed off sometimes, given the fact that the people who are the most influential anti-immigrant opinionmakers and fundraisers also often sit on the board of… you guessed it, Planned Parenthood chapters… disgusting, I know. Perhaps they know that many recent immigrants are, ahem, skeptical of the dangerous nonsense they peddle under one guise, so they want to keep them from coming in. I frankly don’t understand how they can In good conscience take the money of conservatives and use them In disposal of radically left-wing goals.

I’d also, the next time this happens, bring up the fact that the Holy Father is Hispanic, should we get rid of him, too?

 

[erine]

Thank you for your words of love and encouragement. I live in Sacramento, Ca.
I know that this is rare but I do worry that it will be a sentiment that grows legs as populations change and more minorities move into areas of the country where one ethnicity was predominant.

Sigh my sister tried explaining what was wrong with this statement but the group hostess argued that this sentiment isn’t racist so I guess this is a case of invincible ignorance and only holy spirit can deal with this. Its sad, she also thinks women should die during abortions and be damned. I tried to explain that if the mothers die they may lose the chance to repent. I cited the case of the mother who bled out at planned parenthood and how I worried that since she was unconscious that she may have not been able to repent. She smirked and said “good” at that point I should have known that there was going to be issues. I know that I got the gift of time to repent which I did-praise god! Well I guess the blessing in all this is I get to share my reversion story with all of you and maybe make someone aware of these hateful sentiments. I will strive to be more charitable but I’ll always defend my brothers and sisters in christ. Thank you and bless you for your prayers.

Adding you to my prayers, and I am so sorry about these experiences. As for this woman, she is basically going around saying that abortion is murder and wrong, and yet In the same breath openly admits that in her heart she condemns women to hell and wishes that on them. That is deeply, deeply disturbing on many levels, and she clearly can’t be totally well, I am going to pray for her too. God bless you in your ministry.

 

[elsker]

the next time this happens, bring up the fact that the Holy Father is Hispanic, should we get rid of him, too?

Made me LOL! Whats funny is I didnt even think of holy father in that context. I guess thats another point in itsself.

Lots of love, mary

 

[Viki63]

Its sad, she also thinks women should die during abortions and be damned. I tried to explain that if the mothers die they may lose the chance to repent. I cited the case of the mother who bled out at planned parenthood and how I worried that since she was unconscious that she may have not been able to repent. She smirked and said “good” at that point I should have known that there was going to be issues. .

It is really sad.
It sounds like this woman was absent when they were handing out hearts as well as brains. One can only pray for her.
I’m not hispanic but my husband is, so I’ve experienced prejudice based on my last name only. It would be funny if not sad, and it’s really embarrassed a couple of people.
Our parish is 2/3 hispanic and asian; the racist people mostly left when the percentages started to shift. I’m very sorry for your experience.

You do know, of course, that the founder of Planned Parenthood was Margaret Sanger, a eugenicist who advocated aborting black babies to “improve the human race”. It was, and still is, an openly racist organization whose aim is genocide of the non white population – they deny it to the public, of course. But most of their “clinics” are in ethnic neighborhoods, on purpose.

What I would have said to that woman who made the comment, now that I’m older and don’t care much what people think, is “really? I thought you were too intelligent to be a bigot.” Then let the chips fall where they may.
God bless.

 

[Cojuanco]

That woman’s credo appears more Calvinist than Catholic to me. How sad that so many have implicitly embraced such errors out of ignorance.

 

[Demetra2]

I am so sorry to hear that you had to be exposed to those racist, ugly and ignorant comments. I do believe that there are still places where people are threatened by anyone who is a little different. I used to live in a MA town which was predominately White, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. Almost every family was blond and blue-eyed and the kids came out of the womb with a tennis racket in one hand and a polo pony in the other. As brunette Italians we did not always feel welcome! But it seems ridiculous that in a place as diverse as Sacramento that you would come across this snobbery. Hold your head high and be very proud that Hispanics resist abortion. Arrange a meeting with your priest and let him know how you feel about this attitude at your parish and that you consider it unacceptable.

 

[bstorm]

Mary,

I am sorry for your experience, but not surprised by it. Unfortunately, although the Church is holy, her members are often not. It can be very difficult to change the hearts and minds of people like that, especially since they do not understand that what they are doing/saying is wrong and would be appalled to be called racist as they do not see themselves that way. Sadly, the only choice that you have is whether you would like to continue being a part of this rosary making group or not. I personally think it is just best to move on and find different friends.

My husband is Hispanic (I am not) and I do understand what you are going through. Over the years I have seen a lot of mistreatment and heard many racist remarks. I also know what you are talking about with the sign of peace… I have attended mass in a number of different countries and the US is the only place where I have experienced the refusal to give the sign of peace on a number of occasions. I think there is fear and misunderstanding behind a lot of those attitudes. It could help to find a more diverse parish community with a larger proportion of Hispanics - we feel much better in parishes like those. But, “feeling good” in a parish is secondary to being able to receive the sacraments. Thankfully, God comes to all of us and loves us all without distinction, despite our many sins. We are all unworthy of Him in many different ways.

 

[elsker]

Amen bstorm.
I already left the group and that parish. We are shaking the dust from our feet as we always do. Maybe one day things will be easier.
Love and blessings, Mary

Mary,

I am sorry for your experience, but not surprised by it. Unfortunately, although the Church is holy, her members are often not. It can be very difficult to change the hearts and minds of people like that, especially since they do not understand that what they are doing/saying is wrong and would be appalled to be called racist as they do not see themselves that way. Sadly, the only choice that you have is whether you would like to continue being a part of this rosary making group or not. I personally think it is just best to move on and find different friends.

My husband is Hispanic (I am not) and I do understand what you are going through. Over the years I have seen a lot of mistreatment and heard many racist remarks. I also know what you are talking about with the sign of peace… I have attended mass in a number of different countries and the US is the only place where I have experienced the refusal to give the sign of peace on a number of occasions. I think there is fear and misunderstanding behind a lot of those attitudes. It could help to find a more diverse parish community with a larger proportion of Hispanics - we feel much better in parishes like those. But, “feeling good” in a parish is secondary to being able to receive the sacraments. Thankfully, God comes to all of us and loves us all without distinction, despite our many sins. We are all unworthy of Him in many different ways.

 

[7armyrugrats]

I understand what you experienced. You have my prayers and so do the other women. My husband immigrated from Mexico and we have 8 kids. I overheard two ladies at church last week talking about our kids. They said that at the rate we are going, blonde hair and blue eyes will be extinct before long. I laughed at them because it sounded so stupid to me. I’m white, but no one in my family has blonde hair so I doubt I would be the one to keep “blondes from becoming extinct” even if I had married someone else. I’ve heard and seen many things over the years so nothing surprises me anymore. Most of the time I laugh about it, but something really get to me. The comments you received would have infuriated me. You handled it much better than I would have.

 

[elsker]

Sigh!

When I started this thread I was seriously hoping that I was an anomaly. Its breaking my heart that things worse than my situation are happening. I feel as though there is a general overall sense of unease in our church. Often times remarks such as these have more to do with the person feeling frustrated about a broader issue that they have no control over and so they “take it out” on another person with a hurtful comment. Maybe this was the case with me. Wrong place. Wrong time! I have also started to notice how like on FB if people are commenting on the state of the church, they can say the most hurtful stuff. My jaw dropped when on an FB comment thread people were bashing each other as heretics for whatever reason. Pretty strong words that one might not say to a person face to face. Makes me wonder if in those instances when we are in a group if people forget that they are not in cyber space cloaked in annonimity behind a username and avatar.

peace and blessings, mary

I understand what you experienced. You have my prayers and so do the other women. My husband immigrated from Mexico and we have 8 kids. I overheard two ladies at church last week talking about our kids. They said that at the rate we are going, blonde hair and blue eyes will be extinct before long. I laughed at them because it sounded so stupid to me. I’m white, but no one in my family has blonde hair so I doubt I would be the one to keep “blondes from becoming extinct” even if I had married someone else. I’ve heard and seen many things over the years so nothing surprises me anymore. Most of the time I laugh about it, but something really get to me. The comments you received would have infuriated me. You handled it much better than I would have.

 

[TCEL]

I’m pretty involved in the pro-life movement, and I’ve never heard these sentiments from any Catholic. Maybe it’s because I’m younger. Clearly, as you and other posters have stated, its out there. I’ve personally never heard it. I’m genuinely surprised; these pro-lifers saying these racist things need to brush up on the history of eugenics. I also think it’s pretty safe to say that Jesus wasn’t blond-haired and blue-eyed.

 

[7armyrugrats]

I’m pretty involved in the pro-life movement, and I’ve never heard these sentiments from any Catholic. Maybe it’s because I’m younger. Clearly, as you and other posters have stated, its out there. I’ve personally never heard it. I’m genuinely surprised; these pro-lifers saying these racist things need to brush up on the history of eugenics. I also think it’s pretty safe to say that Jesus wasn’t blond-haired and blue-eyed.

Jesus was not white. This is very true, but we also need to acknowledge that there are those groups (KKK, NeoNatzis, even Margaret Sanger herself) that are opposed to abortion for white, “well-bred” people but are all for minorities aborting their babies. It is disturbing on so many levels when we hear Catholics make similar comments, even though I am 99.9% sure that the Catholics don’t actually WANT the minorities to have abortions, they are just frustrated so many white people are. Still disgusting in my opinion, but at least they don’t hope for minorities to be aborted into nothingness like Planned Parenthood does.

My husband at times has a hard time with the Hispanic community at church as well. The kids and I are accepted just fine, but often my husband is ostracized. He is in the military now and too often, especially with the newer immigrants, they feel uncomfortable around him. I think that they are worried he will look down on them–as I said, our kids and I are fully accepted. It takes a long time for the Mexican parishioners to realize that he is just as homesick as they are. He misses Mexico, he misses speaking Spanish with native speakers, and at times he even misses the tobacco fields. We are getting ready to move to the southwest and I was hoping that it would make things like this less common. I guess it’s just the way the world is though. And I do think in some ways it is getting worse because we just got home from visiting our old town where my family lives. Nine years ago when we were still living there we had never had a problem. This last trip home was not as welcoming as it used to be.

 

[jimmy]

The only way I can possibly understand that lady’s statement is if it is in a political context. Maybe if she is conservative she is fretting the fact that Hispanics tend to vote democrat. The less whites there are, the more likely a democrat will be elected. That is the only explanation I can think of. I have never heard anyone imply that there are too many Hispanics and too few whites.

 

[elsker]

Maybe it was a political commentary but if you could have heard the tone of voice and how we were NOT interacted with it might seem different. I guess racism has its roots in politics and so its all intertwined. I feel even more out of place in my husband’s country of origin. I don’t speak or understand his language very well and even though most people are fluent in english as well, they get annoyed if my husband asks everyone to speak english for my sake. I have tried to learn the language but it is nothing you can easily pick up so I’ve spent 20+ years being an outsider which is ok in a foreign country; not ok when your in your own native place.
blessings, mary (elsker means : “love” in norsk)

 

[TCEL]

Jesus was not white. This is very true, but we also need to acknowledge that there are those groups (KKK, NeoNatzis, even Margaret Sanger herself) that are opposed to abortion for white, “well-bred” people but are all for minorities aborting their babies.

These groups are diametrically opposed to Christian faith. This is why it doesn’t make sense to me that some would find common ground with them! The pregnancy-help clinic I volunteer at is in the “minorities” neighborhood. Why? Because that’s where the abortion clinic is. They know and target their market. (One of the other ones in town is near a high-school, which also disgusts me.)

It is disturbing on so many levels when we hear Catholics make similar comments, even though I am 99.9% sure that the Catholics don’t actually WANT the minorities to have abortions, they are just frustrated so many white people are. Still disgusting in my opinion, but at least they don’t hope for minorities to be aborted into nothingness like Planned Parenthood does.

I don’t think they really want it either. I agree that a lot of it probably has more political undercurrents.

My husband at times has a hard time with the Hispanic community at church as well. The kids and I are accepted just fine, but often my husband is ostracized. He is in the military now and too often, especially with the newer immigrants, they feel uncomfortable around him. I think that they are worried he will look down on them–as I said, our kids and I are fully accepted. It takes a long time for the Mexican parishioners to realize that he is just as homesick as they are. He misses Mexico, he misses speaking Spanish with native speakers, and at times he even misses the tobacco fields. We are getting ready to move to the southwest and I was hoping that it would make things like this less common. I guess it’s just the way the world is though. And I do think in some ways it is getting worse because we just got home from visiting our old town where my family lives. Nine years ago when we were still living there we had never had a problem. This last trip home was not as welcoming as it used to be.

Thank you for sharing. There are a lot of political tensions. I’ve heard some of it from other Christian quarters, but I thought this stuff had started to go away after the nightmare of Nazi Germany. I hadn’t thought about it from the other side, as well. All I will say, as a word to the wise, is that my husband works for defense-contracting, and operates off a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. If he interacted with someone and they admitted they are an illegal immigrant, or even a citizen from another country, given the nature of his work he is bound to report it to his employer. (Dual citizenship is fine.) This has never happened, though. Prudence is required. It stinks, because it puts a serious cramp in any kind of plan for going to a different country; which is one reason we haven’t.