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Biblical Hospitality, Immigration, and the Boundary of Whiteness

Blurb

At the very heart of Hebrew and Christian scriptures, hospitality is a way to understand the unity of the commandments to love God and love neighbor. God’s call to welcome the stranger reveals the radically universal love of God, the fact that God’s love overflows for the whole of creation, and that we are called to share that love with all others in the world. However, practicing hospitality—or solidarity—is no easy task for North American Christians whose relative power and advantage may block us from hearing, much less practicing, the biblical call to welcome newcomers in our midst.

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By Dr. Alex Mikulich, JSRI Research Fellow

Who Dat? Immigrants in the Gulf South

Blurb

Between 2000 and 2008, the immigrant population in the United States grew from an estimated 31 million to 37.9 million. Much of this growth has been in the Gulf South. In fact, the Gulf South is home to one fifth of the nation’s immigrants. Recent updates from the Migration Policy Institute show that between 2000 and 2008, Mississippi ranked fifth and Alabama sixth in the nation for the largest percentage growth in immigrant populations. Texas ranked second and Florida third for the largest numeric growth in immigrant populations, and Texas ranked third and Florida fourth for the largest immigrant populations. Today, as is in past generations, immigrants contribute to our society in significant ways. In this summer’s issue of JustSouth Quarterly, we feature statistics and characteristics of immigrants in the Gulf South.

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Immigration by Numbers

By Anna Alicia Chavez, JSRI Immigration Specialist, and Christi Schott

Racial Wealth Inequality and the Myth of a “Post-Racial” America

Blurb

Since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968, the income gap between blacks and whites has narrowed by just three cents on the dollar. In 2005, the median per-capita income for blacks stood at $16,629 and $28,946 for whites. In Mississippi, whites’ average personal earnings are more than $10,000 more than African Americans’. 1 Many scholars note that at this rate of progress, income equality will not be achieved for 537 years.

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By Dr. Alex Mikulich, Research Fellow

Since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968, the income gap between blacks and whites has narrowed by just three cents on the dollar. In 2005, the median per-capita income for blacks stood at $16,629 and $28,946 for whites. In Mississippi, whites’ average personal earnings are more than $10,000 more than African Americans’. ¹ Many scholars note that at this rate of progress, income equality will not be achieved for 537 years.

Tomatoes, Farmworkers, and Social Justice

Blurb

In the hot Florida sun and in the aisles of our nation’s supermarkets and fast food outlets, a small David contends with multiple Goliaths about what is fair and what is not, about human dignity and slave labor, and about what is the “common good” for those who harvest this nation’s crops. “David” is the Coalition of Immokalee Workers [CIW] (supported by their colleague organization Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida and The Student/Farmworker Alliance), an association of about 4,000 largely Mexican, Guatemalan, and Haitian farmworkers founded in 1993. Its headquarters are in the small town of Immokalee in the remote heartland of South Florida. This David’s goal is to have major purchasers of Florida’s tomatoes— over half of our nation’s fresh tomato crop—agree to pay one cent more per pound and sign a Code of Conduct guaranteeing certain rights and working conditions to tomato farmworkers.

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By Fr. Fred Kammer, S.J.

A Way Where There is No Way

Blurb

Moral theologian Bryan Massingale’s Racial Justice and the Catholic Church fills a long-standing void in moral theology that has largely failed to contend with racism. Deeply compassionate and prophetic, Massingale delivers an incisive analysis in a lively and widely accessible prose.

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Reviewed by Dr. Alex Mikulich, Research Fellow

Moral theologian Bryan Massingale’s Racial Justice and the Catholic Church fills a long-standing void in moral theology that has largely failed to contend with racism. Deeply compassionate and prophetic, Massingale delivers an incisive analysis in a lively and widely accessible prose.

U.S. Jesuits, social analysis, and the urban poor during the economic recession

Blurb

As part of my ongoing work with JSRI, I serve on the national Jesuit social analysis advisory group studying the ministerial implications of solidarity with inner-city populations in the U.S. The goal of this Consultation on Inner-City Populations is to inform leadership choices as well as to promote interdisciplinary/cross-regional networking and sharing of resources, information, and learning. We want to help leadership and institutions strategize about what it means to be in solidarity with innercity populations. The hope is that leadership will have a better understanding of poor people’s needs and how the Society of Jesus can better serve these needs, incorporating this knowledge into strategic plans and apostolic decisionmaking at national, regional, and local levels. Our advisory group hopes to help U.S. Jesuit ministries increase capacity to serve the urban poor through collaboration—addressing common challenges and sharing knowledge and resources.

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By Fr. Edward B "Ted" Arroyo, S.J., JSRI Alabama Associate

Jim Crow—Born Again: The Case of Mississippi

Blurb

As the U.S. is the global leader in incarceration, so Mississippi is a national leader. Mississippi has the second highest rate of incarceration in the nation, second only to Louisiana. Mississippi incarcerates its citizens at a rate of 735 per 100,000 population. The Sentencing Project reports that since 1988, the number of persons imprisoned in Mississippi has increased by 208 percent, from 7,384 to 22,754. The national growth rate during the same period is 133 percent. [1]

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By Dr. Alex Mikulich, Research Fellow

As the U.S. is the global leader in incarceration, so Mississippi is a national leader. Mississippi has the second highest rate of incarceration in the nation, second only to Louisiana. Mississippi incarcerates its citizens at a rate of 735 per 100,000 population. The Sentencing Project reports that since 1988, the number of persons imprisoned in Mississippi has increased by 208 percent, from 7,384 to 22,754. The national growth rate during the same period is 133 percent. [1]

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness

Blurb

A 2010 Silver medalist at the Independent Publisher Book Awards, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander frighteningly demonstrates that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

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Reviewed by Dr. Alex Mikulich, Research Fellow

A 2010 Silver medalist at the Independent Publisher Book Awards, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander frighteningly demonstrates that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.”

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and no other county incarcerates as many of its racial minorities. The U.S. incarcerates a higher percentage of Blacks than South Africa did during the height of apartheid.

A Beacon of Hope on the Border

Blurb

In my three years as Pastor of Sacred Heart, last year, 2009, was especially challenging, both because of the acute economic crisis felt around the globe, as well as the horrible violence which has exploded in our sister city across the border, Ciudad Juárez, where the major Mexican drug cartels are caught up in a bloody turf war that results in 10 to 15 violent deaths each day. Juárez is now one of the most dangerous cities in the world, much more so than Baghdad. And our parish is located three blocks from the major pedestrian bridge linking us together.

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By Fr. Edwin L. Gros, S.J., Pastor, Sacred Heart Parish, El Paso, Texas

That’s Predatory! How Payday Loans Strangle Working Families

Blurb

Roman Catholic social teaching on usury is clear: “those whose usurious and avaricious dealings lead to the hunger and death of their brethren in the human family indirectly commit homicide, which is imputable to them.” Usury, the church continues, “is still tragically widespread,” and is “a scourge that is a reality in our time that has a stranglehold on many peoples’ lives.” [1]

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By Dr. Alex Mikulich, Research Fellow

Roman Catholic social teaching on usury is clear: “those whose usurious and avaricious dealings lead to the hunger and death of their brethren in the human family indirectly commit homicide, which is imputable to them.” Usury, the church continues, “is still tragically widespread,” and is “a scourge that is a reality in our time that has a stranglehold on many peoples’ lives.” [1]

How does payday lending lead to a “stranglehold on many peoples’ lives”?