Just don't call them illegal immigrants
Today's "Religion" section in the Chronicle has what can best be described as an advocacy-journalism piece. Yes, in the "Religion" section, of all places!
ALTAR, MEXICO - Along a northbound dirt road, a young couple clad in jeans and T-shirts jump out of an idling van and walk toward the path's edge, making for a white concrete box with an ornate, wrought-iron cross perched on top.
Dozens of candles — some lit, some melted, some broken — are crammed inside the 5-foot-tall makeshift altar, along with statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes.
As the couple kneel before the display with bowed heads, a little boy runs out of the van and kisses the ground.
The humble spot about 60 miles south of the Mexico-Arizona border serves as one of the last places where migrants worship before being shuttled to spots where they will attempt to slip illegally into the United States on foot.
In some circles, those migrants looking to make a better life for themselves are actually known as illegal immigrants. And I wonder if that shrine is on public land. I know it's in Mexico, but I wonder if Kay Staley needs to strike up a new cause, because if those "migrants" are coming to the U.S., they'd better learn how our system of religious tolerance works.
KEVIN ADDS: I don't have much to add substantively, but I did notice this was AP wire copy. It's always kind of interesting to see what sorts of wire stories the Chronicle editors pick for the print editions (and the editing they perform), given the huge amount of material out there that they might have run. A newspaper like the Chronicle doesn't have the resources or expertise to do many features (or national or international) of their own -- certainly not like the New York Times or LA Times. Thus, the newspaper will only be as good in those areas as the editors who sift through the wire copy and make the selections. As we've noted before, the Chronicle could stand to improve in this area.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 01/15/05 12:13 PM | Houston Chronicle | Technorati | Sphere | Comments (7)
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