Carpentersville gets international attention

No longer does Carpentersville simply have a place in the national spotlight. The Village has now gone international, with the latest piece appearing in The Guardian’s Observer magazine (The Guardian is a United Kingdom new source):

The fight against the Hispanic revolution is gathering momentum in small towns across America. None is more on the frontline than the seemingly sleepy Illinois village of Carpentersville, one of a string of towns hereabouts that were founded by Irish and Polish immigrants, thrived on trade and factories, and have now hit harder times.

This excerpt is part of a longer analysis that appears toward the end of the lengthy article, which speaks of a more far-reaching issue:

For decades, Hispanics have existed mainly in the shadows of the American dream. Now they’re taking to the streets in their millions, in the biggest march for equality since the Civil Rights movement. And with $1 trillion to spend, millions ready to vote and their own candidate for President, Hispanics hold the key to the new American century.

The portrait that is painted of Carpentersville is, once again, not pretty to look at. And, with pending litigation against the Village for alleged discrimination — while the Village and paramedics may be found to have immunity — we could be faced with the reality of seeing the town labeled, as Hazleton was in a Zogby International Report, as “full of racism”.

A Zogby International report issued Wednesday paints a harrowing picture of Hazleton as a city where racism is rampant and people live in constant fear of racial profiling and losing their homes and/or jobs if taken for being in the country illegally.

Just as in Carpentersville, the news in Hazleton, PA is not all bad. There are some good strides being made there as well. Unfortunately it is overshadowed. Unfortunately, “but” has to be inserted in order to tell the fuller picture.

Even if there is some admitted “political opinion” injected into the report on Hazleton, and the articles on Carpentersville, opinion shapes ideas, thoughts and plans. Seeing that Carpentersville has struggled with image problems for the better part of a decade, its those types of opinions that we could do without. Which makes it more important for the Village Board to put down their swords, make a public commitment to the residents and business owners to work to move past the division and spite of the past (that goes beyond the current group of Board members) and raise their level of communication.

Doing so would give this blog something to praise, rather than things which deserve criticism.