Five. Good afternoon Everyone Welcome for gold and i know you will enjoy a this presentation but because the presence of ali noorani i have been a huge fan of his and win they called me if i could moderate i had just ordered the book already. Even before i knew a was going to be presenting so few housekeeping items lets get those out of the of way. This is the fifth san antonio book festival is the he voodoo benefit to the city and many to think the library and also for opening the campus to host great authors from across the country and around the world if you are going to use social media please use the book fast so everyone in the world can see all the activities taking place. That is one of the of questions i have for the audience. We will have time for q a at the end this is being recorded for cspan snyder questions can be heard. Please use that we will try to provide 10 minutes for that. Please silence your cellphone you dont have to turn off just plodded on silent salute will not be interrupted. As soon as this is done you can go outside the doors to buy your copy so i hope you take the opportunity so with that ali noorani welcome to louis antonio. The book there goes the neighborhood came out truly fiver six days it has the makings of a best seller. I can tell you he already had a book Presentation Tuesday that they coasted the event and somehow you from time so congratulations they both recommend the book. That is what youre able to do i know you like to talk about yourself but like you were discussing earlier help the audience get to know you to better understand. First of all, thanks to the book festival it is wonderful to be here even more in san antonio in the great state of texas my favorite town in this day minnesota site em and ostin or houston laugh laugh thanks for monitoring moderating. Born and raised in california my parents came from pakistan they were both trained as a physical therapist at the time there was only one other so it was a function to be in the right place at the right time i grew up in a community primarily mexican or white which means there was a south Asian Community so looking back on that experience i gained an appreciation how to work and get along with different communities. Corrupt and went to school to berkeley i did the 10 year stint in boston and ended up in washington d. C. I actually grew up in a rural area. But everybody looked like me and we spoke spanish. But yet we grew up having Common Ground of of population but even after berkeley you actually studied economics and social welfare they got a rosters he does not like to talk about himself but being in boston in Public Health is started to do work in this community so tell us about that. In boston as part of chapter one in the book working with the Dorchester House it is an Amazing Community because the community is asian and African American city walk 1 mile with an Irish Community that has been there a generation or more than you walk another couple blocks and you walk a few more box blocks then i remember working at the Health Center for the Youth Development program we got to know many of the vietnamese youth but they had done something dumb like get enough fight in the public defenders said plead guilty and take community service. But for a child who came as a refugee that child was put into deportation proceedings so i remember vividly the Multi ServiceConference Room hearing these stories to think there is something fundamentally wrong. So as to say it is very early in the book but i cannot put the book away after that. To say i realize this kid that has been in america was much more american than me. Supporting kids who were americans for all intents and purposes so that begins your crusade for immigration but you also showed us very rapidly the wasnt just latinos sometimes it was the media. And a much more complex issue that you could see firsthand. So it took the liberty for what we are going to discuss with the foundation for the journey over the next 20 minutes. On november 4th 2008 it was election day and sat local bar in washington d. C. Listening to obama speech with tears in eyes and a lump in my throat with the anticipation of what lies ahead i believe in the fundamental turning point of culture and identity i did realize the term would be for the worse. I remember that speech as well with that open air celebration but until i read that it hit me like a ton of bricks. There was so much hope that get now where do we go from there . That takes us on this journey so election matters so can you elaborate . The thesis that i have throughout the book that i could interview those folks across the country the majority of them were conservative so going back to those moments with the debate defined by those political battles of the left verses of right but i was talking to people who were grappling with these questions it wasnt about politics or policy that their culture or values neighborhood and how they thought they were changing because of immigration and it was very easy for me to say for those i was talking to but what we learned it was an honest conversation and then you can advance the conversation. Use some bad up eloquently in your book to say beatitude political debate when the country was having a cultural debates we did not understand the anger or the countrys addenda decreases identity crisis. So while this is it is going on so fast for word january january 2010 and tell us what you found in the midst of everything. In spring 2010 this is the show me your papers law a and we found the state of arizona of was pushing back against of demographics and the culture of arizona saw at that moment for the Latin Community people who were born in arizona so what we saw is it was a cultural battle we were losing and you very worried. Talk about those cultural battles at the same time those with no real organization. See you have arizona then that the federal level in washington d. C. We push for Immigration Reform because remember obama is elected Majority Democrats this is the moment for Immigration Reform but then you can see the obamacare debate in washington d. C. Some of the campaign me were managing was reform immigration for america putting all the people on the mall was powerful that the same time for young people that are undocumented in miami decided that is a political strategy. We will take ownership of who we are to events the cultural strategy so they spent three months on the road to walk from miami to washington d. C. And along the way they engage people talking to local media and sharing their story. So for us as a movement it was the first cultural strategy. But yet the entry match fails to pass but your theory was we spent much time with politics. It lost by five votes so where was the Nuclear Option then . Actually i am still upset about that that is why the 60 threshold is supposed to be there. But to be very involved in that legislation 1901 to uncover all those wounds but to understand why this happened can you read the highlighted text . Last page of chapter one. So right now to in Many Americans media assumes there goes the neighborhood someone tell they see those changes this will remain the assumption. What we as a movement failed to realize not necessarily in a bad way and then to say those that might be coming for their job better their home. With black of trust and respect so those ignore the fear to their peril. And then be willing to meet people where they are but to make the effort if you travel across the country with those close neighboring states. So low arizona the most conservative state in the country if not the top five. So what happened was the attorney general the Catholic Church the Mormon Church those leaders in the area and the Business Community came together to say there is a different way to have this dialogue. Seven december of 2010. Five state workers took it upon themselves the theyll the dead were undocking it undocumented immigrants. And to have an organizer on the ground. And now is say in National Story all the National Papers and about halfway through the press conference cnn asks the attorney general who says it is the black last plan will do everything in my power with these individuals. I unthinking there is a fundamentally different way to have this conversation with republican lawenforcement leadership to say what has happened is wrong and want to make a right to slow the stated utah took a moment to change the narrative. I was reading about the compact about the of Law Enforcement of criminal activities because that is what immigration is. To speak about families and Trees Society in the midst of everything you have to navigate within this different variations and there you are trying to make sense of all love to have. So the utah compact and tell the story in the book as secretary of hhs she says have using this . Then your times juxtaposed arizona law against the utah compact. Is started to take on no life with republican and leadership for indiana or georgia or alabama reaching out to their peers to say how do do this . But then the world over ticket. So with the highlighted text you will not want to walk away without this book when i asked my own questions in the book and you will listen. But this is about utah and closing of that chapter with a culture and values as part of a Global Society to a certain degree it is easier the homogenous state and just as homogenous in the case of utah to mitigate this identity crisis with that evolution of utah with the ruling comes to play to be more constructive republican is of. When you think of the fact based is important you cannot change the mind of people without winning their hearts was cursing more praying. And i am quoting to be muslim guy from california especially engaging those in the country it was quite easy in a surprising way because executive director with say highlevel of respect with the were talking to. With the luxury i have learned to respect peoples opinions on a range of issues i now call good friends very conservative because we have a highlevel of respect with each other. And with the immigration debate a lot of friends from the political left say what you doing wire you hanging out with the religious right or republican lawenforcement . This is bad for the community so we have to explain that to people and that is my said is that right . The change so little bit here because while you say yes you can win the heart but also theres plenty of faxed especially talk about that limited the application of debate. And what you encounter but the immigration debate is completed with terrorism but the buzz some Community Impact the way they see them is remarkable and i am not dismissing this the ball but but in reality i of a country of 325 Million People . Minnow that theory is real and emotional. That doesnt convince anybody so engage people with their values and freemarket and then create that framework. You also mention to the media to say that the Muslim Population will double by the year 2015. I didnt want to write a book but if you see that difference you can understand for the fear is coming from. But that balance in the book is the most refreshing bowl slides of the ideological spectrum will you please read for us . It hit me hard on page 145. Cambodian head of little bit more. Sorry wide America Europe field once the door for a for we are worried the police lacked rationally and well be victims that a friend or Family Member would be deported. You do not have a monopoly on fear. We all afraid but the question is what do the leaders do with that fear . Since a few months ago there are certain people but immediately i eight tell people place corrupt and a place that only speak spanish i had so many more things i wanted to ask the will have better questions i want to ask you to read one last paragraph so that when i cannot bend for questions from the audience semiconductor years ahead witnessing the realignment that it is impossible to predict all we can do is be ready to put our best foot forward that brings me to the last question that i know ask myself. With the speech at uh National Museum when he said the great nation does not hide from its history. It may be complicated but it is personal for each and every one of us. We learn from our past. You will be on cspan. One of these times. I have this argument with a friend two weeks ago about whether or not immigrants pose a cultural threat to america. I really struggled as someone who doesnt really interact with immigrants as i probably should but how to talk to my white friends about that cultural fear and i wonder if you have any specific advice . Do you think the fear comes from . I think its partly a fear of difference but also when i had the conversation, its partly a fear of scarce resources which is weird to me and the point that i brought up is when our great grandparents and answers did it but its not okay now. It was fine for the country then. It wasnt fine for the native americans. Thats helpful because the debate is not the fear that is based on terrorism but a fear of the real economic anxiety. That is terrifying to people. In the book i reference a study from last summer that is a gallup survey, it says is a sample of 34,000 4000 people, a big sample, and what they found was that one of the primary reasons that folks voted for President Trump was that they did not feel their kids would do better than them. The majority of folks who made that decision also live in cultural isolated communities. For us as an organization, if we dont acknowledge that economic anxiety that we make a really, really really big mistake. Youll never change minds or hearts if you dont, if you miss that, and not understand it. One of the things we have to do is find the messengers who have been in the United States for generations and have seen their job expand because of the immigrants they are working with. Weve tried to as a movement, weve done a good job about filing the imminent immigrant ceo but that doesnt really resonate in this day and age and maybe it never did. For us, we are always trying to engage the folks who have been here, their families have been here, to see the develop relationship with the immigrant communities and to have been a part of those conversations. I was in idaho a few weeks back and medians with idaho dairy men who were terribly happy that we have the Trump Administration and equally angry that the latino berryman, who take care of their cows, are terrified to go into work whether theyre documented or not. We are at hp. At the society and folks who are liberal and have been here for generations and have no relation to their immigrant history are beginning to ask the question, how do i care for and value the immigrant that i know or that i dont know who will get to the microphone first . Mike i enjoyed your talk very much. The issue of fear is a legitimate issue but sometimes, i think, we let people off the hook when we talk about fear. Theres this other issue of racism and if you look at the history of immigrants coming to this country over 200 years theres a portion of it was fear but some of it is outright racism. They dont belong here because theyre different and inferior, or whatever it is. Thats been built in to the ideology of this country forever. Im just wondering, as as you went out into the country, and you talked to people about fear, did you raise the issue of racism . Are you fearful or did you not want them to be here because theyll threaten our culture in the way that we are in the way that we think . I often get this question and asked if its racism. I think its him strong and blocked in a hot point because theres a combination of race and class. Its not one of the other. Its both. When you them together in a difficult not to unravel. There is little bit in the book i wrote let me put it this way, 20 of americans who are never going to change on this issue. They look at this through purely a racial prism and were not going to move them. There are another 20 or more of americans who are going to have fears that are based on somebody look or accident or where theyre from, who are not racist but theyre saying how do i figure this out. If i sit here and say, 40 or 50 of americans who voted for donald trump are racist, im wrong. I think that there are people who are grappling with this and what we found through the book and at we find out every day. People are grappling with questions in an honest way. I wrote about churches in houston and South Carolina and when i was in utah i went to a general conference and over the last five to ten years the religious bodies had changed dramatically and therefore, the pastor is able to engage their value framework, their faith, as a way for folks to say we can work through these racial anxieties and economic anxieties to get to a place for the church is a diverse unity and therefore trinity, city, state, nation is diverse also. With those questions come up, will do some people but i think theres a lot more people who are politically and socially conservative where we just have to work to find whats the value framework that resonates most deeply with them. Ive been teaching for 17 years, this year i thought more vitriol and attitude from my students regarding the election. One of the first things i did was look at the voting map and even within the red states wherever you saw a Major University or giant city, you stop blue. One of the discussions i saw online was well, if youre a a teacher, then perhaps, instead of being angry the election didnt go your way then perhaps you should go to a red rural area to fight the battle that way. We are diverse but maybe the problem is that red areas, especially rural areas, dont see whats going on in the major cities. Id id like to know your opinion. Just about everybody i interviewed . Let me take a hot second to discuss the immigration forum. Were based in washington dc and our mission is to advocate for the value of immigrants and immigration. We do this in a way that our goal is to bring new voices into the debate. We work in parallel with the traditional Immigration Rights community but 80, 90 of our resources are spent in engaging faith, law, business organizations across the United States. One of the coalitions we is the bible Immigration Reform. If you hold the bible, you wear a badge, or own a business, you want to help the immigration system. To get to your question, nearly everyone i interviewed, nearly all of our work, takes place outside of the cities. Were city. Were not worried about cities. Worried about how our rural and suburban communities are engaging in this cultural change. There are two, if not three, institutions were those changes take place and can be grappled with any constructive way. Schools is number one. When i wrote about South Carolina, spartanburg soccer liner, a city of about 50, 60000 people. Relatively small city. The School Principal that i interviewed and the folks i talked to in the school were doing some incredible things in the hispanic unity, White Community has seen the schools not for children but for adults can build their skills and build their relationships. The other institution that is incredibly important in suburban and Rural Communities is faith institutions. Thats where you see the changes taking place. Theyre big enough to try something but not small enough to where it doesnt matter. One thing i would say and you framed it as taking the battle to those areas, its not about a battle. If we approach this as a fight, im not sure where solving a problem in the longterm. We had time for one more question. Thank you. Im wondering if you have considered a news and how how can these grassroots coalitions really confront the money and the lies and the propaganda our nation is pounding with. Every minute of every day and how the political organizations and, i i believe, both political organizations have taken it up. How do you know what is true and what is not and why shouldnt all of us be scared out of our minds . [laughter] [applause] you can clap for the question i dont want to live scared. For us as an organization and what i wrote about is about finding the leaders in our communities who are tested. Me, going to beaumont texas to talk about immigrants and immigration, ill make zero impact. But but finding the pastor, police chief, Business Owner in beaumont that person will be hunted by their circle and network. The way we get around fake news, yes, they can use comes from both sides. Both sides within their fax to their ultimate political goal. We need to get beyond the headlines and the dystopian talking points and create the spaces whether on facebook or institutions where the conversations can happen. Then draw on your elected officials and your newspaper so that they are reporting on an understanding that this isnt just about the headline of the moment thats been blared by one Political Party or another. In 2010, or even in 2013, when theres a thousand 13, when theres a second term of the obama administration, i thought we were in the free and clear. We have a lot more work to do. I also think that the polarization of the moment is an Incredible Opportunity, as scary as it is, its an Incredible Opportunity because across the country people of all political stripes are looking for ways to have the conversation and when i loved about writing the book is that we are able to capture some of those perspectives. I hope, certainly, in a few years you will be coming back with a second book and perhaps you will say but i do agree with in the difficult topics you do leave us with hope. I do encourage you to visit the barnes noble tent and purchase your book and get it signed and ask a few more questions. I really appreciate your questions that you provided to the author. Thank you for being infinite oneill, youre always welcome. Dont forget to take as many pens as possible. Thank you, hes gonna making friend and moderator. Thank you everybody. [applause] [inaudible conversations] next up on an attorney about possible the pewter, granddaughter of ebrahim the pewter the man for the film showing the cessation of president kennedy described the history behind the film in her family. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here and for supporting san antonio book festival. The grad