The place of the family and the role of the emigrant

Imbecilogic                                                                             Read Spanish Version

The
place of the family and the role of the emigrant

By
Omar Pérez

Maybe
this is the place the family deserves. An immigrant who protests in a
huge demonstration in Los Angeles is asked why so many thousands of
"unnaturalized" Latinos are present at the rally.

"These
people have lived here for a long time. They have established a home,
a car, and a family," he answers. The Cuban who, in the
documentary Rafters,
is asked to define his dream also lists "a car, a house, a good
woman." Is the list casual or causal? Looking for a house and a
car, people leave their homeland and family, a mother abandons her
son, a son leaves his father, and brothers separate — but is it in
quest of larger living quarters and a less-primitive jalopy, or to
satisfy a fierce curiosity?

Of
course, I’m not talking about man’s ancient right to conquer the
world around him (a right that has justified so many iniquities), or
his insatiable desire as a superior animal to generate change and
exploration (a desire that has provoked so many changes or
disasters.) What I’m asking is: once the vehicle becomes obsolete,
once the ramshackle entity known as the human family collapses —
where shall we migrate to?

Omar
Pérez is a Cuban poet.