[FA Worldmusic] immigration woes part 2: who will be next?!?

[Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!]

At 08:28 PM 6/24/2008, Timothy Bisig wrote:
>http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/24/boygeorge.visa/index.html
>
>will the madness never end?

I've just gotten my 6th press release about Boy George's visa 
troubles, and I've got to say that I'm less than enthused by the 
prospects of having our *very* real and serious barriers to cultural 
exchange adopt this story -- or, for that matter Papa Wemba's visa 
trouble following his conviction for illegal immigrant smuggling -- 
as any kind of cause celeb. I do get that Boy George is innocent 
until proven guilty, but the charges against him ("imprisoning a man 
in his home") certainly seem pretty serious, and I *can* understand 
why he could be seen as legitimate cause to deny him the visa. (It's 
certainly not "madness." Please.)

Doesn't taking up this argument empower the isolationists who can 
easily brush this off with a chuckle and a simple "of course"? I'd 
rather focus the discussion on the serious artists -- without pending 
criminal charges -- who are being denied visas or who are being 
extorted for crippling processing fees, etc. Is it just me? Or do 
others agree that we lose every time we let the story shift to 
examples where reasonable people likely couldn't figure out why 
denying such a visa is a problem?
_____________________________________
Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!
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