YouSaid · the spoken record

Jose Antonio Vargas

lines on the record: 112
first: 2018-11-24
most recent: 2018-11-24
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That was the awakening. I thought what was happening and what's happening at the border with the kids being caged. I thought that was going to be like an anger and it was for like two weeks and then it got.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I profile Larry Kramer when I was definitely made me change. That was the awakening. Yeah, you went along and you went along and you sort of put up with stuff and that was a moment I was like, that's enough.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Just as much as the palatable gaze started and the stories started of happy gaze kind of things or whatever, I think the anger was a critical part of it. I think AIDS was a critical part of it, like the AIDS movement.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The question now though is what are we trying to build together? You know what worries me right now? What worries me right now is it seems to me that a lot of people not only just want to stick to their group, but it's almost like we don't want white people to get involved. Like, there's this kind of this. There's a lot of reports from Pew saying, you know, look, white people are going to come to minority in like 2050. It's like there's like a stopwatch, right? So can you imagine if you're like one of these white people in Oklahoma somewhere and you're watching that watch? So then how do we make them a part of that conversation?”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Of America. I love America. You know what I mean? Yeah. Right. It's also the story of America, really You know what I mean? The real story of America, really, if you think about it, there's so many narratives, false narratives, get piled on top of each other. And I got to say, Trump's good at it.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Whenever I write that check, I love America. I love America. I love America. I love America. My grandmother has great Medicaid. So, you know what I mean? She has a social service woman in Mount of View who takes care of her. So I'm happy to pay it. But yeah, so I pay taxes. I employ people. The only thing for me is I just can't let this define me. I can't just be quote unquote the undocumented person. Right. You know, I'm more than that. And that's why the book for me was about kind of independence from all these narratives that is all policy and politics driven. Right. Right. I'm actually like a human being trying to like be productive.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We have to talk to as many Republicans and conservatives who want to do the right thing. And that's why I can't just plague one with the progressive game here. Progress should not have a party. Progress should not have a party.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“You know what I mean? At some point. Jimmy Swagger. But what I found out is I remember when I went on Lou Dobbs the first time, I get an email from the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Oklahoma somewhere. And he goes, young man, would you come talk to my chamber of commerce and bring your tax forms? Yeah. So I did. So meaning like, I don't want to assume that the people who watch Fox News are the people who are on Fox News. And so I've gone on quite a few times. But for me, we can't make this simply a democratic issue.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Fox news. And, you know, I struggle with that because in the beginning. Why even go? Why go on? Like I've been on like pretty much all of them except Handity. I haven't done Hannity. I just have not. You suggest that I do.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I was like, what is this? So we used that model. So now we have about 60 defined American college chapters across the country, you know, in places that need them. Nebraska, Iowa. And it's mostly U.S. citizen kids, white, black, Latin kids who have heard about this immigration thing and they don't know how to help. So that's kind of how we're taking what we're doing nationally at the local level.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Again, that is a real cultural shift. That is a cultural shift. And right now, you know, when I was in high school, I came out in high school when I was a junior, when I graduated from high school, they started a gay straight alliance. I didn't know what that was. And I went back to the high school. And it was so interesting that 20 members and most of them were straight.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, first of all, I think we have to know what it is. For example, we're actually partnering with the Norman Leader Center and the Hollywood reporter to actually do a study of how immigrants are portrayed in the top 100 television shows. Again, taking a page out of Glad, right? So then we know that. Remember back in the day when HBO would be like, we want a glad award for Angels in America. I mean, this is the analogy that I like to say. Alec Baldwin says something homophobic. He apologizes the next day. He gives money to Glad, and then poof, right? In this country, thankfully, we live in a country where to be openly homophobic is no longer culturally acceptable. But we live in a country where being anti-immigrant is not only acceptable, it wins you the White House. Right.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“This legal service. So, right now, most of the Legal services. Right So, how do you get that when you have such a pervasive imagery of immigrants that still, even though they're so different? Change that given well,”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But again, a lot of it is legal services. So right now, most of the money is going to policy, legal services. Yes. But how do we change the conversation community per community per community? Right. Right. To me, that is where I'm going to put my work so long as I'm still here.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“More of that. I mean, that's what we're trying to convince people to do, and not only because define American is doing that work, but just like one, I have one organization doing that work that's going up against a multi hundred million dollar machine. Right. And then there's racism.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, I think a lot of it is having these conversations and having platforms and having figuring out what only constitutes citizenship and how can these countries welcome all these people who are coming to their country.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I don't like to use the term open borders because as far as I'm concerned, the country has always been open so long as white people get to define what open is, right? But let's talk about reality, which is that we are living in the greatest movement world has ever seen, the greatest migration the world has ever seen. Many people are going to be migrating because of climate change. We haven't really even talked about that, right? Like people are going to have to move because of that. How can tech companies help figure out?”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, like, are we gonna face facts about what the issue really is about? Because right now, even all the Democratic people, even all the Democratic senators in Congress people are saying, immigration reform, it's going to come with $50 billion trying to build a border. About what? Which is why this gets back to the tech community.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then let's say that they saved Dhaka. Let's say that they passed a DREMAC. Let's say that they put immigration reform on the bill. Here's the thing, though, Kara. How many more billions of dollars do you want to spend on this border? Especially considering that the fastest growing undocumented population or undocumented Asian people.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I'm the guy that sends basketball jerseys. But that's the thing, too. Like when I think about immigrants in this country and documented or undocumented, I think about just. We hide the feelings behind what we buy each other. Sure. Right, it's just Hey, you have an iPhone”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The status quo. I'm not ready again because look, I mean, the conversation has to have that I have to have on myself every day is staying in this country is my choice. I have decided to stay. But there are some days when I'm just kind of like, okay, you don't want me here, maybe I should just go. Because, you know, I kind of want to go see London. Everybody thinks I'm Mexican. I should at least go see Mexico. You know what I mean? I kind of want to go see the world. My mom, 25 years, I don't know how to like, I don't know what that looks like. Do you speak to her? Yeah, we, of course. I've been supporting her financially since I was like in my mid-20s, right? Like a lot of immigrant families do. But our relationship is I send money every month and that's it. Your brothers and sisters? So my sister was a year and a half when I left.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“People in high places. This is when Obama was still president, and I got out. And I remember after it happened, I got so many private messages from a lot of undocumented people and activists who were angry at me.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“After eight hours. I was out for eight hours. I was only there for eight hours, and then I got out. And then, of course, you know, when I get out. How'd you get out? I don't know. Actually, that's the thing. Actually, in the book, I write about that because apparently, you know, people called hype.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So let's finish up talking a little bit about what's going to happen, what are you going to do? You were talking when we did whether you're going to get taken away by ice. That could happen at any time, correct?”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And it happened, and I still kind of can't believe it happened because you know it's going to be 400 kids. And I started thinking, you know, we are living in a time right now where a community has to decide who belongs.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“On Wisman Road six blocks from LinkedIn, which is crazy. So the superintendent contacted me about it last fall on Twitter and I thought he was joking. And then because apparently there was a parent who's on the board who suggested that they name someone contemporary and they had Steve Jobs to choose from, Barack and Michelle Obama. And somehow I won out.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But then where this empathy here? Where this empathy goes? And I'm not talking about the blind empathy of just, oh, you know, I mean, you hear all these stories now, read all these stories about the rural Trump voters. I get all of that, but at the end of the day, I think. Something incredible happened a few months ago that I'm still kind of processing. So the school district that I attended when I was in middle school decided to name an elementary school after me. Bananas. What? It's crazy, yeah. It's Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School. It's a public school from K to fifth grade.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I'm like, hey, you know, usually when we hear the story, you just hear that there's an elderly white woman saying. So you get 20 minutes in the conversation. You know what I find out? Her kids just put her in a home.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Warm up being cancelled. But I wanted to know what the ethnic food aisle is I'm like, what are they selling the ethnic food aisle? Right? Went to Walmart, and then on one aisle, there was this Latin woman and a mother, and they were speaking in Spanish, and in my aisle was this elderly white woman who then says out loud. Why can't they just speak English? So, of course, I went to talk to her. Her name was Connie.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That's a really good point. The language is different. To Alabama, went to Birmingham. I'm a reporter. Okay, I've been to Alabama Which one did you come out? The gay or the immigrant? Oh, the immigrant. Oh, immigrant. Sorry.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Irish, of course, right? I've been fascinated with Irish history. I didn't know much about it. I did not know. I mean, I read how the Irish became white. That was an interesting read. But knowing that the difference, though, is all those groups of Europeans could become this thing called white.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The only analogies in the 1920s. So that was when we were saying that the Irish, you know, I mean, not the Irish, the Polish and the Italians were not as desirable as the Germans, right? Or the British.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Knowing that, you know, you and I share a space and you have your needs and I have my needs, and you know, people now in progressive politics talks about this thing called intersectionality, right? It's like this term now, which is wonderful. But how do you put that into practice? And for me, how do you put that into practice when people don't agree with you? right compromising is not a dirty word”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I really want to vote. Although people tell me all the time, what do you mean you can vote for Halo Clinton? What am I going to vote with? My Bank of America debit card? Like, what am I, what are you doing? According to Donald Trump.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, really? I was watching, you know, I was obsessed with PBS when I was growing up, and she had this great interview with Bill Moyers, and she talked about anger is good, but you have to choreograph it. You have to dance it, you have to sing it, you have to write it.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“People don't want to have a conversation. To me, I have to tell you, I'm exhausted by the whole woke resistance thing. I find that exhausting because I don't think people actually want to talk to people who don't agree with them. I think people only want to talk to people who already perpetuate their point of view or their anger. Now, you made a point a few minutes ago about how jolly I am about all this.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The country is only going to get gayer. More women will have more power. Latinos and nations, California, Latinos and nations combine them. They're the majority. This is what America is. But the thing though is how do we, to me, you can't talk about immigration without bringing black people and white people into the conversation in the same way that you can't talk about gay people without bringing these straight people.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Because I think, again, for the most part, people are stuck on just the policy and the politics of it. They do not understand that we are actually in the middle of a culture war. I would argue that we are in the middle of the biggest culture war this country has ever seen when it comes to what this country looks like and where we're going. And people are stuck talking about policy”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right, right, right, like, turn. The moment they find out that pay taxes and I have no representation, right? The libertarians, particularly they're like, what do you mean that representation? Right? You're a legal immigrant. That you're living off the door”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, the problem with that is we just create, you know, it's so rare. I made an effort in the book to include what it's been like for me to go on Fox News, what it's been like for me to really go talk to conservatives and Republicans who are ready to deport me when they see me. And then the moment I show my tax forms, they're like, what do you mean you pay taxes? What? That's young man, you should sue the government. Right, right. Turn. The moment they found out I pay taxes and I have no representation, the libertarians particularly are like, what do you mean? You check them representation. Right? You're a legal immigrant. Meaning, but what they've been told on Fox News since the 90s. I mean, the success of the right office.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Magic? Are you just gonna go, boop? He's legal, but these are well-meaning people who are like, we don't know that we can't just make them legal. And I'm thinking to myself, if Hollywood doesn't know this, then we're really, so that's for us that's really for us in terms of how do we”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We're doing a lot of that work right now. We've consulted on 43 projects with 11 networks. So meaning they sent a scripts, right? And you look at them in the way they look at them and you're like, oh, actually one time I'm not going to mention the show. They're like, we're going to introduce this undocumented character. And then the next episode will make him legal. And we're like”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Also did not know that, did not realize that. Meaning what? Meaning the only time you would get to know a person of color or an immigrant is the news you consume and the television shows and movies you watch. Right. So, the media tells you about who these people are is of absolute importance. So at Define American, our two biggest goals is how do we get the news media to be much more responsible and contextual in the way they talk about it and entertainment media? How do we help producers, writers, directors to actually better tell more accurate stories of the 43 million immigrants who's going to constitute the right to immigrant? Which is happening?”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So that was really my goal seven years ago when I started doing this. And then again, looking at GLAD, looking at what they've already set up. So this is the biggest part of our work right now. I made a film for MTV called White People. Yep. This was like three years ago now. And we were making it. MTV did a study that was really interesting to make because I didn't know this. 74% of white people live in predominantly white towns. Did not know that. And 90% of white people have predominantly white friends.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Lanthan knew what he was doing, right? He set the note to the word free so high nobody could reach it right so that was to me it's actually a really good analogy it's people got angry and also people got palatable. I don't want to say palatable, but it's like you started to hear their stories and they and then it was your friend and then it was.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right, everyone's like, oh no, not them because it takes people out of this, as you know, if you remember from... What's his name, the movie that was about gays in movies? It was a great film. Oh, the Sally Closet. Sally Lake Closet. I show that actually to my mom, who was, I would say, quite homophobic initially, still is a little bit, you know, just every now and then, again, she lets loose one. But when she saw that, I'll never forget, she goes, now I know why people hate gay people, like watching it, because of all the visuals coming at you about gay people were either really sexualized or a lot of things in that predatory or silly, but always dead in the end and tragic, always tragic and sad and pathetic. And once the images changed and when it was Ellen, who everybody likes Ellen or when it was Will and Grace or when they started, when the images started to change and everyone started to come out, and especially with the anger around AIDS, I think that helped fuel it, Silence Equals Death. It was all together, it was a palatability and it was also no.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But you know, like I tell the story in the book of all of these teachers and mentors, right, who were kind of my, they were like my underground railroad of people. And I'm saying that with all the respect to African American history. I was an African American American studies major in college. The fact that there's all these people who have helped people like me, right? And the fact that we never really hear their stories.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Tell stories. Here I am. I've done this. Well, the coming out movement. That's why for me, using kind of the LGBTQ, right? It's a really good one. I didn't thought about that before. But you come out to let people in.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Antiproters. For me, if all these Western countries can come to our countries, To develop their industries, right, as a sign of their political and economic policies and power. Why can't we come to theirs?”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Right, Filipinos don't put oxygen on the okay. That wasn't enough for good of reason. I had to actually investigate. So I got my name because of Spanish colonialism. There's no accent in the E because when the Americans took over after the Spanish American War, they're typewriters that they brought to the Philippines didn't have X marks.”
2018-11-24 · Decoder with Nilay Patel · Recode Decode: Undocumented immigrants are people, not political props · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT