It's Time to Boycott Arizona

[MsDemeanor]

First they pass the Birther legislation. Now, Governor Brewer just signed SB 1070, the "Papers Please" law. Now any brown person in AZ can be stopped at any time by any cop and forced to prove that they are in the country legally. State officials claim that they won't profile, but I'm seriously doubting that the police are going to go around asking white folks to produce papers.

Polls show that 70% of residents support SB1070.

[Queerasfck]

Arizona is now the laughing stock of the USA. People hear AZ and think "racist." Sad. And I believe the majority of people in AZ would say they want less government in their lives. This is an example of the opposite of that but they don't seem to make the connection because of their ignorance and racism. Wake the fuck up! It's unreal. I can't believe I live here.

[apretty]

70% of the people polled.

0% of the people i know approve of SB1070 nor the people that those people know--or the kids demonstrating, and college students demonstrating and getting arrested.

to be clear, there is a hate-mongering and fearful racist, moneyed minority in this state.

boycott what you like, but i didn't know that this was a mecca for anyone except rich, white golfer-retirees. (not a lot of queer dollars in that demographic.)

[Strappie]

That's down right sad

[Andrew, Jr.]

Very sad indeed.

[MsDemeanor]

Originally Posted by apretty

70% of the people polled.

0% of the people i know approve of SB1070 nor the people that those people know--or the kids demonstrating, and college students demonstrating and getting arrested.

to be clear, there is a hate-mongering and fearful racist, moneyed minority in this state.

boycott what you like, but i didn't know that this was a mecca for anyone except rich, white golfer-retirees. (not a lot of queer dollars in that demographic.)

I looked closer. The poll was done by Rasmussen, which is notoriously right-wing biased in it's results, and it polled "likely voters". It's quite possible that Rasmussen only considers likely voters to be white republicans.

Thanks for making me look more closely. I'm sorry that the non-racists in AZ will be stuck with the bill for the lawsuits that are sure to come rolling in.

[suebee]

I heard on the radio that police will receive training to prevent racial profiling. Uh.....yeah - right. As if THAT'S worked so well before.

[The_Lady_Snow]

This is a sad thing indeed, to be brown, pulled over, with a law backing up the cops..

I would be terrified..

It's sickening

[Bella~Vita]

This is just wrong .. it's disgraceful ..

[Billy]

Originally Posted by The_Lady_Snow

This is a sad thing indeed, to be brown, pulled over, with a law backing up the cops..

I would be terrified..

It's sickening

Sometimes I wonder and I try not to do it often , Where do these people come from and how do they get in the position of power that they are in ....

[Down2marsboi]

Originally Posted by MsDemeanor

First they pass the Birther legislation. Now, Governor Brewer just signed SB 1070, the "Papers Please" law. Now any brown person in AZ can be stopped at any time by any cop and forced to prove that they are in the country legally. State officials claim that they won't profile, but I'm seriously doubting that the police are going to go around asking white folks to produce papers.

Polls show that 70% of residents support SB1070.

Yeah,

That's TRUELY ashame...racial profiling was already running a muck before...I HATE to think what it will be like NOW.

[apretty]

Originally Posted by Down2marsboi

Yeah,

That's TRUELY ashame...racial profiling was already running a muck before...I HATE to think what it will be like NOW.

i'm guessing... MORE racial profiling, more arrests, more mistreatment of human beings, more disregard for human life, more empowered 'minutemen' freaks.

and what they weren't planning on is the UNITY that i'm seeing. there's a HUGE latino population here and an obvious imbalance of power. i remain (hugely pissed) and hopeful.

[yourexwife]

I feel for the 30% that don't want anything to do with this whole thing, and have a better opinion about it than the rest of the state.

[Nat]

Sarah "I'm not racist" Palin says Jan Brewer "has the cojones our President dies not have" regarding immigration.



How many ways can she be offensive in one sentence?

[Andrea]

Opinion piece by Todd Landfried a spokesman for Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform

Click Here

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Opinion piece by Todd Landfried a spokesman for Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform

Click Here

This quote from this OP-ED certainly points out one hell of a point!

Was there no other approach to address immigration without undermining the state's economy or shredding our social fabric? Nobody had a better idea for balancing security with the draw and demand of American jobs? What about an offer to work with Congress? Was the only solution to blow up the place?

Obviously demonstrates that this did NOT stem from feeling the federal government isn't doing its job- it was simply an act of racism.

[Nat]

neat facebook group: Poets Responding to SB 1070

[Soon]

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by popcorninthesofa

So if migrating out worked in one state, the rest will think to do it in all the states. thereby making asian and latino folks migrate into Europe turning Europe brown, and in time, migrating back again?Coo-Coo

No, Popcorn. There's a reason why I suggested that people read about the Great Migration here in America. Blacks left the Southern states in *droves*. Huge numbers of blacks left the South and moved West and North--this is why Oakland and Detroit have such huge black communities. They didn't before WW II but by 1970 they were gigantic black communities there. So we've already run this experiment and have some idea how this plays out in the real world.

Blacks didn't migrate to Europe as you suggest, we stayed in the United States and, in fact, it DID have an effect on the economy of the South. Was it the nail in the coffin? No. However, labor became a bit more expensive because blacks *were* the cheap labor and as some of that labor left, it had a deleterious effect on the economy of those Southern states. It is instructive to note that we could get there without ALL blacks having left the South (which I'm sure you would try to suggest my argument requires). A similar pressure would be at play with a mass exodus of Hispanics out of Arizona.

Again--because you, popcorn, have a tendency to read what you want to read and not what is written--the economic impact of an exodus does NOT require the people leaving the country and we've already run the real-world experiment. So unless you are going to try to argue that somehow, while blacks were able to find work and build lives in other states but Hispanics will not, your argument *completely* collapses under its own weight.

Cheers
Aj

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

"I think the most effective move, however, is for Hispanics to leave the state. If the majority of Arizonans don't want them there (and a majority of voting Arizonans have given either their explicit or tacit approval to SB 1070) then they should leave. There is historical precedent for this. Google "The Great Migration" or, better yet, get hold of the book 'The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration' by Isabel Wilkerson. I suggest this because, what a lot of (white) Americans don't know is that in the middle third of the last century blacks left the Deep South in a flood. This actually had a number of effects on the culture and economy of the South which, in turn, led to the southern states progressing on racial issues. My parents left the South at the very tail end (1968) because they didn't want their kids raised in a part of the country where we would be considered only marginally human. I think it would, in fact, serve Arizona right if in 5 years finding a Hispanic resident in that state was like finding an unicorn.

Again, let me make it clear that I’m *not* saying you or Cody or any other Arizona resident here wants Hispanics out of the state. I am saying that if Hispanics are not welcome, it would behoove them to leave and to do so sooner rather than later."

While I haven't read the book you speak of, AJ, the more logistical facts behind a mass exodus are what float through my mind when pondering your recommendations. In a very simplistic manner I can say that I totally agree with the notion of not remaining somewhere I am not welcomed. Whether that be a restaurant, movie theatre, store...etc...if the majority has spoken and my presence is viewed as less than desirable, I would exit stage left post haste. However, if this departure meant a complete lifestyle change by way of finding a new home, job, community, and support system, I might take a moment’s pause. For me, a single mom raising two kids and also going to school/working outside the home full time, relocating would be a HUGE deal. The very thought of it makes my stomach hurt. Simple economics would prevent 99.9% of Arizona's Latino populous from relocating to more welcoming environments. Moving is expensive. Many of the Latino families who reside in Tucson have been here for the better part of a century - "legally" or not. They own homes built up along the Santa Cruz River. They have small businesses in South Tucson that have been family run for generations. I can't speak for the bulk of other races and cultures, but the Latino community here in Tucson is vast...and tightly knit! Rarely have I seen the quiet strength of a culture withstand the constant beat-downs perpetrated by white society as I have the Latino population this side of the border. It is something one truly needs to witness first hand in order to appreciate. No newspaper article or television account can lend it proper accolades. I am not saying that Latino's differ from African American's in terms of racial disparity...please don't infer that...what I am trying to say from purely an outside/Caucasian/privileged perspective is that the Latino community should not only NOT have to leave Arizona in order to effect change, but cannot simply because it is not economically feasible.

Here's the thing, the situation for large numbers of blacks who left Mississippi or Louisiana or Alabama, the situation was not much better. People don't pick up and leave for a better life if a best life can be had where they are. Would some people be left behind? Yes. Some of my cousins, aunties and uncles were left behind when my parents pulled up stakes and moved us to California. Now, as it turns out, my parents were in much better position to do so than some of my other relatives who also made the trek in that my parents, by 1968, had advanced degrees and were able to find professorships at universities in Sacramento. My uncles who moved did so because of they were in the military and pretty much just stayed put in the city they mustered out of. I'm not being flip when I talk about leaving. I recognize the hurdles to relocating. But Arizona is going down a path that rarely ends well. I've said it on this thread before and I'll say it now---you could not pay me to be either Hispanic or Muslim in the United States right now. If you promised me riches beyond the dreams of avarice I would take the money and buy me and mine the first ticket elsewhere.

Arizona has passed SB 1070 and is about to put into effect rules that will make teaching any kind of positive history of Mexican-Americans just this side of impossible. Oklahoma has passed a law (blocked by the courts, the last, best friend of minorities in this nation) that is a 'pre-emptive strike' against Sharia law being made legal in that state. Arizona is ALSO considering a law that would require any teachers in the statewide system to not have 'thick' accents. We've seen this movie before--each law, in itself, seems pretty innocuous particularly if one isn't on the receiving end of its effects.

Have to have your birth certificate or other proof of citizenship on you at all times (absent a national ID card)? Sure, why not? Nothing to fear if you're in the country legally, right? Can't teach any subject matter that would create racial animosity or feed a sense of racial grievance? Again, not a big deal right? I mean, who CARES how California, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas came to be part of the U.S.? We're all Americans now, right? Can't teach if you have a 'heavy' accent? Well, math is a difficult enough subject without having to deal with the teacher's accent. Can't implement sharia law? What's the big deal? This is America, we already have laws! (the fact that the Constitution prevents ANY religious law being applied by the government is conveniently lost). Taken in isolation none of those seem too horrible. Taken in concert, however, they start to look more and more like the first of the Nuremberg laws. Each one--particularly the first set of them--don't hint at what was coming down the track toward Germany but with the benefit of hindsight it becomes clear that they were the beginning of the horror.