Marylou Cabral at PSLweb.org:
Racism must be defeated in the streets
Arizona’s odious law SB 1070, has served as a catalyst for anti-immigrant racism all over the country. The law requires police officers to question a person’s immigration status during a stop, detention or arrest if there is “reasonable suspicion” that the person is an undocumented immigrant. It targets and criminalizes people of color regardless of their legal status, because it effectively gives the police total power to racially profile.
SB 1070 has polarized the people of Arizona by further marginalizing the immigrant community that was already living in the shadows. It has emboldened right-wing politicians who are using this law as political fodder in their race for office.
Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox is one of the top three Republican candidates in the race for that state’s gubernatorial primary. In response to the Obama administration’s federal lawsuit against SB 1070, he has rallied nine states to support Arizona’s immigration law in court. In the latest legal brief, Michigan is joined by Alabama, Florida, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Virginia, as well as the Northern Mariana Islands. This is an opportunist legal maneuver that uses racism as a way to gain support for his campaign.
Wave of anti-immigrant racism sweeps beyond Arizona, Michigan
An anonymous group in Utah, fueled by anti-immigrant fervor, sent a list of 1,300 names to immigration offices and media outlets July 14. Violating federal law, it included detailed information such as Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and names of children and family members. The list was comprised of almost all Latinos and the anonymous group demanded that everyone on the list be deported. (PSLweb.org, July 22)
In a similar vein, Massachusetts legislators recently tried but failed to pass a law including a provision for a “report your neighbor” hotline targeting alleged undocumented immigrants.
Beyond the bourgeois political arena, SB 1070 has mobilized racists who are taking violent measures to patrol the border, raising the climate of fear in communities of color. The tightening of the border has caused a record high number of deaths in the month of July as it pushes immigrants to more remote, rugged and dangerous Arizona desert terrain.
A reputed neo-Nazi, Jason Ready, is now leading a militia in the Arizona desert. His patrols have already turned in a few border crossers to Border Patrol. His group is heavily armed and identifies with an organization that believes only non-Jewish, white heterosexual people should be American citizens and everyone who is not white should leave the country.
At the same time, SB 1070 has galvanized the struggle against anti-immigrant racism. At May Day marches and rallies around the U.S. this year, the Arizona law was a focus of attention. Hundreds of people marched during a torrential rain in Boston, Mass., to protest the presence of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer July 10. (PSLweb.org, July 15) And many plan to protest in Arizona July 29, the day before SB 1070 goes into effect. SB 1070 as well as the Arizona law banning ethnic studies and similar bills being considered in other states are despicable attempts to divide the working class using anti-immigrant racism as a wedge. It is incumbent on all progressive and anti-racist people to mobilize and defeat the anti-immigrant racism in the streets.
Yes the biggest hypocrites are usually doing deeds behind the scenes that aren’t up to snuff. The LDS can be some of the biggest hypocrites I have ever encountered.
Utah Welfare list? I thought the majority in AZ, NM, TX, NV, UT, CO, OK, on Welfare, are old school Mormons (FLDS) who still practice polygamy with underage girls and send these girls in to claim they are single parents and get their checks. You should see some of the palace homes that are paid with welfare checks.
okay, heres the deal..There are millions of legal Mexicans (and other latino) that are 2nd 3rd 4th generation Americans. They have children the population of Latin Americans HAS INCREASED!! The white man has to deal with this. They use the “immigrant” label to hide their racist attitudes toward latino race. I have seen it I have heard and I live in it. I am white and I know all the dirty little secrets of the whites (Not all whites or others) but, the biggest protestors are usually just plain intolerant of Latins. They don’t like their music (though most like their food) they don’t like the customs they just don’t like anything to do with latins. So you can hide under anything you wish and wait for it……….(You can claim “I have latino friends” BullS&it….If you stratch the surface of supporters of the arizona law you will find people intolerant of others that don’t look like them LEGAL OR NOT… 🙂
a tiny fraction of the global population on a sliver of geography can not be held respionsible for the standard of living ‘en toto’!
It’s not racist to defend ones borders. In Italy immigrants from Africa are kept in camps surrounded by razor wire. In South Africa refugees from Zimbabwe are picked up, often at gun point by Boer farmers, and forcibly expatriated. In Mexico, immigrants from Guatemala are guilty of felonies and often sentenced to prison time.
How is it then that the US is racist for wanting to control its borders? That is the mark of a sovereign country.