341 replies to this topic

[Quezo]

I made it to the compilation. I am Lhasa Apso

http://blogs.phoenix...and_a_compi.php

[Jacki O.]

that's awesome quezo! can't wait to hear the album

why im not surprised by Arizona's racism - salon.com article

why arizona doesn't care what you think about the immigration law

[donald]

that's awesome quezo! can't wait to hear the album

why im not surprised by Arizona's racism - salon.com article

why arizona doesn't care what you think about the immigration law

From the "Why AZ doesn't care what you think" article:

He would explain. He would show them his license and tribal enrollment card.--which raised a few eyebrows. And then, having decided that he was still American, though Indian, they would tell him he fit the description of...yadda yadda...and should be careful about that. My brown kids from high schools on the South and West sides of town would get the same interrogation when they were over by us for basketball or football games, too. Used to it, all of 'em. But they'd tease me about living there, a lot.

This used to happen to me when I was younger, I would get pulled over, or taken outside from a restaurant and get harassed and show ID, later to be told I fit the description of someone else. I don't believe it was the color of my skin as it was the length of my hair. I was told I should change my appearance so as not to get confused by the cops in the future.



The author of this article explained it very well. The racial profiling has been so common place for so long that people from AZ are so surprised by how people outside of the state are appalled by it.

[Jacki O.]

This was put out by the Navajo Nation two weeks back. I thought it was pretty cool and interesting.

Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 vs. Navajo Nation Sovereignty

Window Rock, AZ ‐ There has been much in the news regarding cities, families, businesses, and events that plan to boycott Arizona due to the Arizona Immigration Law SB1070. If you think this law will be enforced throughout the entire state, please read on.

The Navajo Nation, in spite of having land in the northeast corner of Arizona, is a sovereign nation and also occupies land in New Mexico and Utah. As such, the Navajo Nation is governed by their own laws and not the laws imposed by the states. The majority of Navajo letterheads say "Arizona" but the nation should be treated as a separate entity in regard to SB1070. This is a not a Navajo law and it will not be enforced on the Navajo Nation.

On Monday, May 3, 2010, Navajo Nation Chief of Police, Captain Bob Etsitty, had this to say:

"The new Arizona Immigration law has no affect on the Navajo Nation. We'll be following normal procedures, the same as always. We won't go looking for illegal immigrants. However, in the course of normal procedures, if we come across an illegal immigrant while investigating a crime, we will contact the proper authorities." Captain Etsitty says this is rarely an issue on the Navajo Nation. He stated they will NEVER question or stop someone because they may LOOK like a possible alien.

Their job is to enforce Navajo law, not Arizona law. Please be assured, no one will be harassed by Navajo police due to SB1070 while visiting the Navajo Nation and there is no reason for anyone to boycott the Navajo Nation due to this bill.

AWESOME

[Jacki O.]

Pearce wants AZ to deport US citizens now

great article from Cracked on how hard it is for whitey to become a US citizen

and Seattle becomes the 11th city to officially boycott Arizona

az gets no love from these cities so far:
• Seattle, Washington
• El Paso, Texas
• Austin, Texas
• Boston, Massachusetts
• St. Paul, Minnesota
• Boulder, Colorado
• San Diego, California
• West Hollywood, California
• San Francisco, California
• Los Angeles, California
• Oakland, California

[Dez]

Altered Dora the Explorer pic heats up immigration debate

"She's always been ambiguously constructed,"

*sigh* this is getting, silly.

[chadk]

This was put out by the Navajo Nation two weeks back. I thought it was pretty cool and interesting.

Arizona Immigration Law SB1070 vs. Navajo Nation Sovereignty

Window Rock, AZ ‐ There has been much in the news regarding cities, families, businesses, and events that plan to boycott Arizona due to the Arizona Immigration Law SB1070. If you think this law will be enforced throughout the entire state, please read on.

The Navajo Nation, in spite of having land in the northeast corner of Arizona, is a sovereign nation and also occupies land in New Mexico and Utah. As such, the Navajo Nation is governed by their own laws and not the laws imposed by the states. The majority of Navajo letterheads say "Arizona" but the nation should be treated as a separate entity in regard to SB1070. This is a not a Navajo law and it will not be enforced on the Navajo Nation.

On Monday, May 3, 2010, Navajo Nation Chief of Police, Captain Bob Etsitty, had this to say:

"The new Arizona Immigration law has no affect on the Navajo Nation. We'll be following normal procedures, the same as always. We won't go looking for illegal immigrants. However, in the course of normal procedures, if we come across an illegal immigrant while investigating a crime, we will contact the proper authorities." Captain Etsitty says this is rarely an issue on the Navajo Nation. He stated they will NEVER question or stop someone because they may LOOK like a possible alien.

Their job is to enforce Navajo law, not Arizona law. Please be assured, no one will be harassed by Navajo police due to SB1070 while visiting the Navajo Nation and there is no reason for anyone to boycott the Navajo Nation due to this bill.

YAY!

[jeremx]

ya know.. the law abiding, common-sense loving, by the book part of me understands a lot of the "asshole" side of the immigration debate. "don't like the way i do something.. then get out." i get that. "when i grew up on that street, there wasn't spanish grafitti on the walls.." i get that too.

but then the human side of me says, "ya know what? if i was in that country and shit sucked, i'd do the same thing." i mean, and this is likely all too obvious to everyone that frequents this board, but when it comes down to it, where you're born is simple luck. you didn't get to pick being born in arizona anymore than you got to pick being born in new york city or pakistan. to me, all these race wars, border disputes, etc should be able to be looked at with much clearer glasses when you think of john f kennedy's quote:
"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." especially the part about the children.. would you want your child acting like you do? does anyone look at a small child of any color and say, "get that little shit back to the hole in wall country they're from so they can get back to being malnourished while i throw half of this big mac in the garbage.."? it's like people forget what being human is.

sorry.. whiny hippie bleeding heart liberal rant over..

[differently biotic]

well america being one of the most obese nations I doubt they are throwing that big mac in the trash Jeremi... hahahaha

[jeremx]

well america being one of the most obese nations I doubt they are throwing that big mac in the trash Jeremi... hahahaha

i said half of that big mac.. the super large coke, large fries, and apple pie got in the way of finishing. it's not wasting.. they can just buy another one at dinnertime for a dollar! woooo!

[mothrock]

they can just buy another one at dinnertime for a dollar! woooo!

Minimum wage in Mexico is 57 pesos per day. ($4.37 USD)

shit. no wonder they want to come here. I would too.

[capharnaum]

all the boycotting hasn't affected me much but
now it's gone too far
i'm pissed

[Jacki O.]

i went to a really interesting community discussion forum yesterday hosted by Changing Hands Bookstore and moderated by Representative Kyrsten Sinema and Allen Gomez, a history and ethics professor at the School of Justice and Social Inquiry at ASU.

Sinema described the bill (it's actually 2 bills, there was an amended bill added to it that made it worse)

here's what i took away from it:

1 - it will most likely not become a law because of its extreme wording, there are already five injunctions against it and they have pretty strong positions. the bill is written so loosely that, depending on the judicial review, it could be said to violate not only the 4th amendment (search and seizure) but also the 1st amendment.

2 - over the last 8-10 years the rhetoric in both the government and public in Arizona has changed for the worse (not that AZ has really ever had a sparkling record on human rights or treating ethnicities and races with equal respect). This bill has been brought up to a vote five times in this state, passing the senate multiple times before either being shot down by the house or by our former governor. And there are many more similar bills in the works. Not to mention we currently have some very xenophobic bills that have already become law (though some are not enforced depending on what county/community you live in). back in the day, phrases like "illegal", "illegal alien" and "anchor baby" were only used in far right/xenophobic circles, now those phrases are used by our media, politicians, and communities. they've become commonplace and they are the result of a cognizant effort by fringe groups to change the way our communities look at immigration and Hispanic culture in this state. Sadly, for many people in our communities, the racial profiling/unconstitutional aspects of sb1070 have always been present and enforced in arizona.

3 - several components of the bill that are especially troublesome for US citizens are the safe harbor amendments. The bill states citizens and organizations must request documentation before harboring or transporting anyone that could be an undocumented resident, and if you are caught "harboring" an "illegal" person, you can be held CRIMINALLY liable. This would not be a civil offense with a small fine, you would have a criminal record. This applies to anyone and everyone: churches, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, businesses (the trunk space better ask for documentation for everyone that enters for a show), schools, hospitals, government entities, YOU. This law basically makes every citizen liable for enforcing it and for checking on our neighbors and friends to ensure their "legal" status. it makes it a job of every US citizen to ensure that every person they come into contact with or do business with is a documented resident.

4 - many foreign families are here are on a one visa-holder system. This means 1 person in the family has a valid US work visa that allows them to bring their families over. In some occasions, the person that holds the visa uses it as a weapon to harass and abuse their families. the victims cannot leave because they have no documentation and are at the mercy of their abuser. However, US immigration, back in the day, noticed this trend and set up a special U-visa for victims of domestic violence and certain crimes (sex trafficking, prostitution, child abuse, rape, torture, etc). Women and men who are involved in abusive relationships with a US visa holder can apply for a U-visa that allows them to stay in the US and leave their abusive relationship without fear of deportation or losing their children. However, in order to apply for a U-visa, the victim has to report their abuse to the police. there has to be police documentation on the abusive relationship before you can even get an application for the U-visa. SB1070 requires police to check documentation of anyone they come into LAWFUL contact with, i.e. someone that calls the police to report abuse, and if no documentation exists, the police must send them to ICE for the deportation process. So undocumented victims of domestic violence and other crimes would have no where to go. no avenue to escape their abusive relationships. they would not call the police because they would get deported and therefore they cannot even start the process of obtaining a U-visa. it's a catch-22

5 - the law has the potential to divide already tense communities and make it lawful for people to turn each other in. The amended law makes checking documentation applicable to not only LAWFUL contact (i.e. calling the police to report a crime, coming forth as a witness to a crime or accident, and any and all lawful contact that a civilian would have with law enforcement) but police must check documentation for any CIVIL offenses; jay walking, cars parked in yards, dog barking too loud, grass too high, trash on curb, no bike lights, etc. so if i think my neighbor is an undocumented person or i am just an asshole, i can call the police and say, "their dogs are barking too loud" and the police would have to respond to that complaint and check their documentation.

6 - Brewer has stated that all state law enforcement will undergo "training" in order to avoid racial profiling. Sinema said last night, that at this moment, the racial profiling training for law enforcement crafted by Brewer is an hour of training and is voluntary. Law enforcement personnel do not have to take this training unless they volunteer to. it is not mandatory. The law just states one has to give a law enforcement officer a "reasonable suspicion" that they are undocumented, but does not state what constitutes a "reasonable suspicion".

7 - There are people in this state that elect the politicians that craft these laws. They are scared because they are told they have a lot to fear. They choose to get their information from select sources and they jump on soundbites and spread rumors. They think these laws will not apply to them. They are citizens of this state and they have a lot of money and support. We need to talk to our neighbors about what they believe and what we believe and what we want our state and country to be. what rights we want to enjoy and how free we really want to be. you'd be surprised how many people want the same things but believe in different routes to achieve them.

they are going to continue to hold these community discussions and i would encourage you to attend one (they are free) if you are interested in learning more. There were supporters of the bill present at this discussion and though they dropped more soundbites than questions (and most sounded really dumb when they made certain accusations) they are very fired up about the bill and most were willing discuss it with people who do not support it.

Sinema's twitter has updates on her SB1070 discussion events
the next one is with Tobias Wolff this Thursday at 5:30 pm, at Cheuvront restaurant (1326 N. Central)

[donald]

Very cool Jacki


I wish I could have made that, but had other obligations