Don't know what SB 1070 is? Are you living under a rock?
Lest you think that the state is divided clear-cut, and Arizonans are crazy xenophobes, hear me out.
Yeah, Arizona isn’t known to be the most open-minded state. We were the last state to adopt Dr. King’s birthday as a holiday—that was exceedingly the most embarrassing moment in our state’s history. Our legislature often makes the "off the wall headlines" for their decisions to make it legal to carry a gun in a bar, or debate over the state horse rather than get to serious issues like finalizing a budget. They do tacky things like paying thousands of dollars to refinish a conference room table, and then slash millions from the public education budget. However, buried beneath the spectacle of attention SB 1070 from everyone from FOX news and the Daily Show, there is a small kernel of truth that rings true even to me—standing just to the left of center.
Arizonans are frustrated and have been for a long time. Lax federal policies and support have put the burden of the border on Arizona’s backs and attempting to secure the border has strained the state budget. Politicians and authorities have done everything to get the federal governments attention since forever, even billing them; it stands to reason that passing radical legislation would be the next step.
There is a perfect storm of issues that have led to the passage of SB 1070: the drug wars in Mexico, the murder of an Arizona rancher have made people feel unsafe and our over zealously conservative legislature looking to buck the Democrats in DC. However, it is quite obvious to me that the fervor of securing the border is predominantly a reaction to the recession. When times are good we have virtually no problem allowing illegal immigrants to nibble at the fringe and take those low-paying, less desirable jobs. But now that anyone can be destitute before the next paycheck, we claim those jobs with zeal.
However much I understand the problems with the border, there is a human element that I have difficulty with when it comes to the new legislation. As I watched Governor Brewer sign the bill I couldn’t help but feel immense sympathy for all the lives she would be impacting. I sympathize for the immigrants who are in the US waiting for their citizenship to be approved, I feel for the police officers who will be burdened with lawsuits by unsatisfied members of the public, and I empathize with US citizens who have darker skin or ethnic surnames. I do believe an abhorrent side-effect of SB 1070 is a type of state-sponsored racism—not unlike what the US citizens of Japanese decent encountered during World War II.
All that being said, it was the State government that penned this bill and the Governor who signed it. This wasn't a law voted in from the polls. That is what frustrates me: when celebrities, other State or city officials, and pundits put down Arizonans and punish us with sanctions or pulling out of concerts. It seems even more ridiculous because if you really knew our legislature you would know they could give two shits about the things people are boycotting us with--I mean does this guy look like he has a soul? (Hint: no.)
This is Rusell Pearce, the author of the bill. Currently, he is fighting the 14th Ammendment (that's right, the Constitution) that makes children citizens if they are born in the United States, regardless of their parents' status.
Hall, Oates, Belinda Carlisle, and whatever other washed-up, C-list celebrities who want to show Arizona what they think by denying us their craptastic music, think long and hard about who you are wanting to punish and who you are actually punishing by denying Arizona your talent.
2 comments:
Excellent! Yes, you should submit to AZRep ('cause it's all we got) as a My Turn column. Well-done.
Well said!
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