Boycott Arizona – For Most Anti-American, Anti-Constitutional, Pro-Birther legislation since Japanese American Internment Camps in 1942
What did the Latino population (illegal, but mostly legal) do to Arizona? Did they bomb the Grand Canyon without warning? They must have, the bill signed today by Governor Jan Brewer puts all Latinos, whether they are are residents or tourists from Maine or Mexico City, under suspicion of breaking the law. What’s next, internment camps?
This is the most anti-democratic, anti-Latino, racially motivated piece of legislation for 68 years, since Executive Order 9066 in 1942, when over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry where held in camps for the duration of World War II.
This un-American and unconstitutional law opens the door wide open to racial profiling. If you’re Hispanic don’t leave home without your birth certificate or passport, if you are planning a trip to Arizona. Brown complexion? You might want to give the “Copper State” a miss this summer.
Jesus Serrano, the independent owner-operator of a Los Angeles-based trucking company, said that about 70 drivers based in California and Arizona had agreed to stop moving loads into or out of Arizona in protest of the new law. He hopes to get 200 truckers on board for a five-day boycott that will start within 48 hours of the bill’s signing.
Jaime Chamberlain, the owner of two Nogales-based distribution businesses and the incoming chairman of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, said that a boycott by 70 truckers could have a significant impact on freight rates, which would translate into higher prices. He also thought the state would take an economic hit from lost sales revenue.
“If there are truckers who do feel that this is not a good bill and not a good law, and if they refuse to drive through the state of Arizona, that’s not good for Arizona, because every single one of these truckers spends money in our state,” he said.
The Arizona bill has stirred a national debate, including among the state’s representatives in Congress. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., publicly supported the measure this week, while Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva decried the bill and called for businesses across the country to boycott Arizona if it became law.
President Barack Obama added his voice to the debate Friday, calling the measure misguided.
The anti-immigrant sentiment in Arizona will also likely trigger Latinos in other states to be on guard and show their support for Democrats in upcoming elections. There are races in California and Nevada that are depending on Latino voters. In California, Jerry Brown will need all the votes he can get to beat Meg Whitman for the governorship. And, in Nevada, Harry Reid will need these voters too to beat his Republican opponent. There are also governor races in New Mexico and Florida, where Latinos have voter power. The Republicans may have shot themselves in both feet.
Sarah Palin could not be reached for comment this evening.
Spanish frm Spain Country, Europe are not Mexicans, illiterate!!!
Gee thanks. Tactful way to inform but I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about.
“120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry”
Looks like you learned history from the wrong sources. They weren’t all Americans. And the assembly & relocation centers weren’t internment camps. And the comparison with EO9066 is wrong.
Please, please study history first before blogging off misinformation.
Wes – Thanks for stopping by. I gave my source for what is written, and you are right, not all of the 120,000 were American citizens, but it was hardly misinformation. I’ll read any history you suggest as long as it wasn’t written in Texas.
I just saw this article. I think it’s an accurate comparison.
You can call it relocation, but look up the definition of Concentration Camp. That is a more accurate term to use. Japanese were rounded up and incarcerated behind barbed wire fences with gun toting military guards. My grandparents came to the U.S. when Asians were treated like the Hispanics in Arizona are being treated now. Most worked in agricultural jobs like Hispanics now. I could go on about similarities, but I want to say one last thing. I am a third generation Japanese American that survived the Concentration Camp near Phoenix Arizona (1943-1945) and it was ruled a Civil Rights violation by the Supreme Court…can you say Concentration Camp?
Obviously, the Arizona police have come under the influence of the invisible socialist mind rays emanating from deep in the wilds of Taxachusetts.
Those damn invisible socialist mind rays just keep pulling us back in.
The police hate this law. They are already overworked and this law is fraught with potential lawsuits the cops don’t need. What was Arizona thinking? Wait. They weren’t!
Yep and that speaks volumes as to the needlessness of the law, the fact that law enforcement opposes it. To me it’s similar to the NRA types wanting any type of weapon allowed, whereas the police weren’t on board cause they knew it might be used against them or against the citizenry.
This law opens the door to even more racial profiling of other groups, particularly blacks. We’ve been through this sneaky shit and the harassment is endless. I live in a mixed neighborhood right outside of DC, which is a majority black city. A black male in his late teens or early 20s will still get routinely stopped and searched for the flakiest of reasons at least once a year. I don’t know a single one who hasn’t had it happen to at least twice.
Racial profiling and the drug war (particularly using marijuana laws to lock up people) is really a war on people of color, and combined with the privatized prison industrial complex, used as a form of neo-slavery and soft genocide. There’s no unemployment problem in jail, and there you can’t make babies if you’re locked up.
It’s much worse in other parts of the country, and man, Arizona has made their state enemy territory for all young males of color, brown or black. It’s a national disgrace, and I wish Obama would have used stronger words to condemn it. He’s trying to play both sides of the fence. It ain’t working.
Well said Kit, seems like Arizona is trying to pull a Utah, with only token people of color. This thing going to run for a while.
yeah the DWB/M/I stops get old, and don’t seem to stop even when you get old.
Puts mileage on our cars too Kit, I know you understand but to others it’s cause people of color got to drive around rather than thru certain neighborhoods.
I’m all in favor of a boycott of Arizona. This would be a good year to do so. I don’t think the Dodgers can beat the D-Backs.
And good ole John McCain, the fat head who said he’d work to solve the immigration problem. Well, he doesn’t have to worry about being run over by a Mack Truck for a few days. It’s like the whole country is going insane.
Corrupting Conservatives just posted an interesting article with a map showing where they are most concentrated. Interesting.
http://liberalideology.blogspot.com/2010/04/malcontent-and-teabag-movement.html
Leslie,
I clicked on the link. You know when you zoom in you can actually view individual teabaggers, picking their noses and misspelling words.Technology is amazing.
I bet John McCain is going round in circles on this one, which side of the fence will he eventually decide on? Then say he believed it all along.
@Holte, Oso,
You’re right guys.
We’ve seen this nonsense before, and the response should be the same as before.
Refuse. Boycott.
-SJ
Holte,
I’ve read the police in AZ don’t like it either. Nothing like catering to the lowest common denominator, teabaggers and minutemen.
Good to see some folks getting ready to hit ’em where it hurts-in the pocketbook!
Dead right Oso, a smack in the pocketbook is more painful than a smack in the pie hole to those guys.