¡Alto Arizona!

Why the term 'Illegal Immigrant' is a Slur

Posted: 07/06/2012 9:31 am | By Charles Garcia, CEO, Garcia Trujillo | Source: HuffingtonPost.com

Last month's Supreme Court decision in the landmark Arizona immigration case was groundbreaking for what it omitted: the words "illegal immigrants" and "illegal aliens," except when quoting other sources. The court's nonjudgmental language established a humanistic approach to our current restructuring of immigration policy.

When you label someone an "illegal alien" or "illegal immigrant" or just plain "illegal," you are effectively saying the individual, as opposed to the actions the person has taken, is unlawful. The terms imply the very existence of an unauthorized migrant in America is criminal.

In this country, there is still a presumption of innocence that requires a jury to convict someone of a crime. If you don't pay your taxes, are you an illegal? What if you get a speeding ticket? A murder conviction? No. You're still not an illegal. Even alleged terrorists and child molesters aren't labeled illegals.

By becoming judge, jury and executioner, you dehumanize the individual and generate animosity toward them. New York Times editorial writer Lawrence Downes says "illegal" is often "a code word for racial and ethnic hatred."

Demonizing Mexican-American studies is unjust

by Roberto Rodriguez - May. 27, 2012 | Source: AZCentral.com

I pick up the phone at my office at the University of Arizona and learn that I have three recorded messages waiting for me. The first one begins with the caller claiming to be half White and half Native American, addressing me as an "(expletive) Mexican" and a "Raza (expletive)." This while injecting a .357 Magnum into his rant.

The second and third calls are similar. The vitriol is inexplicable and virtually incomprehensible, except for the threats of extreme violence.

As a lifelong writer, receiving vicious hate mail is not new to me, including receiving a registered letter to my house from the Ku Klux Klan. But receiving death threats as a professor -- this is new.

Just the week before those calls, a video was placed on YouTube by right-wing elements, accusing me of being the ringleader of the movement to defend Mexican-American Studies (MAS) from being eliminated by the state, via House Bill 2281. In reality, that six-year effort has primarily been a student-led movement.

Community Activist Receives Threatening Letter after Pearce Ousting

Published : Monday, 28 Nov 2011 | Source: MyFoxPhoenix.com

MESA - A credible death threat against community activist Randy Parraz is under investigation. Parraz led the successful recall effort against Senator Russell Pearce.

The death threat was mailed to Randy Parraz. It specifically mentioned Russell Pearce and blamed Parraz for the recall.

Describing the letter, Parraz said, “[It said] that he [Pearce] was a good person and what I did was not something that was good for Arizona.”

The threatening letter was sent just days after Senator Russell Pearce was ousted from office.

Georgia 3rd Graders Asked What U.S. Does to ‘Illegal Aliens’

By Monica Novoa | Friday, March 25 2011, 2:18 PM EST | Source: Colorlines.com

 

Here’s a frightening report from Atlanta’s local NBC affiliate WXIA. Kelly Avalos, interviewed in the video that’s above, was alarmed that her brother and his entire 3rd grade class at Chesney was sent home with a homework assignment about “illegal aliens,” that includes the following awful question:

  What does the U.S. do with illegal aliens?

A. The U.S. puts them to work in the army.

B. The U.S. shoots them into outer space.

C. The U.S. puts them to death.

D. The U.S. sends them back where they came from.

Corruption and Class Struggle: What It's Really Like to Live in Arizona

Thursday 13 January 2011
by: Joel Olson  |  New Clear Vision | Op-Ed

With the passage of the notorious anti-immigrant bill SB 1070 last spring, the outlawing of ethnic studies as of January 1st, the gutting of the school and university systems, the collapsed housing market, the high unemployment rates, and now the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, you might be wondering what it’s like to actually live in Arizona right about now.

In short: it ain’t easy. But it helps to put Giffords’s shooting in historical perspective, which is defined by two things in Arizona: corruption and class struggle. And ironically, this perspective gives me hope about the radically democratic future of my home state.

Arizona’s economy was founded on the Five Cs: copper, cotton, cattle, citrus, and climate (tourism). These Cs were controlled by big mining and agricultural interests and real estate developers. Corruption was commonplace as they manipulated the political system for their benefit. A group of these capitalists, called the Phoenix 40, controlled state politics until the 1970s, when the political establishment opened up some. But even after their rule, the state capitol has always been a place to lie, bribe, and scam your way to what you want. If the names Don Bowles, Evan Mecham, AZscam, Fife Symington, or the Keating 5 (which included Senator John McCain) mean anything to you, then you know that corruption is as plentiful as the parking here. And I haven’t even mentioned Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio or State Senator Russell Pearce, the tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum of racist nativism.

A Call for Civility Toward All of Arizona’s Residents

Dear friends and fellow Arizonans,

 Arizona has had a rough time lately.  The tragic shooting of January 8 is the latest in a long line of challenges the state has faced over the last few years.  As Arizona residents, all of us here have felt the stress of these challenges.  We empathize with those who have felt the pain of recent events directly.

 We are here today to state that we are proud to live in Arizona, and to ask our state’s lawmakers to seize the silver lining in these tragic events.

 Calls for greater civility in politics have gone out across the nation as a result of the tragic shooting in Tucson.  President Obama, Governor Brewer, Senator McCain, and others all called for “a more civil and honest public discourse” at the memorial for the fallen just last week.

Arizona's History, Our Future

Dear Friends,

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families affected by the recent violence in Arizona, and we are inspired by remarkable displays of love, solidarity, and courage shown by the victims of this attack.

As we cast our collective gaze upon an unspeakable tragedy and interpret what happened within a state in dire need of healing, we are compelled to take steps to honor those who have fallen, to strengthen our community, and to build toward a more tolerant and peaceful tomorrow.

Yesterday, we shared a moment of mourning with our brothers and sisters in Tucson.  In an event that opened with an indigenous ceremony (a culture now banned from being taught by Arizona law in some schools), that honored a young Gay Latino hero, and that  featured a Governor who has cynically stoked the state’s fears, President Obama called on our moral imaginations, encouraged us to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and asked us to live with the understanding that our hopes and dreams are bound together.

Today, we must answer that call.

In Wake of Violence, Migrant Rights Group Collects Stories

"To Sharpen our instinct for empathy and to understand our futures and dreams are bound together"

In the days after the tragic shooting of Rep. Giffords and the loss of Judge Roll, Christina Green, and others, the nation was gripped with the question of violent rhetoric’s role in the event.

To share context of the deteriorating conditions of civil society in Arizona, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network released “A History of Hate: Political Violence in a Rogue State,” which chronicles political violence and intimidation in Arizona from 1987 to present day.

The group is inviting people across the country to uncover the evidence of hate speech and violent rhetoric of actions in their own community. Stories will be collected and displayed at http://altoarizona.com

Second Amendment Remedies - DailyKos

Second Amendment Remedies (with pictures)

ShareNew   0

by Land of Enchantment

Sat Jan 08, 2011 at 10:47:24 AM PST

 

I did some picture research on "tea party darlings" last fall, including the guy who ran against Giffords and came close to unseating her.  These are from his campaign site, from his FB page.  Giffords won a close race over a man who held shooting range events to "target" her.

Damn.  They're saying now that she'll survive; here's hoping she can fully recover, too.  Others are confirmed dead.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and six others died after a gunman opened fire at a public event on Saturday, the Pima County, Ariz., sheriff's office confirms.

• Land of Enchantment's diary :: ::

Update late in the afternoon:  TV now reports that she's out of surgery and in critical condition.  Amongst the dead is a nine-year-old.

Also, I've heard mention that there's a second arrest with additional ones being sought.  But not reported, so time will tell on that.  Meanwhile, Jared Loughner's looking a lot like a right wing nutcase.

Here's a freeze frame from one of his videos, posted 3 weeks ago:

Congresswoman Giffords was one of those on Sarah Palin's "target" map.

More pix from Kelly's campaign organization:

This was the guy who ran against her, himself.  (Above and below.)

This from the candidate's FB page.

Obviously, Kelly didn't shoot her, but this approach emboldens those who aren't quite so self-restrained.  Here with one of his idols?  He posted the picture, anyhhow.

We have to wait to see who did it, and if she even survives.  I've already heard rumors that she died.

In the chaos of the moment, she's been reported dead.  But also critically injured, but still alive.

I'm thinking too about Congressman Raul Grijalva, from the neighboring district, who's had bullets shot into his office.

Police said someone shot a gun into Rep. Raul Grijalva's office early Thursday.  Officials said the bullet shattered a window. Detectives are looking into a possible motive.

Rep. Michele Bachmann says her tears are flowing at the news.  No acknowledgment that she might have been wrong calling for her supporters to be "armed and dangerous":

 

Rep. Sinema Threatend for Militia Ban Proposal

E.J. Montini

Arizona Republic columnist
Jan. 30, 2007 | 12:00 AM

Last year, state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema introduced a bill that essentially would have outlawed civilian border patrol groups like the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

The proposal went nowhere, just as she expected.

"It got a brief mention in (Phoenix) New Times and that was it," she says.

As a liberal Democrat operating in a Legislature controlled by conservative Republicans, Sinema understands the odds against the passage of such a proposal.

Still, this year, she introduced her bill again.

House Bill 2286 reads, in part:

"An individual or group of individuals commits domestic terrorism if the individual or group of individuals are not affiliated with a local, state or federal law enforcement entity and associate with another individual or group of individuals as an organization, group, corporation or company for the purpose of patrolling to detect alleged illegal activity or to individually patrol for the purpose of detecting alleged illegal activity and if the individual or group of individuals is armed with a firearm or other weapon."

Sinema said that it isn't the honest intentions of most people affiliated with such organizations that bother her but a belief that they attract racist extremists and other xenophobic recruits to their cause.

Arizona's Long Dark Night Continues

by Randall Amster - Huffington Post.

Perhaps not since the full-on throes of the Civil Rights era has a single state been so beset by crisis, conflict, and now catastrophe. Chronicling Arizona politics has been a trying and tiresome experience on many levels, with few points of optimism at hand to buffet the constant blows of injustice and brutality. The open persecution of people of color at the level of both bodies and minds; the outright hijacking of the state's politics by far-right figures with white supremacist ties; the bankrupting of the economy while private interests gain tax breaks and write favorable laws for themselves; the decimation of the public infrastructure including the education and health care systems -- all of this and more has been front and center for beleaguered Arizonans in recent years.

A History of Hate: Arizona. Political Violence in a Rogue State

Best viewed in full screen mode.

A History of Hate: Political Violence in Arizona on Prezi

A Lesson for Americans: Reaping the Consequences of Hate

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Hrafnkell Haraldsson

on Politicususa.com

We have all heard the old saying, “You reap what you sow.” This lesson was recently learned by an Arkansas school board district member, Clint McCance, vice-president of the Midland School District in Pleasant Plains. Posting on Facebook, McCance said, in response to a campaign sponsored by GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) that people should wear purple to honor suicide victims of anti-gay bullying,

“Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers committed suicide. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed therselves because of their sin.” (sic)

McCance now realizes he went too far.

“I’m reaping what I’ve sown,” he told CNN. “I’ve had a lot of hate speech thrown at me and my family on every level.”

Attacks against Mexicans inflame tensions in NYC

By CRISTIAN SALAZAR,
Associated Press Writer Cristian Salazar,
Mon Aug 16, 6:57 am ET

NEW YORK – When Rodolfo Olmedo was dragged down by a group of men shouting anti-Mexican epithets and bashed over the head with a wooden stick on the street outside his home, he instinctively covered his face to keep from getting disfigured. Blood filled his mouth.

"I wanted to scream, but I couldn't because of the beating they were giving me," said the 25-year-old baker. Nearly five months later, he is still taking pain medications for his head injuries.

Recorded by a store's surveillance camera, the assault was the first of 11 suspected anti-Hispanic bias attacks in a Staten Island neighborhood, re-igniting years-old tensions between blacks and Hispanics in New York City's most remote borough.

Chicana/o studies department targeted by hate crime

August 04, 2010
By Juana Esquivel and Krista Daly

A racial slur was written on a Chicano studies professor’s door in Jerome Richfield Hall.

Chicana/o studies Professor Xocoyotzin Herrera reported the incident to David Rodriguez, Chicano studies department chair, who immediately notified CSUN Police.

“The police used the term ‘hate crime’ and we agree,” Rodriguez said.

A swastika and “U.S.= white power” were found on Chicano studies professor Jorge Garcia’s office door. Garcia was notified by a general e-mail sent by Rodriguez to the entire department.

Rodriguez said he thinks the act may have been in response to a photo of undocumented immigrants and a card reading “Alto Arizona” which were on Garcia’s door.