By Bruce A. Dixon
The new Arizona laws are only the latest manifestations of racist and xenophobic white American hatred toward immigrants. They won’t be the last. Anyone who doubts this, or encourages others to doubt it is a racist fool, is allowing herself to be fooled, is trying hard to fool somebody else, or some combination of the above.
For all practical purposes, the state of Arizona has now criminalized “being” while brown.
Arizona law now requires teachers to compile lists of suspected immigrant children. It directs emergency rooms to deny care to those who cannot prove citizenship or legal residence. It requires everyone to carry proof of citizenship or legal residence at all times, and instructs local and state law enforcement officers to detain and question any and everyone who looks or acts like they could be undocumented. Make no mistake about, this is a racist and profoundly unjust law that everyone should disrespect and disobey.
President Obama told a lawyerly half-truth when he said the new law violated fundamental notions of fairness that most of us hold dear. The other half of that truth, the half the president neglected to mention, is that Arizona’s new anti-immigrant laws fit firmly into a long American tradition of punitive and racist legislation
When the 19th century’s first mega-corporations, the railroads, were laying track across the deserts and mountains of North America they imported hundreds of thousands of Chinese laborers, men who were forbidden from bringing their wives, children or family members, prohibited from owning property or ever becoming citizens. They worked under brutal and inhuman conditions and tens of thousands died. For their trouble, they got the Chinese Exclusion Act, which all but stopped further Chinese immigration, and permanently barred Chinese already in the US from citizenship. With Chinese immigration all but ceased, Japanese workers were allowed into the US, until the advent of World War 2, when Franklin D. Roosevelt sent the lot of them to concentration camps, utilizing data from the US Census to be sure he got them all. The Chinese Exclusion Act was not repealed until the 1940s, when the alliances of World War 2 made it inconvenient.
Native American scholar Ward Churchill spells out in his book A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust And Denial in the Americas, that everywhere in what are now the 48 contiguous states of the continental US, at one time or another, white authorities offered bounties for the scalps of Native Americans, whether it was in colonial New York and Connecticut, the US Northwest Territories that eventually became Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin, or the state of Texas, where the practice continued into the early 20th century. The only quibble Texas authorities reportedly offered was that unscrupulous persons occasionally tried to collect Indian bounties for the scalps of Mexicans.
And of course there were the Fugitive Slave Laws of the 18th and 19th century, under which all persons of African descent in the north were presumed to be escaped slaves unless they could prove otherwise, and might be apprehended and claimed as property by any upstanding white man. So it’s more correct to say that at the same time Arizona’s harsh new anti-immigrant statutes violate the deeply held beliefs of many Americans, it upholds a number of the nation’s most sinister and shameful traditions.
While we applaud President Obama’s statement that the Department of Justice will be on the lookout for civil rights violations resulting from the enforcement of the new law, we note that the president passed up the chance to refer to this history with which he is undoubtedly familiar.
Truth be told, the Obama administration has done little for Latinos in return for the overwhelming support they accorded his 2008 election campaign. Obama’s unfolding vision of “bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform” seems to consist of offering paths to citizenship for a relative few, including service in American imperial wars, continued limbo for millions of immigrants who will not qualify for citizenship, and continued militarization of the US-Mexico border. Immigrant detention, often in privatized prisons, continues to grow under the Obama administration, and immigrant detainees are now the fastest growing segment of the US prison population.
If the Obama administration was really concerned about the plight of the undocumented, and wanted to end their usefulness in depressing wages, they would make it legal and safe for people in workplaces, whether citizens or not, to organize unions, to bargain collectively and to strike if need be for better wages and conditions. But that’s not happening. From a campaign promise candidate Obama would only make in front of union audiences, even the shrunken and eviscerated Employee Free Choice Act seems now to be a dead letter.
While some sectors of corporate media mock and ridicule the new law, the bulk of corporate media in recent times have offered immigrants as the party to blame for the chronic insecurity of white America. The unavailability of health care is blamed on immigrants who supposedly get free care. Higher taxes on wages are blamed on immigrants who allegedly don’t pay taxes. Imaginary waves of disease and crime too, are manufactured by corporate media and blamed on immigrants. Other states, like Ohio, are poised to imitate the example of Arizona, and some will doubtless try to push the envelope even further. It’s going to take a lot more than a few vigilant lawyers at the Justice Department to address this.
So far, the only mass displays of opposition to anti-Latino racism have been from Latino communities themselves. The fact that prominent African Americans are lining up to denounce this unjust law is heartening, but it, and the proposed boycott of Arizona’s convention and vacation facilities, even its sports franchises are only beginnings. White racism is deeply embedded in the DNA of this nation, and it is always available to be called upon when needed by the masters of capital who urgently need the fog of racism to move like vampires need the night. We need to shine the light of day on it, and stand together to prevent and to defy these unjust and racist laws. If white America can be persuaded to blame immigrants for its woes today, can we be far behind?
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Bruce Dixon is managing editor at Black Agenda Report where this article first appeared on April 28, 2010. He is based in Atlanta and can be reached at bruce.dixon@blackagendareport.com.
I see ignorance is still a major problem. First of all Illegal is Illegal. Second, I could really give a rats behind what race or color the person that does not have a job is as long as it is not an American Citizen. I stand behind a Citizen before the 6.5 million Illegal Aliens that take jobs one of the 8 million US Citizens do not have. I do not care where these illegal aliens came from, Illegal is Illegal. While a lot of them are from Iran, Iraq, Yelm, you should all be wondering why they come across the border. Do they want to harm our citizens? What is wrong with protecting our border? Why is this Race Card called into play? So illegal aliens can gain support for their illegal actions. While they cut in line all those that stand in line to become a U.S. Citizen legally are being told it is ok for illegal entry to be first. Amnesty is the same. I am sorry Bruce, I stand by an American Citizen having a job to support his family, send his kids to college, pay his mortgage and bills to keep his car or healthcare for his family before I side with someone that has broke the law in a Country of Laws and now Demands To Be Made A Citizen. US Citizenship should not be given to anyone that just feels walking across the border and breaking the laws is just. When is it right for anyone to just decide to follow the laws they want to follow and screw the laws they do not want to follow. While a lot of us try to correct the wrongs in this Country others chose to just sit and bitch.
[...] says, that “Arizonans must … ensure civil rights are protected”. According to http://sunstateactivist.org/ssablog/?p=501 President Obama states that the “Department of Justice will be on the lookout for civil [...]
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So because I believe illegal immigrants should be kicked out of the country, & forced to enter MY country the legal way, I’m racist. Really? I also believe they should be allowed to apply for temporary citizenship after being removed from our borders. After clearing strict background checks, if they prove themselves to be a law-abiding, productive member of society, then they can earn full citizenship over time. If someone has no problem being here illegally, what other laws are they going to ignore? Because I believe this country needs to screen who gets in and who gets out, I’m a racist? Really?
Sounds to me like you, Bruce Dixon, the managing editor of the “Black Agenda Report,” are incredibly racist yourself. Racism goes both ways, you know. Stop hating white people. Stop blaming the white man for your problems, & start taking responsibility for your own actions.
The race card is overplayed. Nowadays intelligent people realize the race issue is only used by those who either are losing an argument, or have no legitimate argument to begin with. If you have no evidence, no facts, but want to stir up controversy- cry racism! Accusing everyone of being racist ends all intelligent debate, & makes you automatically win the argument, right? LOL!
Instead of diluting your argument with emotions, & by pulling the race card, try to back up your thoughts with intelligent points, facts, hard data, and evidence. Try to make the world a better place through positive actions, not negative ones. If you want to end racism worldwide, the first step is to STOP BEING SO RACIST YOURSELF! Truth, compassion, and knowledge are more powerful than hatred and fear, my friend.
Amen to responses that cry foul @ your using the dog-eared race card! The issue of whether we as a country (of ALL “colors”, btw,) wish to STOP people from ILLEGALLY entering has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM. WHAT PART OF BREAKING THE LAW DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND? Look, I’m ALL FOR IMMIGRATION, in large numbers, too! Maybe our government could allow a necessary number of migrant workers to come to border points and apply for jobs, knowing they need to “check out” for the season, etc., but DON’T DARE TRY TO TELL ME I SHOULD ACCEPT MILLIONS OF CRIMINALS CRAWL UP OVER OR UNDER A FENCE INTO MY COUNTRY! We DO need to sort out what to do with the millions living here, but FIRST we need to SEAL OUR BORDER. (Illegal aliens are already running out of AZ in large numbers, (ABC NEWS), so GOOD! GOOD FOR ARIZONA! AND GOOD FOR OUR GREAT AND BLESSED COUNTRY! IMMIGRATION? YES! COME! to the FRONT DESK, THOUGH! CRIMINAL ENTRY OVER A FENCE? NO! HELL NO!
Racist? Really?
The problems at our southern borders are being perpetrated by millions of Mexicans.
Who should we be asking for immigration papers? The Irish?
If you are here in this country legally, you will have your proper govt. issued identification on you anyways.
Is it asking too much of you to open your wallet and present identification when asked? Great, thanks for the help.
Racist? No I’m not.
Not yet.
Um.. yeah… not all illegal immigrants are Mexicans.
Racists.. maybe since all illegals are them brown folk from south o the border..
The whole point of this was to point out the glaring racism against people of a certain skin color and to demand papers because of it is just wrong.. I don’t see any Canadian illegal immigrant getting treated the same way nor the Irish.
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Hear is the deal, bottomline to you all, the unfortunate truth is racism resides in almost all ethnic backgrounds, I know the lot of you saying yes! here is the problem, we are a mostly white run and controlled society, that means that whites who are racist are in the position to abuse all the others, and have taken that advantage, so what is the problem now? they know what I am about to say, and there wont be any response, not to the bold truth.
Now that the tide is starting to turn on numbers of other than white ethnic backgrounds is an annoying little quote in the Holy Bible spoken by God, ; a man reaps what he sows’, too vauge for you? for some you might need to just leave the site, you wont like the truth,
What that means is a lot of white people know how awful they have been to non-whites, I mean from young and old, rich or poor, highly educated to trailer trash, Christian and athiest alike, so-called upstanding memebers of the local church to the PTA. They are very worried now that what they pushed around is now going to come back to them. That is the bottom line, the only people who dont recognize or concede that racism exists today in America are mostly whites, now here is the really annoying truth upon truth, BLACKS ARE JUST AS RACIST IF NOT MORE!!!! I know, just as I was starting to have supporters they realize I am pulling the rug from under them as well.
How do I know all this and way too much more that noone here would have the cerebral facilities to even comprehend much less respond intelligibly?
I am East Indian, born and raised in Chicago, registered voter, born again Christian, republican,twice decorated US Army infanrty conbat veteran of the 2nd war in Iraq(2003). I joined after 9/11 and went into a high priority MOS, not a pogue if you dont know what that means you are not a war hero like me and dont even try to respond. You have to kill and drag away more bodies than I have for your counrty before stepping to me.
While at boot camp at Fort Benning, in GA, I got racism from every side, from white soldiers to black, hispanic, puerto rican, even oriental, how can that be? I though we were all Americans, at least I was the highest educated and well spoken, even more than the drill sgts.who hated me, the lowers always hate the higher ups, which would be me.
I got racism from even the lowly black cooks, total ghetto people who I would never have considered myself better than although I could have. these people had no problems making racist remarks to me right in front of the other soldiers, they would laugh like they were somehow better than me,
ALL you people need to understand, you are here and alive and running things because I LET YOU, don’t cross a real red blooded American bad ass, your life and well being of your daughters depends on it, enough said.