Political Rantings

Over the past week, on Facebook and on Twitter I've been ranting about the recent signing of SB 1070 by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. The bill, which essentially states that any officer of the law may question citizenship for anyone if they have "reasonable suspicion" about the legality of someone here. So, let me ask what an illegal immigrant looks like? How is it possible for a police officer to determine a "reasonable suspicion" enough to question whether someone is in the country legally? While the Governor (who was not voted in, BTW....she inherited the position last year when Janet Napolitano became Secretary of Homeland Security) says she "will not tolerate racial profiling," the question still remains how does one go about having "reasonable suspicion" of someone's legal/illegal status?

Let me back up for a minute....I am a Latina, Hispanic, Chicana, heck...you can even call me Mexican. First and foremost, I am a US Citizen. I was born in Tucson, AZ. My parents were born in Tucson. Their parents were born in Tucson. And THEIR parents were born in Tucson. My family ancestry comes from Sinaloa, Mexico and the Tohono O'odham Nation. That's right folks....I have some Native American in me too. Naturally, I am brown-skinned. I have dark hair, brown eyes. I didn't speak a lick of Spanish until I was in college, despite my Dad's best efforts. My parents rarely spoke Spanish to me. I grew up Catholic, and still practice Catholicism. While some traditional Hispanic customs were present in my household, many were not. My grandparents spoke English to me. I've lit candles to various saints in prayer. I grew up on the south side of Tucson, steadily in the middle class. My mother works in the medical field, and my Dad worked in the City of Tucson government. Neither of my parents went to college. I went to college and graduated. I married my high school sweetheart after college. We have two children (who were born after we were married). It was never taught to me to be politically involved. I was told to vote if I wanted to, but it wasn't stressed. My parents didn't get involved in political debates. They are Democrats, always voting on party lines, but rarely paying attention to the issues that candidates presented. Ironically enough, an uncle of my mother's was a Tucson City Councilman for several years. What my parents did stress to me was education. I needed to educate myself to be able to get a good job, to be able to move further in life, and to not depend on anyone to support me.

Interestingly enough, I've been subjected to the prejudicial assumptions of people like me nearly all my life. I can recall being in high school and fellow students making comments about the clothes that I wore or the music that I listened to. I suppose I didn't fall into the trappings of trends and cliques. My high school was filled with hip-hop/rap. I listened to alternative and new wave. I went to book readings, my classmates went to parties. I even had a teacher in high school who told me that while I was intelligent enough to go to college I would never finish because I was too lazy like most Mexicans. [After I graduated I showed her a copy of my degree. She apologized] I saw things like being on a church youth group trip and eating at a Sizzler and the waitress apologizing for something because "we have a lot of Mexicans working in the kitchen." As an adult, I learned to use my voice and speak articulately enough to show people that I know what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, it still has continued.

Despite the prejudices that I've had to endure, I still have shied away from becoming a blaring voice for the left. As a matter of fact, until George W. Bush was elected, I didn't always vote on party lines. I would have voted for McCain in 2000 if he had been successful in securing the nomination (hold the flames!). But, I learned so much in the past 10 years from many friends and co-workers about the reality of the world we live in. Remember, I was the person that just sat idly by when faced with a prejudicial situation. Even still, I've generally kept my rants to myself and my immediate family. I've worked with many who lean more right and we simply avoid discussions about political issues. I also try not to put my political beliefs out there because I have many, many friends who are supporters of the right. My friendship with them is not based on politics, but on something deeper. So, even when I see very good friends complaining about Obama getting elected, or about McCain losing, or about the Health Care Bill getting passed, I have generally kept quiet. I don't want to get into it and the basis of my friendship with these friends is not political, so therefore we choose to swallow those issues.

So, if I was subjected to some racial prejudice growing up, and still am; but have never really gotten politically involved or vocal, it may be a head scratcher why I am ranting about this Arizona SB1070. Well, I believe wholeheartedly in human rights, human values, and the basic rights given to me as a US Citizen. As an adult, I have the coping skills and the know-how to stand up and respond to ridiculous bigotry. My children, who also have brown skin, do not. They know not of this ridiculous bill, nor should they have to. They should not be faced with a situation where a police officer is going to ask me for their birth certificates. It is unfair, unjustified, and uncalled for. Regardless of what anyone may think about immigration (because this isn't about immigration), it is a violation of my rights and my daughters' rights as human beings and US Citizens to have to prove that we are legally allowed to be here.

No matter what you may feel about immigration, the closing of the border, left, right, blue, red, whatever....PLEASE understand that SB1070 is a violation of civil rights, of human rights. There is absolutely no excuse to allow this type of archaic interpretation of the law. The Governor has given a very costly authority to police officers across the state. Even with her promise of "no racial profiling" the fact of the matter is that even those that appear to be not foreign-born may have to provide proof of citizenship. So, you know that guy that is from Germany? Or how about that lady from Kenya? Or, the one man in that department that is Chinese? Or the professor you know that is Turkish? Yeah....all will be expected to provide proof of legal right to be in the US. But, in reality...do you think they will have to provide that proof? Will I?