News Roundup Thursday 7/22

Hello all, lately it just seems like there's TOO MUCH news to follow. Or maybe that's just me. Just in case you feel this way too, I'm going to try out a new format for some of my posting. Every day or two, look for a News Roundup (better name forthcoming) that will tell you the 3 or 4 things you should know from the daily news.

1. Shirley Sherrod and race today: Shirley Sherrod was fired from her Dept. of Agriculture job earlier this week after a video of her speaking at an NAACP conference was released. The segment that everyone initially focused on has Sherrod saying that many many years ago she helped a white farmer less than she could have because he was acting "superior" to her. She got fired, the NAACP and the White House, among others, condemned her actions, and then...OMG, someone watched the whole tape. Her speech goes on to say that she learned from her relationship with the white farmer. They apparently worked out their differences (he went on record yesterday vouching for Sherrod's excellent work to support his farm) and she wrapped her story by saying "That's when it was revealed to me that the job is about poor, versus those who have. And not so much about white -- it is about white and black, but it's not -- you know, it opened my eyes." The NAACP, the White House, and others then apologized/backpedaled, and as of today Sherrod has been offered a new Dept. of Ag. job but reportedly "is not sure" about taking it. In the meantime, the whole issue is spurring lots of talk about race and the issues around even mentioning race in the political arena.

2. Financial Reform = Law. Yesterday President Obama signed the Financial Reform bill into law. The bill, which of course is weaker than most Progressives would have liked, is still a huge and historic step toward re-regulating Wall Street. Among other things, it:

• established a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get your back against abusive mortgage and credit card practices.
• created a new council of regulators that will require banks to prepare for and prevent financial crises better in the future.
• limits Wall Street "betting" on hedge funds.
• forces derivatives trading (one of the main factors in the 08-09 meltdown) to be more open and regulated.

3. AZ Anti-Immigrant Law Challenged. Today, an Arizona judge will hear two cases against SB 1070, the recently-passed law that requires the police to racially profile people in Arizona in an effort to catch "illegal" "immigrants." The big one being heard today is U.S. v. Arizona, being brought by the U.S. Justice Department, which calls the law unconstitutional on the grounds that only the Federal government has power over naturalization of citizens. This is going to be one to watch for sure.

Simply Unbelievble

Arizona lawmakers have really gone too far now. As if their racial profiling law of last month was not bad enough, some lawmakers are now saying that they plan to introduce a bill that would deny birth certificates to babies born to illegal immigrants in the state. This is in direct opposition the Constitution's definition of citizenship, i.e. anyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen by birth. Children of immigrants, "legal" or not, suffer enough already. Millions of U.S. citizen children of immigrants do not receive the social services they are entitled to, and many live in poverty. This law would also add hospitals to the list of places where immigrants without papers can no longer feel safe. It would mean that when a woman goes into labor, she would have to choose whether to go to the hospital to receive care in delivering her baby, knowing that if she doesn't produce papers, her child will not be a citizen. Will they then deport the woman and the baby after the birth?

Several Democrats from Arizona have already come out in opposition to the law. The way I see things playing out, the coming storm over this bill will be a tipping point in the national discourse about immigration. Either all this talk of "anchor babies" (the derogatory term for a child born to illegal immigrants) will make everyone realize how unfair and destructive this line of lawmaking is, or it will get anti-immigration forces and their allies newly energized to continue pushing their hateful agenda. I hope it's the former, but in a country where we can even talk about laws like these, I'm losing my hope that we can humanely resolve our immigration issues.

Boycott Arizona Businesses: the promised list

As promised, here is a list of AZ-based businesses that you can boycott in protest of AB1070, the immigration law. I love that the Grand Canyon is listed as its own business. I hate that I have patronized at least 3 of these in the past month.

I think that to have even more of an impact, I am going to let the businesses I boycott know that I'm boycotting, and why. When I don't go to Petsmart for my next bag of puppy food, I won't just be taking about $15 out of their profits (which is easy to miss), I'll be sending them a letter and/or email that tells why and promises to return my business once the company speaks out publicly against the law. Hopefully this will be harder to overlook, especially if more people than me do it.


Thanks to Denver-based Padres Unidos, Jovenes Unidos for the list!

2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ

Apollo Group (University of Phoenix). Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

Arizona Diamondbacks, Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Best Western International, Inc., Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

Cold Stone Creamery. Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona

CSK Auto (Checker Auto Parts, Schucks Auto Supply, Kragen Auto Parts, Murray's Discount Auto Stores), Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

Dial Corporation, Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona

Discount Tire Company (America's Tire Company). Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona

Go Daddy. Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona

Grand Canyon

Mesa Air Group (Mesa Airlines, Go!, Freedom Airlines). Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

P. F. Chang's China Bistro. Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

PetSmart. Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

Sky Mall, Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

Taser International, Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona

U-Haul. Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona

US Airways. Headquarters: Tempe, Arizona

Miscellany

I haven't been able to put my thoughts on any one subject into readable form for almost a week, so I thought I would give a quick list of topics that have been on my mind and radar screen this week. What's been on yours?

• Boycotting Arizona. I like the overwhelming nationwide response to the AZ immigration law. Apparently hotels and other tourist industries are worried, and several major US cities are calling on their citizens to collectively join the boycott. Forthcoming: a list of AZ-based businesses for those of us who don't have any fancy Grand Canyon vacations to cancel.

• Drugs in pop music. The newest Ke$ha song/headache "Your Love is My Drug" is filled with not-original substance abuse references as analogies for an obsessive relationship. Again, this is not new, but this song catches my ear every time I hear it, and every time I get a little bit upset. I've always struggled with how and where to draw the line between free speech and destructive culture. I'm upset by this song in particular because I work at a rehab community of recovering substance abusers, and I think what it must be like when they inevitably hear the line "keep it up like a lovesick crackhead."
  

• NC Primaries. Turnout was terrible as usual, but Elaine Marshall was the front runner, if not the official "winner" of the Senate race. She will now face off against Cal Cunningham in a runoff in June. In not-so-great news, progressive, young judge Leto Copely was soundly defeated by not one, but two uber-Conservative judges.
  

• Job searching in a down economy. As you probably know, I am currently completing a fellowship-type position that ends June 30. Thus, I have started my job search with the goal of being unemployed for as little time as possible. What a great way to really feel the recession. There are some jobs out there, if you're a certified child care worker or a certified nurse assistant. I'm not a certified anything, but I do have a bachelor's in public policy. Also, most waitstaff/kitchen/driver/general labor positions ask for at least two years experience! This is going to be a tough one. Stay tuned for updates and insights into the world of jobseeking 2010, and if you have any leads for me, let me know.
  

Legalizing Racism

In case you're not already outraged by the heinous bill passed in Arizona earlier this week, here's a recap:

AZ state legislature passed a bill that makes it a state crime to be an "illegal immigrant" in Arizona and gives the police the power and responsibility to question anyone who looks "reasonably suspicious" and ask to see their documentation papers. Translation : brown people might be illegal, so it's okay to pull them over and demand proof that they're not. But don't worry, it's not just because someone's brown that they might be "illegal," as California Republican Representative Brian Bilbray explains: "They will look at the kind of dress you wear, there is a different type of attire, there is a different type of -- right down to the shoes, right down to the clothes." Whew, am I relieved! It won't just be racial, but class-based and culture-based profiling too!

Cartoon from Campus Progress

Two not-white friends of mine have experienced racial profiling by the police IN THE PAST WEEK here in NC. It disgusts and terrifies me that as a white person, I will never be pulled over or stopped on the street just because of my color, but my partner might, because she's (gasp!) brown. This is a slippery-slope bill that, if signed into law, will legalize racial and class-based profiling, violate the civil rights of millions, and breed race- and color-based hatred.

President Obama finally weighed in on the bill today, taking a stance against it. While ironically attending a naturalization ceremony for several "illegal" US SOLDIERS, Obama said that the law would "threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans." Yup.

In an email I got from Traction (an awesome progressive young folks' group in Durham) today, a friend writes:

Tal vez pensamos, "O, eso a mi no me afecta." Tal vez no nos damos cuenta que SI nos afecta, porque cuando le niegan los derechos humanos a un pequen~o grupo de gente solo poorque lucen diferentes, es solo el principio. Si no actuamos, despues nos tocara a nosotros.

[Maybe we think, "Oh, that doesn't affect me." Maybe we don't realize that it DOES affect us, because when human rights are denied to a small group of people just because they look different, that's only the beginning. If we don't act now, it will be our turn next.]

These words really rang true to me, and prompted me to action. If we allow police to demand papers from brown people with "illegal immigrant shoes" today, what will we allow tomorrow? Requiring a proof-of-straightness test before adopting a child? "Suspicious" and "Non-suspicious" lines at the airport?

At this point, the AZ bill has been passed by the state legislature and is on the desk of the governor, who can either sign it, veto it, or let it pass into law unsigned. I emailed her today to urge her to veto this racist, rights-denying bill. It's not too late to add your voice to the opposition here: http://presente.org/ref/ad/31/campaigns/arizona

UPDATE 4:40 PM: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says she will sign the bill into law. Guess we can look forward to hearing from the ACLU soon.