The
backdrop for July 29th was certainly set with the premature
firing of Shirley Sherrod from the US Department of Agriculture.
An ambush initiated by blogger Andrew Breitbart who aired
a doctored video tape of Sherrod was fueled by the rest
of the rightwing media. These are the same people who have
been ratcheting up the anti-immigration sentiments across
the nation and who celebrated the passage of SB 1070 in
Arizona.
July
29, 2010�that�s when the legislation to profile suspected
undocumented immigrants was to go into effect. It�s also
the day when thousands of activists and concerned citizens
from all over the country will converge on Phoenix to protest
the law as racist and unconstitutional. The protests will be held regardless of the decision
by the federal judge to delay the law taking effect. There
are already seven suits pending in US District Court challenging
the law as unconstitutional.
The
long-range question to be answered is how will we address
an issue that is largely about brown people by a government
that is mainly white. Will there be a rush to a remedy such
as what happened in the Sherrod case where head man Tom
Vilsack forced a hasty resignation by a valued employee
from the side of a dusty road? Can we have a sane but passionate
discussion about race relations in this country?
Some
will say the Arizona law is not about race; it�s about the
law. Or they will say it�s about economics and those who
are sucking dollars from the US economy. I submit both of
these are bogus arguments. I always look to how these same
people have left corporate America to their lawlessness
with minimal opposition. The Wall Street capitalist took
the country to the brink of economic destruction with all
props from the Bush Administration and there was barely
a squeak from the now fist-throwin�, spit-blowin� gallery.
Their racist venom towards Obama for the deeds of Bush is
the same venom that had Sherrod paying for the historic
racism in the Department of Agriculture that has left black
farmers historically in a lurch. It is a deliberate redirection
of where our attention needs to be.
SB1070
may have gotten a lot of attention but it will not solve
the problem of undocumented immigration. The public discourse
is lopsided because mainstream media has not offered a balanced
discussion on this complex issue. The first contradiction
is that there�s rarely an informed Latina or Chicana that
is part of the debate. White experts know best how to resolve
the issues of brown people, an attitude African Americans
know all too well.
We
will be talking about Arizona in the coming days, maybe
weeks and months. Meanwhile, there will be countless jabs
by racists who have been activated by the current climate
of hate that has been building since the election of President
Obama. If we aren�t vigilant, a series of racist policies,
procedures and laws will follow the attitudes of a growing
legion of whites who feel they are losing control, losing
ground, losing privileges, losing rights, losing jobs or
just plain losing.
Progressives,
whether they be in the media or organizing in the streets,
must begin framing the race issue in a way that builds towards
a genuine race analysis in this country. There will be many
battles in the war for racial equality: immigration is but
one of them. This is not about scoring points or who can
get the most people unjustly fired. It�s about creating
a society that is just and humane. Fair-minded people of
all colors have a responsibility to�as Bob Marley urged�to
�get up�stand up for your rights.� But we cannot trounce
on the human rights of others. We must uphold the rights
of all peoples in this country if we all are to enjoy �life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.�
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member Jamala Rogers is the leader of theOrganization for Black Struggle in St. Louis and the Black Radical Congress National
Organizer. Click
here to contact Ms. Rogers. |
Jul 29, 2010 - Issue 386
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