May 6, 2010 7:41 AM

Ignorant. Racist. Exploitative. And, yes, it's built to stay that way.

I’m going to leave the high-level opinionizing on Arizona’s SB1070, or what some wags refer to as the “Breathing While Hispanic” bill, to more nimble intellects. I’ve listened to far too much shouting over the past few days, which, oddly enough. hasn’t resolved anything. Go figure.

I haven’t read the bill, and I have no plans to. My concern with SB1070 is less with its content than with the message it sends. As much as I love Arizona, and I really do, I’m appalled that so many unabashed White Makes Right racists hold seats in the state’s legislature. How else could you reasonably describe those who passed a bill clearly designed to focus on Arizona’s non-White population? I’m tired of listening to White Conservatives feign outrage as they wax indignant over how the bill was expressly crafted to rule out racial profiling. To respond to this sorry argument, I have no recourse but to trot out my “No matter how much lipstick you put on a pig, it’s still a pig” argument. While I can’t say that the Arizona Legislature set out to paint themselves as a cadre of unrepentant racists, that’s exactly the result they’ve arrived at. SB1070, lipstick aside, is still a pig.

No reasonable person is going to argue that illegal immigration is a good thing. Having lived along the Texas Gulf Coast for 10+ years, though, I’ve seen first hand just how dependent the economies of states bordering Mexico are on cheap, easily exploitable labor. Not that this isn’t true in other parts of the country, of course. Illegals collect our garbage, pave our roads, build our houses, tend our gardens…and the list goes on. Whether we want to admit it or not, the cheap labor performed by illegals is a de facto subsidy that has a significant impact on our economy.

Racist zealots in Arizona have chosen to focus on the “illegal” part of the equation, while conveniently ignoring how they and most Americans benefit from continuing to exploit them. What these folks want is for illegals to do the dirty work we won’t…and then disappear. They’re OK with the idea of exploiting illegals, but they draw the line at sharing any of the bounty with them. If I didn’t know better, I’d be suspecting these folks of regarding Brown People as lesser, subhuman beings. Then again, maybe that’s exactly what this is all about.

The biggest reason this problem exists today is that Republicans succeeded in killing immigration reform the last time it came up in Congress. There’s a very good chance they’re going to try to do the same thing this time around. Here’s the problem with that, though: by their actions, Republicans are conceding that they’re OK with Brown People being considered and treated as second-class beings. Whether Republicans care to admit it or not, Brown People are every bit as human as those of us fortunate enough to be born Caucasian. They bleed the same, they have some of the same dreams and aspirations, and they want to make better lives for themselves and their families. If we’re to be OK with exploiting them for their cheap labor, wouldn’t treating them as something more than 3/5 of a human being be the right and decent thing to do?

SB1070 is only the latest and most obvious iteration of a problem that’s been swept under the rug for far too long. Those who perform vital jobs that Americans generally won’t deserve more than to be treated as if they’re invisible. In doing so, we diminish our own claim on humanity. The message SB1070 sends, both to Brown People and to America as a whole, is not a positive one. Or are good, God-fearing White Folks in Arizona really OK with their state being viewed as America’s first officially racist police state?

WE DESERVE BETTER…and Lord knows those who mow our lawns and collect our garbage certainly do.

What makes this sorry saga even worse are the states that are racing to follow in Arizona’s slime trail. We should be able to expect better from those who themselves are the descendants of immigrants.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on May 6, 2010 7:41 AM.

Sometimes you really do need both hands for maximum impact, knowhutimean? was the previous entry in this blog.

Facts? Those are for Losers and Liberals. is the next entry in this blog.

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