Georgia Peaches Rotting on the Vine

From the department of Be Careful What You Wish For:

After enactment of House Bill 87, a law designed to drive illegal immigrants out of Georgia, state officials appear shocked to discover that HB 87 is, well, driving a lot of illegal immigrants out of Georgia.

It might almost be funny if it wasn’t so sad.

The resulting manpower shortage has forced state farmers to leave millions of dollars’ worth of blueberries, onions and other crops unharvested and rotting in the fields. It has also put state officials into something of a panic at the damage they’ve done to Georgia’s largest industry.

Atlanta Journal Constitution

To point out the obvious, racism has played a heavy role in the crackdown as the demographics of the South shift to a more mestizo hue. Just ask U.S. citizen Marie Justeen Mancha.

Billboard Terrorism

Anyone know who paid for this gem? It's currently on display in Oracle, Arizona.


[UPDATE] The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says they are not responsible for it and don't know who commissioned it. Still looking into it...

Russell Pearce's New Email Problem

He's not backing down from these remarks...yet:

If we are going to have an effect on the anchor baby racket, we need to target the mother. Call it sexist, but that's the way nature made it. Men don't drop anchor babies, illegal alien mothers do.

KPHO.com

If he's still forwarding emails like that, it looks like he failed to learn the lesson of spreading the special brand of hate offered by the white supremacist group National Alliance a couple of years ago.

Shocking.

Arizona Bans Ethnic Studies

The Arizona Republican Party continues its campaign of ethnic-cleansing in the state:

Adding insult to injury, the Arizona legislature passed a bill yesterday outlawing ethnic studies programs:

HB 2281 would make it illegal for a school district to have any courses or classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, are designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group or advocate ethnic solidarity “instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”

It also would ban classes that “promote resentment toward a race or class of people.”

Taking the long-view, which is painfully difficult when one's cultura is directly targeted and oppressed in the present, these misguided legislators will go the way of the dinosaurs as every young Latino citizen becomes a voter:

Hispanics make up roughly a third of Arizona’s 6.6 million people, according to the Census Bureau.

But while half of the state’s older Hispanics are immigrants that came to the U.S. either legally or illegally, about 90% of those under 18 were born in the U.S., according to analysis of Census data by Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey Institute.

“If immigration ended tomorrow, Hispanic births would continue to fuel rapid growth because the population is young and has higher fertility than other groups,” says Mr. Johnson.

Wall Street Journal

The young people will vote, too. Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer, John Huppenthal and the rest of the AZGOP extremists have radicalized the young generation to demand equality and justice for our people.

SB1070: Racial Politics and the Boycott

If anything is clear, it's that the language of Arizona's SB1070 was written so vague that it's possible for anyone who is capable of thought to have an opinion on how it could be implemented.

Then there's Sarah Palin.

She is pretending like racial profiling never happens and the brown menace is simply working ourselves into a frenzy in order to race-bait the white folk and score cheap political points through the lamestream media so that Barack Obama can keep palling around with Kenyan terrorists. Or something:

In an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity — who introduced the segment by accusing “pro-illegal immigration” protesters of not actually reading the legislation — Sarah Palin said “there is no ability or opportunity in there for the racial profiling” in the law.

Critics have argued that the broader powers of law enforcement officials to stop and question suspected illegals who would, with this legislation, be considered to be “breaking the law” if they are in the state, will inevitably lead to racial profiling.

Palin, however, denied these claims.

Huffington Post

Closer to Arizona, however, the adjective racist is being used quite commonly to describe Arizona's Shame: SB1070

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called on President Barack Obama to fight a new law signed Friday in Arizona that gives police power to request ID from suspected illegal immigrants.

Grijalva, speaking at a rally Sunday at the Arizona state Capitol, asked Obama to not cooperate with the law, according to the Associated Press.

"We're going to overturn this unjust and racist law, and then we're going to overturn the power structure that created this unjust, racist law," Grijalva said.

The Hill

Watching the debate unfold across this country, the reaction I've had most commonly is: "Wow. How very white of you."

Here's a perfect example from a usual suspect as he reacts to my brown Congressman of Mexican descent:

REP. STEVE KING: Well, it looks like the case is that, that he's trying to scare the businesses out of Arizona, or he's trying to get the businesses to change their position and press the legislature to reverse the law that was just signed by the governor the other day. I'm wondering if we look at the map of Congressman Grijalva's congressional district if we haven't already ceded that component of Arizona to Mexico judging by the voice that comes out of him, he's advocating for Mexico rather than the United States and against the rule of law, which is one of the central pillars of American exceptionalism.

Media Matters video & transcript

You know what that sounds like? The same hate speech that comes from white supremacist vigilante groups that terrorize the border region. It's that same tone of dismissal that people of color hear everyday. "Oh, there he goes again, advocating for his own kind."

Poof. Dismissed.

Well, here's a white guy that agrees with Congressman Grijalva:

Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik tells KGUN9 News that SB 1070, Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration, is a “racist law,” and says he has no intention of complying with it. In doing so, Dupnik becomes the first major local law enforcement official to officially rebel against the bill since Governor Jan Brewer signed it into law on Friday.

Dupnik told KGUN9’s Steve Nunez that the law is “disgusting” and “unnecessary.” Dupnik said his deputies plan to keep on doing what they’ve always done. He said when illegal immigrants wind up in his custody, his deputies will detain them for federal agents, but will not take them to the county jail.

Dupnik said he realizes that, under the terms of SB 1070, he could get sued for failing to comply with the law. But he indicated that’s a risk he’s willing to take. Dupnik insisted that federal law supersedes state law.

(via VivirLatino)

Sheriff Dupnik and Congressman Grijalva share a wide swath of the same jurisdiction in Southern Arizona. We are a region that respects our indigenous roots and culture. In fact, we pride ourselves in celebrating all of the representative traditions among our people at every opportunity. It drives conquistadors like Steve King and Russell Pearce nuts.

Let's stop pretending that SB1070 will be enforced the same for a white snowbird in Scottsdale who decided not to the leave the state during the summer versus a Xicano family that's celebrating a child's birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. The whole concept of "attrition through enforcement" is nothing more than a fancy term for ethnic cleansing.

When outsiders get up on their platforms and sneer down their noses at the living mestizaje found here, especially those who insist on passing laws to disrupt our way of life, you can bet a truckload of apple pie that there will be resistance; because we have been targeted for a long time by federal immigration enforcement on land that has been home to our ancestors for centuries. Our skin color, our accents, our language are all suspect to an oppressive federal system that SB1070 expands unjustly.

For several years I've been told that I should keep my mouth shut and accept that I'll be profiled since so many brown people migrate to the U.S. to steal jobs provide for their families. "Sacrifice for the greater good", I'm told. Well, I have come to a place where I can agree to do that.

I stand with Congressman Grijalva on a boycott of Arizona.

It will be painful for our economy that is barely starting to recover from the Bush Recession, but in order to force the conservatives in power to take racial justice and equality serious, we'll need to translate the message into their mother tongue: money.

So be it. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Quote of the Day

"Would you support deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens," Hunter was asked. "I would have to, yes," Hunter said. "... We simply cannot afford what we're doing right now," he said. "... It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen. It's what's in our souls. ..."

-Rep. Duncan Hunter, Republican from California

At least he's honest.

Russell Pearce's Next Target: Migrant Youth

Russell Pearce, the Arizona State Senator who authored SB1070, is no-where-near finished with his attempts to "take back his country state by state" from the "invaders". He has another bill pending in the state legislature that would go even further to cause fear and panic in Latino and migrant communities - by pitting schools against the families they serve.

Senate Bill 1097 would create the following mandates on the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and school districts:

1. Requires ADE to collect data on students enrolled in Arizona school districts who cannot demonstrate proof of legal U.S. residence.

2. Requires ADE to annually submit a report to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate and a furnish a copy to the Secretary of State which includes:

a) summary of the collected data on a district by district basis;

b) research on the adverse impact of the enrollment of students unable to show proof of legal residence;

c) total estimated total cost to Arizona taxpayers for their education; and

d) the total estimated cost to Arizona taxpayers for the education of students who are not U.S. citizens.

3. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to withhold a school district’s state aid apportionment for non-compliance with the requirements related to data collection for students who cannot demonstrate proof of legal U.S. residence.

AZleg.gov

Got that? This is the next step in Operation Wetback 2010. Pearce's goal is to make the environment in Arizona so toxic for migrant families that they flee. He has stated this outright:

“My personal background in law enforcement has given me a unique and in-touch perspective with the needs and hazards experienced by rank-and-file police officers and the threats to our citizens. Closing our borders is a must; however it must be coupled with interior enforcement. Attrition by enforcement. I cannot stand by and be a spectator to the death, maiming or damage to another police officer, citizen or taxpayer by an illegal alien because we refuse to enforce our laws and fail to put America and Americans First.”

Phoenix Business Journal (emphasis mine)

As I wrote in a previous post, don't let these conservative pharisees fool you: they love to complain about overcrowded schools and blame "illegals" but they won't do anything constructive to make sure our school systems are fully funded in the first place. They don't believe in government, period.

While the outrage being poured out nationally in response to SB1070 is a good (and much-needed) thing, it's also defense. We have to be proactive and fight these un-American initiatives before they are signed into law by nativist Governors. Please speak out against SB 1097 - our schools should remain safe institutions of learning, not another venue that provides opportunity for an ICE raid.

• Contact your state legislators
• Contact Governor Brewer and ask for her veto if it passes the leg
  
• Alert the media as to why this is a harmful step for Arizona
  
• Educate your family & friends on Russell Pearce's Operation Wetback 2010
  
• Vote against any candidates listed as members of the Arizona Republican Party
  

Quotes from a White Supremacist

The Arizona Daily Star has an article published today outlining the latest efforts by Russell "National Alliance" Pearce to force local law enforcement and officials to enact Operation Wetback throughout the state in the form of SB1070.

In the article, a white supremacist posing as a credible source is given the opportunity to spread his bigotry:

Glenn Spencer, president and founder of American Border Patrol, a nonprofit group that aerially monitors the border, favors stricter illegal-immigration policies.

He said he generally was in favor of Pearce's bill, provided it includes sufficient limits on interagency information-sharing.

"It's time we have to stretch the envelope" (on immigration enforcement), he said. "It's time we have to take some firm action." Loose immigration policies, he said, would be tantamount to "importing poverty" and would "destroy Arizona."

Here's a refresher, courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center on some of Mr. Spencer's previous rants:

“Americans, especially white Americans, should get out of California — now, before it is too late to salvage the equity they have in their homes and the value of their businesses.”
— Glenn Spencer, “White Fight or Flight,” American Patrol website, 2003

And the Anti-Defamation League has this to say about him:

Spencer’s rhetoric departed sharply from that of legitimate immigration reform groups; Spencer did not target immigration so much as he targeted Hispanics, particularly those of Mexican origin, regardless of whether they were immigrants or not. Many of his writings and comments were simply thinly veiled diatribes against “Mexicans” (like many anti-Hispanic activists, Spencer rarely differentiated between Mexicans and Americans of Mexican descent). In a 1996 letter to the Los Angles Times, for example, Spencer said that “the Mexican culture is based on deceit.” Spencer denied the letter was racist. “It has nothing to do with race,” he said. “It has to do with culture…there’s no way to pass enough laws to protect yourself from a deceitful culture.”

linkage - .pdf warning

The Star should teach its apprentices the importance of researching who they're using as quotable sources before allowing them free reign on its pages to escalate the already dangerous situation for Latinos in Arizona.

The Magic Words

Nearly three years ago at this blog, I recounted this incident at a Mexican food restaurant in Tempe, Arizona:

On Sunday I was eating breakfast with one of my closest amigas at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Tempe. As we were chatting, a raised voice gonged its way through the room from the front register area. It was an older Anglo gentleman with a camouflaged baseball hat adorned upon his salt and peppered hairy head.

He was berating the woman at the register because he claimed she was overcharging him for four pints of frijoles. Berate is one word for it, the other would be humiliate and denigrate. He cussed her out as if she had just spit on the grave of his mother.

The woman was visibly shaking, but in as forceful a tone as she could muster, told him that he needed to not be disrespectful to her nor the rest of the customers. He continued on his tirade, and at that point the entire dining room had stopped their conversations and tuned into the show.

My blood was at a rolling boil at that point. I wanted to intervene but the line hadn't been crossed yet - she was handling it fine on her own.

Until.

First, he demeaned the way she spoke English. It was flawless, but apparently her accent was too much for him to handle. Second, he uttered the words that got me out of my booth and in his face, "Go back to where you came from!"

As I walked up and stared him down, he was standing at the exit and continued to yell offensive mierda. I told him that if he didn't leave, I would be the one to call the cops. After telling me to go Cheney myself and that I wouldn't dare do any of that, he ended his temper tantrum and left.

Those magic words: "Go back to where you came from!" are a perfect example of the garbage that is still prevalent in this so-called post-racial society. I've had that incantation of hate called down upon my head a few times over the years and can only respond with a hearty laugh as I recall the many times I've visited my great-great-great-great grandmother's grave that is within a ten minute drive of my parents' casa aquí en Arizona.

Even if I was from a family with a recent immigration story, the phrase says more about the person who sharted it out than the target. It reeks of ignorance, bigotry, and desperation as the world changes despite the failed efforts of teabagger thuggery. Not only failed, but unoriginal:

Looks like black and gay lawmakers aren’t the only ones being pelted with vicious slurs by folks who oppose the health reform proposal. Add a Hispanic lawmaker to the list. Trifecta!

Rep Ciro Rodriguez of Texas has confided to colleages that he was hammered by ethnic slurs by people opposed to reform passing, one of those colleagues tells me.

[snip]

Rodriguez’s spokesperson, Rebeca Chapa, gets in touch to say that he was slammed as a “wetback” by an anti-reform protestor at a town meeting this week.

And another opponent called Rodriguez’ home and told the family member who answered to “go back to Mexico.”

linkage

How does that Gandhi quote go? Ah yes:

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

Lou Dobbs Resigning Immediately from CNN

Don't let the puerta hit you on the nalgas on the way out, Lou!

Lou Dobbs, the longtime CNN anchor whose anti-immigration views have made him a TV lightning rod, plans to announce Wednesday that he is leaving the network, two network employees said. A CNN executive confirmed that Mr. Dobbs will announce his resignation plans on his 7 p.m. program. His resignation is effective immediately; tonight’s program will be his last on CNN. His contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011.

NYTimes' Media Decoder Blog

Great work to all the activist bloggers and campaigns like BastaDobbs.com and DropDobbs.com for pointing out the violence that has been given shelter by media hacks like him.

Senator Coburn's Bigotry on Display

Any bets on who will be the first GOP Judiciary Committee Member to scream, "ARRIBA! ARRIBA! ANDALE! ANDALE! at Judge Sonia Sotomayor? You might think that's a far-fetched possibility, but you'd be wrong:

'cuz, you know, Cuba and Puerto Rico are both ISLANDS! Full of brown people! Who speak ghetto!

D.C. Metro Crashes Hate Into A Family

The recent collision of two metro cars in Washington, D.C. was center-stage in the news recently. There were several fatalities, many more casualties, and the investigation is ongoing as to the cause of the wreck.

That wasn't the only thing the train collided into, however; add the familia Fernandez to the mix. The hate has flowed heavily in their direction after the matriarch of their family died in the accident:

HYATTSVILLE, Md. - As people's hearts continue to go out to the family of victims killed in Monday's tragic Metro crash, some grieving family members say they're being harassed.

Forty-year-old Ana Fernandez, an immigrant from El Salvador, was on her way to her cleaning job when she was killed in Monday's Metro collision. On Wednesday, her family and friends gathered outside their home where her daughter said they need help but are upset with prank phone calls they have received.

"And I'm serious if you're going to call and leave messages like that, don't call at all," Evelyn Fernandez, the victim's daughter

WJLA.com

The immigration system is one thing that needs to be overhauled, the other is the country's corazón. There's too much hate, and too much ignoring of it by our political leaders.

Crossposted from The Sanctuary

Glenn Beck Should Drink More Water

Why? Because with all of the diarrhea coming out of his mouth, he's in danger of dehydration.

Glenn Beck Twitter twit: "Does the nominee still have Diabetes? Could the Messiah heal her, or does she just not want to ask?"

via Media Matters

[UPDATED] I'm just gonna let M.M. do the work today ;-)

"Hey, Hispanic chick lady! You're emphatic empathetic! you're in!"

The latest on Sheriff Joe Arpaio

It's Not Easy Being Green

er...Brown.

I've been blogging since January 1999. I was starting my second semester as a freshman in college and picked up a part-time job to help pay for life expenses. Between class, work, and the general pangs of Growing Up™, the writing became an important outlet so my head wouldn't explode.

A curious thing occurred, though, when I began to explore and assert my inner-Xicano - Una Identidad Sin Fronteras. Like scales falling from my eyes, I realized how much centrifugal force was applied by assimilation to eradicate any instance of dissonance with Normal (read: white).

From language to learning styles to the way words are spoken to the clothes that are worn to interpersonal relationships both familial and professional, the subtle baseline note that came through like a tuning fork that my ear was finally trained to detect was: "You're doing it wrong"

It is something that all people of color experience at some point in their lives. If they haven't yet, they will.

Like any mezcla of humanity, there's the eternal push-and-pull of influence. Por ejemplo, I guarantee that for every Republican that supports full rights for gays and lesbians, there is a close friend, sibling, or someone that's positively affected their life who identify as homosexual. Empathy.

It's a step forward, but the situation is not the same on either side of the flag that's tied in the middle of the tug-of-war rope. The historically dominant side seeks to eradicate the perceived weak by two methods: denouncement and/or disappearing.

Perceived because the weakness is like a mirage in the Sonoran desert.

Over the past few years, my experience of being a citizen of the United States with Mexican ancestry has been enlightening, to say the least. Anti-migrant hysteria from conservatives and nativists who've declared war on my cultura and identity alongside demands for mass deportations and family destruction have been a source of radicalization that's ignited the habanero in my bloodstream.

The haters have a smart strategy, though.

By making immigration a "Latino issue", they've succeeded for years in ghettoizing (denouncement) and marginalizing (disappearing) voices like mine and others who can actually speak to how failed immigration policies affect those whom are targeted by enforcement-only campaigns. Institutional and often outright racism has guaranteed that the vast majority of faces of those raided at their work sites or homes, detained and deported, are brown, even though the U.S. has undocumented workers from every part of the world with varying degrees of melanin.

The irony is that pointing this out somehow makes me the racist. Still don't know how that all works out, but I digress...

The Lou Dobbs and Pat "Operation Wetback" Buchanans of the world thrive because of their ability to hold back coalitions. They represent a power structure that would crumble into dust and drift away like expelled flatulence if enough human beings chose to "Build Bridges and Break Down Walls" as our tag line states at The Sanctuary instead of destroy.

Which brings me to the point of this series - Luis Ramirez.

to be continued...

Sean Hannity's Conflicted Love for Revolution

Sean Hannity has a longstanding case of Montezuma's Revenge of the Mouth. That's no secret. It's gotten even worse on his Fox hate show since he gave his sidekick Alan Colmes the kicked-to-the-side treatment. He's winning premios, but not the good kind:

From Countdown with Keith Olbermann's February 26th Worst Person in the World Segment:

But our winner is Sean Hannity. Next time he or Bill-O talks about liberal hate speech on the web remind them about this. This is a poll posted late Monday night and remaining at last check in the forum section of Hannity‘s website. It asks his listeners what kind of revolution appeals most to you, military coup, armed rebellion or secession. To his credit, the poster is saying any form of revolution would be treason. He said he started the poll because there has been so much talk on Hannity‘s website supporting revolution or secession, a topic which one Hannity poster says produced 3,000 responses. There have been 22 votes, with armed rebellion comfortably in the lead, 11 to eight to three.

Pobre Sean, doesn't he know that Ron Paul already has a lock on the RevoLution Loco caucus in the Republican Party? You know, the people who are actually talking about guerrilla warfare in the streets of EEUU?

Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, the only member of the senate to earn a perfect rating from the American Conservative Union, called President Obama “the world’s best salesman of socialism” on Friday in describing his prime time speech earlier this week.

DeMint, a fierce opponent of government expansion, told the CPAC crowd that conservatives might have to “take to the streets to stop America’s slide into socialism.”

CNN Political Ticker

Contrast that with the long-standing accusation against the Xicano community that someday our inner-Aztec will resurrect like those alien chupacabras out of our pechos with an insatiable urge to start caring about borders again so we can raise the TriColor throughout Aztlán.

No.

Pero facts don't mean anything to Sin Verguenzüero Sean. He's accused our friends at National Council of La Raza (which does NOT mean race) of the thing that has actually been given plática time on his website:

Here's the response from NCLR President Janet Murguía to John Moodey of FOX "News":

Dear Mr. Moody:

On the February 25, 2009 edition of Hannity, Sean Hannity stated that my organization, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), “has called for Mexico to annex southwestern states.” NCLR is the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States and last year celebrated its 40th anniversary as an American institution.

NCLR has never made the statement and does not support the views Mr. Hannity attributes to us, as even a cursory review of our public statements or website would substantiate. Such conspiracy theories would be silly if they were not so often used to create fear and distrust of all Hispanics living in America. While Mr. Hannity is well within his rights to disagree with the views of our organization, he is not entitled to lie about us. In light of this, we are asking in the strongest terms possible for an immediate on-air correction.

Let's see if Sean takes a siesta from plotting an actual revolution to apologize for accusing NCLR of inciting an imaginary one. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go practice my grito for the day my President is someone who was punished at school for speaking spanish at recess.

Seattle Times Gives Hate Group A Megaphone

The state legislature in Washington has a proposal before it to expand the opportunity for higher education to undocumented students. Ahead of the national curve, a form of the D.R.E.A.M. Act was advanced in the state a few years ago, qualifying some for in-state tuition. The new plan would extend eligibility to financial aid programs. All good things - we should want to educate as many people in our midst regardless of which piece of earth they happened to be born upon.

In its coverage today of the new proposal, however, The Seattle Times allowed the spokesperson for the hate group FAIR to give a rebuttal.

But those concerned about the impact of illegal immigration in this country say it's also not fair to ask families struggling to educate their own children to subsidize the education of those whose parents broke the law in bringing them here.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, asked: "What about that kid you'll never hear about, who also worked hard, who has dreams and aspirations ... a kid who may not be able to go to college because the money is going to someone here illegally?

"I guess the Legislature and governor can't find enough ways to spend all the surplus money they have."

The Seattle Times

The staff writers at The Seattle Times are just one of the many hydra heads that give these extremist groups a megaphone to share their rancid form of nativism. Those of us who follow media coverage of the immigration debate know the names Ira Mehlman and FAIR well, but it should be repeated each and every time their viewpoints are masqueraded as credible that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated their operations as proponets of hate:

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is almost certainly the most-quoted immigration restriction organization in America. In just the last few weeks, its leaders have enlightened cable viewers with their views on such topics as "American 'Intifada' in Our Future?" "Driving While Illegal," "Should ALL Illegal Aliens Be Deported?" and "Economic Impact of Migration." In the past six years, FAIR officials have testified at least 30 times to Congress. Day in and day out, FAIR is taken seriously as a mainstream commentator on the immigration debate.

The founder, chief ideologue and long-time funder of FAIR is a racist. Key staff members have ties to white supremacist groups, some are members, and some have spoken at hate group functions. FAIR has accepted more than $1 million from a racist foundation devoted to studies of race and IQ, and to eugenics - the pseudo-science of breeding a better human race that was utterly discredited by the Nazi euthanasia program. It spreads racist conspiracy theories. Its political ads have caused numerous politicians, Democratic and Republican, to denounce it.

Southern Poverty Law Center

The topic of immigration reform is highly complicated because the status of undocumented workers differs from person-to-person. We, the People, deserve an assessment and plan to move forward that involves grown-ups who are capable of understanding nuance. It would also help that they have a functioning human heart that recognizes the importance of family unity and basic human rights.

Ira Mehlman and FAIR do not meet this criteria. They do not behave as adults in the conversation; rather, they are tantrum throwers that deserve to be sent to their room to think over their unacceptable behavior.

Are you listening, Seattle Times? Stop allowing hate to be broadcast through your pages.

Crossposted from The Sanctuary

ACTION ALERT: Support TUSD Ethnic Studies

Just received an urgent action alert regarding a rally that will be held tomorrow, 6/12/08, in support of the four ethnic studies departments at Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, has been relentless in his opposition to these programs that successfully lift graduation rates and improve test scores of participating students. I first reported on his nonsense back in November of 2007. Here was the news item at the time:

TUSD's ethnic studies program has come under the lens of Arizona's education czar.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has asked the Tucson Unified School District to provide information on funding for its ethnic studies programs.

The request also calls for all training materials used in Mexican-American and African-American studies, syllabuses, videos, films, teachers' guides, reading materials, audio recordings and other instructional materials.

Horne said his inquiry is not based on a question of academics or education, but "values."

linkage

Horne will be in Tucson tomorrow in order to talk "about reasons TUSD should abolish its Ethnic Studies department". Prior to his press conference, however, community members will gather in opposition to this deluded strategy of axing programs that lift up minority students.

Community members representing the four TUSD Ethnic Studies Departments (AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES, NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES, MEXICAN AMERICAN/RAZA STUDIES, and PAN ASIAN STUDIES) will be holding a PRESS CONFERENCE in SUPPORT of ETHNIC STUDIES

Where: TUSD's GOVERNING BOARD ROOM , 1010 E. 10th Street, Tucson, AZ 85719
Time: 9:30 a.m., Thursday, June 12, 2008

Neil Boortz Continues Radio Racism

He would've offered to make the tortillas himself, but as he said in April of this year, "I would make a lousy Mexican."

On the May 29 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, while discussing reports that six Muslim women were fired from a Minnesota tortilla factory because of dress code violations, host Neal Boortz asked: "Muslims, making tortillas? You know, this world is really screwed up when Muslims are making our tortillas, folks." He added: "I mean, with all of the illegal Mexicans in this country, we can't find some Mexicans to make those tortillas?"

Media Matters

I'm tired of having my ancestry insulted, most Mexicans are - but it doesn't matter too much when the powers that be won't lift a manicured finger to stop it.

Happy Monday!

Ozark Minutemen's First Lady Pleads Guilty

I swear that I wrote about this at the time, because it was so outrageous, but maybe it was like one of the million blog posts I concoct in the grey zone prior to passing out each night - only a few of them ever get published. Oh well, here it is:

SPRINGFIELD | The wife of a founder of the Ozarks Minutemen has pleaded guilty to lying about being raped and shot by three Hispanic men.

Angela D. Wilburn, 44, appeared in Greene County Associate Circuit Court on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to making a false report, a class B misdemeanor. Wilburn is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 3. She could face up to six months in prison and a $500 fine.

Wilburn is the wife of Brian Wilburn, who helped form the Ozarks Minutemen. She was charged with the crime in December, after calling 911 reporting someone had shot her.

Kansas City Star

Here's hoping that the law enforcement agencies that were forced to investigate and untangle her race-based lies charge her for all of the resources they wasted. In addition to that, let the mocking begin for this part of the fairy tale:

Meanwhile, Wilburn's husband, whose organization presents itself as a first line of defense against "criminal alien invaders," told the Springfield News-Leader that his wife's bogus report of being terrorized, sexually assaulted and shot by Mexican home invaders "had nothing to do with the Minutemen. It was just a bad decision on her part."

SPLCenter.org

Does anyone really believe that?