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On Sun, May 9, 2010 at 6:24 PM, Joseph Catron <[email protected]> wrote: > > Those groups are all either supporting or implementing a targeted boycott of > Arizona's tourism industry. That's a far cry from the kind of total > cultural/economic/educational embargo faced by South Africa, which a number > of us advocate for Israel, and which Patrick and others seem to support for > Arizona. And as organized constituencies go, they're a few notches below the > ANC, which could legitimately claim to represent the aspirations of the > South African majority, or this: > > http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/52 > > By way of full disclosure, I tend to think that the selective outrage over > Arizona's SB1070 is a terrible idea. By focusing all of its ire on one state > and pretending that a particular law passed by its legislature is somehow > exceptional, the immigrant rights movement gives a free pass to too many > other parties, like that Obama fellow for whom so many of us voted: > > http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/30 Civil Rights organizations such as La Raza, the NAACP, and the ACLU, are concerned that other state legislatures will line up to enact copycat legislation based on the Arizona bill, (7 to 11 states to be exact). If the Arizona bill is enacted without the state having to pay a heavy economic and political price, chances are it will spread to other states. If not, other states will find it more difficult to pass similar legislation. The last time a selective boycott was foisted on AZ was when it opposed the MLK holiday. After the NFL boycotted the state, the MLK holiday was enacted. There is another argument in favor of a global convention and tourism boycott: organizations' concerns for the safety and security of their membership while in the state. In terms of the Obama, the democrats, and the position of immigrant rights groups vis-a-vis the Schumer bill, the situation leaves much to be desired. The ACLU has already announced its opposition to the Schumer bill, mainly because of its proposal for a National Biometric ID card, but I have yet to hear something similar from other civil rights organizations. Be that as it may, in lieu of an ANC here in the USA (a ridiculous analogy if ever there was one), I think we have to go with the grassroots national latino organizations and what they urge in response to the AZ bill, and hope they have enough foresight to fight a war on two fronts simultaneously. In that regard, the example of the ACLU should be trumpeted. Greg ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: [email protected] Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
