The Arizona law, SB1070 is unacceptable. I am pleased with the courts decision to block provisions of the law and urge our communities to consider the integrity and dignity of families in the immigration debate. As a native San Franciscan Pacific Islander and member of the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community, I stand in solidarity with those who are firmly opposed to SB 1070.
The law which went into effect on July 29, is temporarily blocked by a federal court judge. Provisions of the law which the courts found unconstitutional included Section II which requires police officers to question anyone who they “reasonably suspect” is undocumented by asking for their papers. This section of the law essentially criminalizes anybody that “looks” undocumented and relegating all minorities to a second-class status.
SB 1070 essentially tells immigrants and minorities that law enforcement cannot be trusted. My father, an immigrant veteran who served in the U.S. Armed Forces knows well what the responsibility of earned trust means, particularly public trust.
Equally important is how public trust is carried out and enforced by public servants who have that authority. Displaced authority, such as misleading the public in fear tactics and scapegoating others, pits neighbor against neighbor. It only results in increased animosity, resentment and hate towards a targeted group.
It is this kind of attitude that history has repeatedly judged as wrong. The kind of attitude that led the people to allow the annihilation and ethnic cleansing of an entire community. The kind of attitude that kept one racial group at the front of a bus and another at it's rear. The kind of attitude that imprisoned, punished and took many innocent lives in its wake.
The new Arizona law essentially repeats elements of world history. It repeats these horrific crime against humanity. It repeats the dismissal and disregard of human dignity.
SB1070 as originally proposed and passed into law by the state of Arizona gives officers unobstructed power to engage in racial profiling, where characteristics like language fluency, accent, style of dress, and the company that someone keeps are major factors in how the police decide if a person is suspected of being undocumented.
Albeit law enforcement are highly trained professionals, members of the API community continue to be victimized through racial profiling in today’s post-9/11 world. This section of SB 1070, barring the court injunction, would have undoubtedly exacerbate the problem and further marginalize all of us.
I feel a profound sense of duty to act on behalf of the Pacific Islander community to continue the fight against SB1070 as it is challenged in court. With over 260,000 Pacific Islanders in California and 12,000 in Arizona, we are a community at risk of being victimized.
We are raised with a strong cultural concept of community, belongingness, and keeping families together.
It is this attitude of acceptance that seeks to build bridges among our neighbors rather than destroy the communities we work hard to build. I am urging our Pasefika community, organizations and churches to join me and speak out against SB1070.
Manufou is a social services entrepreneur and long time community activist in the Pacific Islander community.
No comments:
Post a Comment