Our generation has had nothing to stand up for. The art of protest is lost on us. Protestors are relegated to the side and ignored.
Monday morning the state Capitol awoke to find refried bean swastikas on the Senate and House buildings. On the floor, once again written in beans, was “AZ = <Swastika>.” The reaction to this action has been polarized, producing far more negative attention than positive.
While I cannot speak for the agents of this action, I can offer my interpretation. This was a straightforward, creative reaction to SB 1070, the immigration law recently signed by Gov. Jan Brewer. The message is that Arizona has become a fascist, racist state. While the law affects more than the Latino population, it purports to prevent illegal immigration from Mexico, thereby targeting Latinos.
SB 1070 makes being an illegal immigrant a criminal offense. If police have ”reasonable suspicion” as to an individual’s immigration status, he or she must show papers proving legality in the U.S. — this does not include an Arizona driver’s license — or they are subject to arrest and fines.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the news reports about Monday’s protest is the tenacity to call the bean swastikas a hate crime. A hate crime, as defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, is an “offense motivated by hatred against a victim based on his or her race, religion sexual orientation, handicap, ethnicity, or national origin.” Monday’s protest targets the Arizona government and its decision with SB 1070.
Since when is it a hate crime to disagree with your government?
The symbolism was not lost on everyone. A few bloggers online have applauded the protest for its symbolism and exemplary use of a swastika. Further, the bean swastikas are not the only voice equating SB 1070 with Nazis. Several people have come out on television and the Internet noting the law’s reminiscence to Nazism.
Until Monday, the protests over this bill were mostly innocuous (a notable exception is the nine students who chained themselves to the capital). They have been ignored, as is proven by Brewer’s signing of the bill. They have been ineffective since those that created the bill, namely Russell Pearce, were able to ignore their actions. The problem with these protests is that there is no disruption.
During the Civil Rights Movement, one of the forms of protest was sit-ins. These were peaceful protests that required actions of civil disobedience. Protests need not involve violence, but they must include disruption.
I condone the action performed on Monday. Arizona has passed a bill that gives the state authority to stop anyone, ask them for papers and detain them if they do not have them. If this is not a civil rights violation, I have to ask, what is?
The protest on Monday did not damage any property or people. It garnered attention from those at the Capitol and has sparked discussion on the similarities of SB 1070 to the policies of the Nazis.
The protest on Monday should only be the beginning. It should be a call to action. Anyone who believes this law is the a civil rights violation, regardless of race, should stand up for their beliefs and enact civil disobedience.
I urge you to go to the Senate and ask those in power to show their papers. If they do not have them, they should be placed under citizen’s arrest.
When the law comes into effect (90 days after the end of this legislative session), I urge you to refuse to show your papers if you have been stopped without cause.
At the minimum, I urge you to get up from your seats and cry out for the loss of our civil rights.
But don’t just stand in silence and solidarity. Make your voice heard and create a disruption, lest they begin to remove more of our rights. Lest they require us to wear our residency status on our outer garments. Lest they start throwing us in camps. Lest they start killing us without anyone thinking it is wrong.
Cause Norman a disruption at norman.shamas@asu.edu
