Communities across America have been asking whether leading Republicans would choose racism or reform in the debate over Arizona's new racial profiling immigration law. This weekend, we got the answer when Sarah Palin endorsed the Arizona law, a placebo solution focused on racialized police targeting. They're choosing racism.
Palin also took the odd step of making it personal; she told her supporters to personally email me. Many took the opportunity to send me racist and hateful messages. Though I'm an American citizen, several said they wanted me to leave "their" country. The tone reminded me of Sen. John McCain's recent advertisement where he's praised by a white sheriff's deputy as "one of us." The message of the advertisement and Sarah Palin's supporters is clear: America belongs to white people and us colored folks ought to just get out.
She's picked her side; now let's have a debate. America deserves a full airing of the issue, and I'll gladly debate the former VP candidate anytime and anywhere. Let's have a complete airing on whether the Arizona law is the right solution to our broken immigration system.
I contend that the misguided Arizona law stems from the intense desire Americans have for our leaders to do "something." Sarah Palin apparently thinks that serious immigration reform entails asking brown people to produce their papers on demand. In my view, the law is un-American and does nothing to address the serious problems with the current immigration system. We need to enforce laws against unscrupulous employers and provide a path to legalization that enables qualified families currently here to become fully integrated members of our communities.
This comprehensive approach is what experts and leading members of both parties have endorsed. Well, they did until recently when Republicans like Jon Kyl, Lindsey Graham and John McCain decided it would be far better for their careers to politicize it. That's the rub really, people like Sarah Palin don't seem to really want to have a serious debate about practical solutions to immigration because if they did, they wouldn't be able to rile up the most extreme and hate mongering members of their party.
But I'm willing to be proven wrong. If Sarah Palin wants to have respectful and real debate on immigration reform, I am waiting.
P.S. Want to text Sarah Palin and tell her to engage in a real debate on immigration reform?
Text PALIN to 69866
Follow Deepak Bhargava on Twitter: www.twitter.com/communitychange
It's easy to tell by what's written who has read the bill and who hasn't (the writer of this article for one).
It also blows my mind that Mexican president Calderon stood before Congress and called the bill unfair. Hello??? Has he taken a look at his own country's immigration laws? They're ten times more strict and severe than ours but nobody seems to have a problem with that. Why is that?
Maybe we should just adopt the SAME immigration laws that Mexico has in place.
I also agree with nee - Illegal immigrants are NOT a seperate race of individuals. They're people who are breaking the law. If they're not willing to take the legal & lawful steps to become a legal tax paying citizen of the United States, then they need to be deported, period.
Sarah Palin's secret speaking fee revealed: "Only" $ 35,000 charged for Republican fundraiser in Eugene, Oregon
http://palingates.blogspot.com/2010/05/sarah-palins-secret-speaking-fee.html
Only $ 35,000? How generous of her! How will this go down with all the other organizations which have paid much more for Sarah's appearance?
When a police officer pulls you over or you are involved in police activity they have a DUTY to ask for your ID. If you cannot provide one then you are detained. If you cannot prove that you have a LEGAL right to be in the US then you need to be DEPORTED!
ILLEGAL ALIENS are sucking our systems dry, taking jobs that CITIZENS and LEGAL immigrants want and NEED, and they are costing us BILLIONS in tax dollars. We need to take our country back and if we need to do that state by state then so be it!
"Palin also took the odd step of making it personal; she told her supporters to personally email me." If you knew Palin's background, you'd see that this wasn't an odd step for her at all. This is business as usual. She makes everything personal and encourages personal attacks. Her bff radio guy in Alaska, Eddie Burke, constantly encourages people to harass others--he gives the phone numbers out on the air. He and Palin's FaceBook groupies even got involved in Bristol's child support lawsuit by encouraging people to call the JUDGES and gripe at them. (contacting judges is a big no no, commonly known in the legal world) One of the judges had to have security due to threats of personal harm from the groupies.
That is all Palin has--personal attacks, slogans and worn out talking points. She cannot engage in a thoughtful analysis of issues.
Good luck with the challenges ahead.
Palin Debate??? Never ever happen...not in a million years.
That would have been classic:
"Can I call you Al, Al?"
"I'm not going to answer the question. Instead, I'm going to talk about my beautiful son, Trigger."
"I'm not going to answer the question. Instead, I'm going to talk about mama grizzly bears."
"I'm not going to answer the question. Instead, I'm going to talk about Todd. I mean, have you SEEN Todd?"
"I'm not going to answer the question. Instead, I'm going to wink seductively at the camera."
"Thank you. God bless you, and God Bless America!"
But honestly, Gov. Brewer's between a rock and a hard place because it's unlikely that she'll find any well-known public figure less contentious than Palin or Bill O'Reilly to come out in favor of this.
Even Kris Kobach, who wrote the law, did more harm than good for her while trying to explain the law: "Arizona's law does not require U.S. citizens to carry an Arizona driver's license or any other papers, he said." http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/05/16/20100516immigration-law-arizona-claims.html
As for Sarah, I'm a huge supporter and write about her frequently (as in daily) and I have never heard of you! You sound like another hack who can only get attention by shouting Sarah's name and spouting lies.
Trust me, if Sarah had asked people to contact you, you'd be way too busy with that to write this nonsensical drivel.