This week I am in Germany with a delegation to ask Daimler, maker of Mercedes-Benz, to do the right thing and denounce Alabama's racially-charged anti-immigration law, HB 56.
The group, including La Raza, America's Voices and the AFL-CIO, will seek censure of the law from Daimler because of the impact the car manufacturer can have as one of Alabama's largest employers.
In November, I was humbled to be part of a delegation of civil rights and labor leaders that traveled to Alabama to see firsthand the devastating impact of HB56. We came together to reflect on the hatred and racism of the past and to bear witness to the current discrimination caused by the law. What I saw and heard there was deeply disturbing.
In the year 2012, it's shocking that people in Alabama still face discrimination because of the color of their skin, the way they look and whether they speak with an accent. Today, kids are being denied education because of these reasons. As I listened to Alabama residents' testimonies on these conditions, I was transported back 40 years when we were having these same discussions under the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I thought that we took a stand in Alabama 40 years ago and agreed that all men are created equal. But, here we are, decades later, fighting the same fight in the 21st century.
This law harkens back to some of Alabama's ugliest days when overt racism ran rampant throughout the state. HB 56 brings that sordid history into the present where it threatens to disrupt the business climate and break apart Alabama's communities.
Daimler can change this. As one of Alabama's largest corporate forces, Daimler has a hand in shaping the state's economic and social landscape in a big way.
And as a prominent global economic player and a member of the United Nations Global Compact, Daimler has a corporate social responsibility to uphold civil and human rights and to promote work environments where people are free from discrimination. Daimler has a unique opportunity not only to live up to the standards it espouses, but to be a real leader on this crucial issue and to speak out against HB56.
Daimler can say loudly to the lawmakers of Alabama that it will not stand for a repetition of history and it will not tolerate discrimination in the workplace. In doing so, the company will show that when it says it supports global, human and workers' rights, it means it.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, exactly 44 years ago while fighting for the rights of workers not too far from Alabama in Memphis, Tenn. If he were alive today, Dr. King would likely see HB 56 as an unjust law that unfairly discriminates against the most vulnerable in our society, in our workplaces and in our communities.
I stand together with civil rights activists, immigration activists, union members and working Americans to denounce this hateful law that brings forth the ugly practices we have fought together to end. Daimler must speak out strongly against HB 56 and show that this isn't the type of corporate work culture it stands for. Let us honor Dr. King by standing together on the path towards equality and respect, not animosity and hate.
Linda Novick O'Keefe: Social Ethics: A Peek Into 2012
The looks on their faces would be priceless.
Immigration laws in Europe are HARSH, you can scream racism all you want, and you will be laughed at while they escort you into a cell.
You went to Germany to complain ? The very same country that had the Berlin Wall ? LOL !
Tell me Fred, how loudly were you laughed at ?
Until those on the left stop with the inflammatory rhetoric, there will be no way to have a logical dialogue on the subject of illegal immigration.
All men ARE created equal. But ALL men are not CITIZENS of the USA.
resident - a person who resides (lives) in a place.
conflate - to fuse into one entity; merge: to conflate dissenting voices into one protest.
You and a lot of other people are taking the first two definitions and applying the third. Your command of the English Language and the meanings of the words is very lacking. And it's getting fairly annoying to us CITIZENS out here who owe allegianze to the State, that you are giving all the benfits or being a citizen to people who merely RESIDE here, and owe no allegiance. And who in fact have no legal basis for their residency.
In addition, these "show your papers" laws affect everyone who is not clearly white.
Anyone who is not white can be stopped and ordered to show papers proving they are in the country legally.
If they don't happen to have their driver's license on them while 12 and jogging five miles from home, they can be detained. And, now, according to the Supreme Court, strip and cavity searched.
If a person is jogging down the street at 12, they cannot be stopped unless there is another legal reason to do so. However, if you get pulled over for a traffic violation and do not have a driver's license, you can be compelled to provide proof. That is true whether you are white or not.
Dr. King did NOT think that ALL people in the world had a RIGHT to live and work in the USA. Illegals lie on application forms and should rightfully be FIRED. In ALL of my jobs it was standard procedure that if you had lied on the application, you got fired. As a former union official, I can tell you that we always lost any grievance that had a lie as its basis. Then illegals cheat the immigration system and deny others their rightful LEGAL place in line. They also STEAL something that they have no legal or moral right to, the right to live and work in the US.
When I or most people go to a foreign country, I get a passport and a visa if required. Illegals on the other hand REFUSE to have ANY ID at all. One has to ask, WHY? The reason is simple if you THINK. It was to be able to use any alias and many aliases to avoid being caught for multiple illegal entries. THAT is why they now fingerprint illegals to take care of that problem. The funny thing is that this is what was the spur for Secure Communities that is applied to all those who are arrested now. By the way, I am a liberal Democrat who has the SAME position on illegals as the late Barbara Jordan did. I suggest you READ her commission report since that is the LIBERAL position since she was a great black liberal from Texas.
Stop with the inflammatory language.
If Mercedes DID care about human rights they would FIRST insist that ALL citizens of Alabama have their full rights respected. Gay marriage being an example.
It is illegal for me to work in Europe without a work visa so it should be equally illegal for an undocumented worker to work in the US.
Why not begin with building the plant and providing good paying jobs with job security and benefits so people can take adequate care of themselves.
If an employer is only in your state because the job is subsidized with tax breaks and giveaways what will happen when someone else offers a sweeter deal?
Being a German company Daimlers board should have half of its members composed from its unions. They should insist that ANY factory anywhere respects workers rights. But of course they don't because the company uses the free give aways from Alabama to subsidize the higher employee costs in their German plants.