As much as I’m offended by the term “illegal alien” and as much as I’m an advocate of people from any part of this hemisphere running amok throughout the United States freely, I must admit that I was amazed but not amused that there was an outcry among Latinos about a mural painted in Arizona that depicted them in a way that was, in their words, “too dark”.

Too dark?

Even the most casual student of history knows that of all the western European nations, the country that has the least claim to “whiteness” is Spain. Literally a stone’s throw from North Africa, conquered by the Moors in 711AD and then held all the way up until the 18th century, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to consider Spain an almost biracial European state.

Add to that the fact that most of what we consider to be Latinos are this hemisphere’s descendants of Spanish conquerors mixed with, in most cases, Native America and African bloodlines and one begins to wonder where the “white” comes in. And don’t get me wrong; I get it.

Even now, with a Black president and all, Black people still aren’t the group that other groups want to be lumped in and associated with—unless of course, they need something. Then they copy all of their strategies right out of our civil rights playbook.

Gays seek the right to marry using us as an example and former Mexican President Vincente Fox tried to get away with the biggest backhanded compliment of all time when he suggested that illegal immigrants from his country were doing the jobs that “not even Blacks want to do.”

Meanwhile, we’ve taken these slights and insults and still (usually) found a way to support the causes of any people we’ve considered to be oppressed just because we know the feeling and we wouldn’t wish it on anybody else.

But a mural depicting you guys is too dark? C’mon, y’all…

Don’t make me stop parading against those ridiculous illegal immigration laws just because a misinformed few don’t know who their friends are.

The above article was written by RK Byers of News One.

Ever since Gov. Janet Brewer signed the new immigration law into effect in Arizona a firestorm of controversy has erupted. Arizona is no stranger to controversy especially controversy that has racial undertones. It seems they learned absolutely nothing from their refusing to celebrate and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And Arizona paid for it dearly in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost tourism revenue due to their insensitivity and being out of touch with today’s world.

I feel I can speak as an authority on this issue in Arizona. I was born and raised in the small hamlet of El Mirage . Arizona has always seemed to have an anti-Latino attitude as far back as I can remember. As a young boy in grade school I can recall vividly white teachers washing out the mouths of young Mexican students with soap for speaking Spanish in class. Yes, you heard me correctly washing out their mouth with soap for speaking their native language!

The only reason I speak Spanish to this day is because my mother was a proud Cuban woman who insisted that I speak both languages properly. Then take the case of the braceros who came to work the fields in the hot Arizona sun for measly wages. They were basically treated as chattel as something less than human. They were seen as beasts of burden to toil at hard manual labor in the fields from sun up to sun down for ruthless gringo overseers of the local farms and ranches throughout Arizona.

So this anti-immigration fervor that has hit recently is not a surprise. I do agree that we need comprehensive immigration reform. This move by Arizona has obviously forced the government’s hand to readdress the issue of immigration in this country. I find it amazing that the governor and all of her supporters are claiming there are no racial profiling provisions in this new law. Now I find that point to be very interesting, how could the authorities not racially profile since this is honestly aim towards Latinos or anyone who looks Latino?

The Valley of the Sun in the Phoenix area has long been hailed the second home of many Canadians who winter in Arizona. In fact you can see the Canadian flag flying at resorts in the posh suburbs of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Gilbert, and Tucson etc.  Canadians are welcome in Arizona with open arms and are never asked for their papers or their immigration status. There are quite a few white South Africans that reside in Arizona I doubt that they will be pulled over and asked to produce papers either.

Immigration debate has intensified as of late in Phoenix Arizona. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is regarded as the ultimate law enforcement officer when it comes to illegal immigration. This man seems to go above and beyond the call to harass and intimidate and persecute Arizona’s undocumented population. He is scorned by the likes of the ACLU and other civil rights organizations. But he is hailed as a hero by the hard right who believe that the undocumented alien is affecting the quality of life in the Phoenix area.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio likes to brag that he has been reelected five times in Maricopa County. Unfortunately there is a hard-core racist anti-immigrant faction in Arizona as well as other parts of the country that see Sheriff Arpaio as some sort of hero. I have had the opportunity to listen to
Sheriff Arpaio on several occasions on podcasts news programs and each time during interviews he is very recalcitrant, defensive and most importantly an unrepentant oppressor of undocumented aliens in Maricopa County Arizona.

My question is how much longer this will go on? As long as you have a faction of the population who sees this man is eligible for sainthood in his relentless pursuit of undocumented aliens. It appears that Mr. Arpaio has shredded the United States Constitution and thumbed his nose at federal authorities. This is being perceived by most sane people as extreme anti-immigration persecution.

I believe at some point Sheriff Arpaio will be held to account for these racial profiling type raids that he conducts on anyone looking Hispanic or appears to be undocumented. There’ve been countless reports that Sheriff Arpaio and his goon squad kicked down doors hauling off legal residents as well as some undocumented in these raids. Countless people have come forward showing that they are legal residents of Maricopa County and were unfortunate enough to be in the crosshairs of Sheriff Arpaio’s anti-immigrant posse.

At some point Sheriff Arpaio will cross the line and he will be brought to justice are held to account for his actions. Moreover, it will force the Obama administration to look at and review current immigration policy or reform. The dialogue on immigration has taken a backseat to more pressing issues like two wars the economy and health reform. I’m sure sooner or later immigration reform will be brought back to the fore. Ironically, Mr. Arapaio’s parents were both immigrants to this county! Go figure.