Politics

The History of Juneteenth and Mexico

Written by James E. Johnson Jr.

Saturday, June 19, is the 145th anniversary of Juneteenth.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 that Major General Gordon Granger read General Order #3 in Galveston, Texas, which informed former slaves that President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The order freed slaves in territories rebelling against the federal government as of January 1863. Even for snail mail two and a half years is a long time for news to travel.

As if that delay were not tragic enough, Blacks in Texas could have been freed as early as 1830, when Texas’ exemption from Mexico anti-slavery laws would have expired had it remained a part of Mexico.

Politics

Steve King Vies for Title of Top Political Bigot

Written by Stephen Piggott

House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC) member Rep. Steve King is one of the biggest immigrant bashers in Washington today. King represents Iowa’s 5th district, which is 95% white and has a population of just over half a million. He was elected to Congress in 2003 on an anti-immigration platform.

Since his election seven years ago, King has made a name for himself as one of the most outspoken anti-immigrant Congressmen. He’s a publicist’s worst nightmare as he can’t seem to think before speaking, which leads to ludicrous rants and rave. He was in the news again this week for comments he made about racial profiling and President Barack Obama. With these in mind, Imagine2050… Read more

Politics

Murder in the Desert, Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Turns Violent

Written by Jill Garvey

In addition to shootings of Latinos by Border Patrol agents, there have been mysterious shootings and even murders in Arizona deserts. Troubling details are emerging that suggest these attacks on Latinos are not drug-related, as often reported, but the work of violent border vigilantes.

In the wake of the uproar over the passage of racist SB 1070 in Arizona, border vigilantes like Barbara Coe and Glenn Spencer, just to name a few, are revving up their anti-immigrant rhetoric. In a trend that has disturbing parallels, several immigrants were targeted by camouflaged gunmen last week. And two Latino men were found murdered in the Arizona desert on June 6. Read more

Politics

Targeting Immigrant Children: Arizona’s Crumbling Moral Foundation

Written by Rev. David L. Ostendorf

As if the recently-enacted Arizona law targeting ethnic studies in the state’s public schools were not enough; as if a now-scuttled attempt to “lighten” the faces of children in a Prescott mural were not enough; and as if the state’s new immigrant-profiling law were not enough, now comes a proposal from the infamous state senator Russell Pearce to deny birth certificates for children born in Arizona of undocumented parents.  Not to be outdone, Governor Brewer has voiced her support for the idea.

Even for anti-immigrant Arizona, Pearce’s proposal is an unconscionable new low—using children born in the U.S. as pawns to get at their immigrant parents.  Whatever religious, moral, or… Read more

Immigration

Indigenous Peoples Take a Stand Against Senate Bill 1070

Written by Cloee Cooper

86 years after the Indian Citizenship Act, indigenous communities are challenging the notion of what it is to be a U.S. citizen. In June of 1924 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act. Controversial for its time, the Act recognized the citizenship of U.S. indigenous people.

Prior to 1924, individuals in the indigenous community were only granted citizenship if they served in the military, denounced tribal affiliations, or assimilated into American society. Those opposed to the 1924 Act wanted indigenous citizenship policies to remain the same however, and in some places inequality persisted. Until 1947 Native Americans did not have the right to vote in Arizona and New Mexico.

Now indigenous communities organize alongside… Read more

Politics

Nativism and Fascism: The Meaning of Anti-Immigrant Protests

Written by Guest Blogger

By Joel Olson

I didn’t go to the pro-SB 1070 rally on the lawn of the Arizona capitol this weekend, even though I was in Phoenix. (I live in Flagstaff, about two hours north.) It was a rare beautiful day in June and the grandparents had the kids, so we went to dinner and a movie instead.

It’s really not necessary to attend these sorts of events, at least not if you’ve been to them before. It’s basically the same cast of white folk and their politicians. The crowd consists of white supremacists, conspiracy theorists, “patriots” drenched in red/white/blue, and a good number of grandparents who no doubt are otherwise fine people, but whose humanity… Read more

Immigration

The High Cost of Citizenship Goes Higher

Written by Jill Garvey

Skyrocketing immigration fees over the last three years are pricing immigrants out of a path to citizenship.

In 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) raised citizenship fees by an average of 70%. In 2008, the agency tacked on a $375 fee for females aged 11-26 for an HPV vaccine – that amounted to an additional 25% increase for young women. Now the agency says it is raising the cost of obtaining a green card, business visa and other immigration benefits by a “weighted average” of 10%. The operative word here is weighted.

The disparity among fee increases is… Read more

Politics

FDA Risks Lives, Votes to Uphold Homophobic “Gay Blood Ban”

Written by Stephen Piggott

Let’s face it; there is a serious shortage of blood in this country and for that matter around the world. The Red Cross is in dire need of type O Negative blood and is estimating that it will face a critical shortage this summer if more donors are not found. In many donation centers around the United States, blood donations are down, even though springtime is usually the high time of donations. The consequences of this shortage are very serious, with people such as transplant patients not able to get the blood they need for serious operations. With lives on the line, ordinary citizens, medical experts and the US government have all been… Read more

Politics

Cross-post: Revitalize Rural America? First Grow Some Backbone

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Eric Holt Gimenez, Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Annie Shattuck published this great piece on Huffington Post last week taking the USDA to task.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack recently declared a “silent” crisis in rural America. Silent? The American farmers testifying at the joint antitrust listening sessions held by the USDA and Department of Justice (DoJ) were loud enough. If their denunciation of the monopolies controlling our food system–and government inaction on antitrust abuse–is silence, it is only because their voices fell on deaf ears.

Yesterday Tom Vilsack, with the best of intentions, published an opinion piece outlining, among other things, the need

… Read more

Politics

Cross-post: Hunger Strike Outside Senator’s Office Should Stir Action

Written by Imagine 2050 Editors

Although this particular action has ceased, the hunger strike in New York by Dream Act students and supporters deserves more attention than it received last week. Albor Ruiz reports for the New York Daily News:

Since the first of June, 10 immigrant students have been on a hunger strike outside Sen. Chuck Schumer‘s Manhattan office. Their courageous action speaks volumes of the depth of the immigration crisis.

Yet, almost incredibly, this dramatic event has not captured the attention of mainstream media or moved Schumer to sit down with the students.