Aftermath of Arizona: Marie goes to the cactus state, finds little more than her quaint family...and cactii

A few weeks ago, I traveled to Arizona for my grandmother's 80th birthday. My family and I had been planning this weekend trip for months, but I had no clue I would be going in the wake of anything like SB 1070. I would like to share a few of my own, personal thoughts on my (albeit brief) experience in the state of Arizona right after the passage of SB 1070, as well as offer some commentary about Arizona's reaction to the law.

First of all, I think it's worth mentioning what I had, consciously and unconsciously, been expecting to see and experience in Arizona. After hearing a lot about the law both in the news and discussing it extensively in class, I had (perhaps erroneously) assumed that coverage and knowledge of SB1070 was pretty widespread. I thought it was a hot topic. How could Arizonans not be abuzz with talk of something this big? I mean, after all, I live and study in Seattle and my parents live in Chicago and all of us were following the story pretty closely. Arizonans, I figured, were going to be at least as equally enthralled. I also did not expect a warm reception of my views. I know that this kind of legislation passed in the state of Arizona for a reason: lots of voters there feel strongly about the issue of immigration and do not look fondly upon undocumented workers. I was expecting overwhelmingly supportive and celebratory tones with regards to this law and was expecting quick rebuttal against anything I, or anyone else, would have to say with regards to the racial profiling and institutionalized racism based on the ecology of fear. Just as a bit of background on my own family, all of my family members who currently live in the American southwest identify strongly with the conservative Christian right. My uncle is an adamant tea party supporter and Republican party member. My grandmother and aunt both are very involved in religious activities. My nuclear family (my mother, father, and brother) all live outside of Chicago and identify strongly with the liberal left. Prior to our visit, my father and uncle had been engaged in lengthy, sometimes harshly-worded, email exchanges arguing about politics and exchanging fits of rage and disgust. I worried, coming into that weekend, that a firefight would ensue. I thought the heated political climate of the state, fueled by news of SB1070, added to political differences within my family, would create the perfect storm of clashing expressions of opinions and ideologies.

It's strange to say this with the hint of chagrin I feel, but, I was wrong.

To be fair, my family had nearly unanimously decided that we would put off discussion of religion and politics for the weekend in order to avoid negativity on this special occasion. However, I was a little surprised to find the news of this law didn't simply permeate the atmosphere. I half expected to find protesters or at least a few posters as I exited the airport. Instead, it seemed there wasn't much being said...at least not loudly enough for me to hear. I made mental notes of campaign signs and posters along the road, but most of them were running for state or local government and I had not heard of them. I did recognize John McCain's name and recalled how he had been a supporter of placing troops on the US border in order to "secure" it. I wondered if Arizonians championed him for that and perhaps thought he could have influenced the passage of SB1070. Curiously, the only standout campaign sign we saw was one for McCain, but next to it had an old toilet with the words "MCCAIN STINKS" written in spray paint across it. At first glance, this seems like an instance of a left-wing or liberal person who opposed the Republican senator...but as my father quickly pointed out, the message behind that...uh...unique...demonstrative work was actually critical of McCain and meant to imply that he's drifting too far center, or even left, for certain conservative tastes. Although I knew that Arizona was a predominantly conservative state, I was actually interested to see if there would be any visible signs of opposition. I didn't see a single thing. After a while, I realized that this could have been due to the fact that my family there resides in the relatively wealthy suburb of Phoenix known as Scottsdale where residents are mostly white, upper-middle class. I wish I had had time to explore other parts of the Phoenix area to see how other communities were showing (or not showing) their reaction to this law.

Without much to go by from my visit, I was left curious as to how Arizonians really felt about SB1070. So I did a little digging on my own. According to this recent Rassmussen Report, Arizonians favored the bill and 64% of likely voters support the law. Since April, the support has grown to up to 71%. Here's one interesting quote:

[M]ost Arizona voters (57%) favor an immigration policy that welcomes all immigrants except “national security threats, criminals and those who would come here to live off our welfare system.”

To call an undocumented worker a "security threat", a "criminal", and someone who has come here to live off our "welfare system" is a gross characterization of a few exceptions to the rule. These fear tactics play into the ecology of fear, which makes Arizonians favor passing such a law if they think it will keep them, and their livelihoods, safer. These characterizations are also used in justifying the state of exception for these people that opens the door to institutionalized racism and allows supporters to believe it is right to suspend the rights of these people in the name of national security. Perhaps this speaks to the reasoning behind the majority of Arizonians backing this law.

On a side note, in another report, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's ratings have received a substantial boost after passing SB1070. This implies that Arizona voters are pleased with her action. One concern I see is that if her ratings go up, it will be seen as a politically wise move and perhaps other state governors will follow suit. Legal decisions serves as examples and frameworks and their effects do not go unseen: What kind of decisions is SB1070 encouraging and how much more power does it have now that it has not only the backing of the voters, but the effect of raising the governors ratings? These are questions that can only be addressed at extensive length.

Although there is, indeed, support nationwide, I wanted to share a little bit more about the reaction of those against the law. Here is one of the most entertaining political comedians I have ever found and although he mixes some harsh comedy (and a little salty language, I warn) I believe he portrays a few key points, one of the most notable being that undocumented workers do not come across the border and commit violent crimes, instead they come to do the jobs that no caucasian wants to do, as cliche as that sounds. I believe he reacts in a passionate and outspoken way...which honestly, I would expect to see more of on either side of the argument. Anyway, here's the clip:

Here is a video that artistically begs one of the most important questions about this law: What does "illegal" look like? I think this must have been the reaction of countless people in the state. Who has the complexion for protection and who is left unprotected? Here's the video:

There is one profound reason that I believe I did not encounter much exposure to reaction to SB1070, and this gets personal but I do believe it has a point. Two months before the family would gather to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday, she suffered her second stroke and was hospitalized. We were not sure she would make it to see her birthday. This single event helped the entire family put things into perspective. As much as individuals have feelings and opinions about the decisions being made around them, it is often the case that more proximate, more personal, matters take precedence. I feel like this is the case for most individuals who do not have the time or resources to speak out either for or against a piece of legislation, or even to seek further information about it. In my family, we were able to put aside our differences in order to celebrate the life of a truly amazing woman who we all love and value deeply. To me, this showed that as divisive as political forces may seem, we are human after all and we can always work to find common ground. This, I believe, is reason for at least a little hope.

Oh, and here's a cactus picture taken by yours truly: