If the recent immigration legislation passed in Arizona reveals anything, it is twofold: the blatant xenophobic hate-mongering of the religious right and their utter failure to “get” racism.
SB 1070 has been met with condemnation from the progressive, mainline religious community and many evangelical groups. However, some conservative religious groups, such as the American Family Association, lauded the bill. Bryan Fischer, director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy at the American Family Association, in a statement issued by the AFA regarding Arizona’s SB 1070, praised this legislation, saying it “will make them [Arizonans] safer and will lower taxpayers costs for welfare, law enforcement, education, and health services.” Regarding the prospect of amnesty, which he believes is inevitably coming and is the true desire of the president (whom Fischer refers to as “our America-despising boy president”) and the “American Socialists,” Fischer remarks: “we will be inundated with disease-ridden, drug-smuggling criminals slavering over the prospect of getting the ultimate free pass.”
The hateful, xenophobic rhetoric is overt here; I need not undertake painstaking analysis to show that. The religious right, in their effort to preserve “[Christian] national identity, culture, ideals and values” (whatever that means), must necessarily despise diversity, and instead rely on fear and lies. Apparently, facts mean little to those xenophobes on the religious right. Statistics indicate that undocumented persons commit crimes at lower rates than natural born citizens. In fact, it generally isn’t until the third and fourth generations that crime rates in groups increase. Guess what? That’s lots of white European folks. Also, the vast majority of those coming across the border are not drug smugglers; they are honest, well-intentioned people looking for a better way for themselves and their families. An honest evaluation of facts shows the religious right’s rabid hysteria over immigration devoid of anything resembling sound analysis and solid data.
While expressing my dismay regarding SB 1070 and its inevitable reliance on outright racial profiling, an acquaintance of mine (coincidentally a religious conservative) exclaimed, “Well, I’m not racist; I have friends who are Hispanic!” As far as I can tell, this is the understanding of racism that so many on the religious right have. However, racism is not about not having black or brown friends, Hispanic or Asian friends. Racism is systemic, endemic, and institutionalized, and is inherent in legislation like SB 1070. The United States has instigated, and continues to perpetuate, systematized and institutionalized racism. Consider this: Arizona was once Mexican territory until the United States under President James K. Polk wrested it away from Mexico in the name of the pernicious doctrine of Manifest Destiny. How can these people be illegal in what has historically been their territory? Their ancestors lived here, not ours. In fact, wouldn’t it be much more accurate to say that white people are illegal in Arizona? If anyone should carry their papers in Arizona, shouldn’t it be the white folks?
Racism is about privilege and power, who has it and who doesn’t. As a white, heterosexual male, I participate in a system that benefits me; I never have to think about race, or if I will be served efficiently and politely in a restaurant, or what may happen if I am pulled over by the police. Racism is much larger than individual actions; it is about how some folks benefit within political, social, economic, and religious systems, and who suffers. White folk most definitely have luxuries not afforded others based upon the color of their skin.
In his letter from the Birmingham Jail, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” With this in mind, what if the Hispanic folks who walk across the border were met by a bunch of white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, and every other sort of folk on the United States side and all marched together to demand the end of imperialism, the end of corporate fraud, the end of bigotry, the end of government corruption, and the end of cheap labor and economic inequality in the United States, Mexico, and everywhere else? Clearly, those of us who oppose SB 1070 don’t have our heads in the proverbial sand; at least I hope we don’t. We recognize that the system is broken, that the issue of immigration requires a thoughtful, comprehensive, and loving response. However, SB 1070 isn’t any of that. I believe that faithful, progressive people must use this opportunity to educate the population on what racism and white privilege actually are, and to courageously and boldly call SB 1070 what it is: racism.
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