The people of difference I will be interacting with are the Mexican-Americans living in Flagstaff Arizona. These individuals will be there to protest against the new immigration bill 1070. Before attending, I imagine the people of difference would be against the bill 1070 because it is in violation of their freedoms and rights. The Arizona senate bill 1070 will require police officers to ask all people of difference to prove their American citizenship without probable cause. If the accused people of difference are unable to do so they are to be arrested, fined, and imprisoned. While many individuals against this bill are people whom have come to America illegally in search of work, I understand that there are many American Citizens who will be negatively affected by this bill.
I went to Flagstaff, Arizona to visit my boyfriend’s family this weekend. We spent Saturday, May 1st, walking around downtown Flagstaff. Suddenly, we heard honking from a line of cars. As one of the cars drove by, a Mexican-American boy no older than 8 was holding on to a sign, out of the window that read, “All American’s Deserve Freedom!” Reading these words made my heart sink. To realize that I am living in a state that would pass a bill allowing this kind of discrimination towards people of difference was devastating. We quickly made our way to join the thousands of protesters.
I made the effort to speak specifically to one family, the Lopez family. The father of the family, Archie, had come to Arizona in 1994, with a work Visa, and brought with him his wife Mary. They now have four children whom were all born American Citizens. The family explained to me that they were devastated to hear that the Senate Bill 1070 was being passed because they were so proud to be able to live in a country that prides it’s self on freedom. Jessie, the oldest daughter, said, “My family has never done anything against the law and we are all here legally, why are we being targeted because of the color of our skin or the country we come from?” I wish I had had an answer for her. One thing I did notice during this protest that I found interesting was that most of the people of difference protesting were carrying American flags. While in the past, many Mexican-American’s have made it a point to protest immigration laws carrying both Mexican flags and American flags, protestors stated that they are proud to be American citizens and they want everyone to see them and treat them as such.
One thing I have learned that will help me professionally is that diversity acceptance is an important thing to implement in all aspects of life. Working with in the non-profit field, I will be working with many people of difference to better their lives in society and in the United States of America. Although most non-profits are prohibited from becoming involved in the political process, if I am fortunate enough to work with a 501(c)(4) organization, I will be working to stop many bills, like the senate bill 1070, that prohibit the acceptance and protection of all American citizens.
On a personal level, I have learned that as a society we are far from “global tolerance.” We are willing to jeopardize the freedom of American citizens simply because they are people of difference because it is the “quick” solution to our immigration problem. Sadly, Arizona is also planning to cut the ethnic studies in grade school classrooms. It seems as though our state is working in the opposite direction. Classrooms and teachers should be implementing more cultural and diverse studies so that our future leaders may be more accepting that those currently leading our governments. If we were able to better understand the cultures of people of difference, perhaps we would be able to solve such problems from a more logical stand point. I will continue to push teachings of diverse cultures to children in grade school and maybe they too will implement the same trainings when they begin their careers and open up their own businesses. Secondly, I will work with 501(c)(4) non-profit organizations to help keep families together and protect American citizens from racial profiling.
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