I agree with President Obama that Arizona’s new immigration law is ‘misguided’.

Governor Jan Brewer‘s unwavering signature on SB 1070 marked the beginning of this generation’s civil rights era.

This new law requires police agencies across Arizona  to  investigate the immigration status of every person they  come across whom they have ‘Reasonable  Suspicion’ to  believe is in the country unlawfully.

Reasonable Suspicion’… that’s where I believe the  problem lies.

‘Reasonable  Suspicion’ is like the 1954 decision in  Brown VS the Board of Education where the Supreme Court  ordered states to integrate schools with ‘Deliberate  Speed’. Well, for some southern states, ’Deliberate   Speed’ took three years and longer. It took  President  Eisenhower sending federal troops to Little Rock -  bringing federal troops to the south for the first and  only time since the Civil War, to help Arkansas define  ’Deliberate Speed’ to mean ’integrate  now.’

So, if ‘Reasonable Suspicion’  gets interpreted too  loosely, like a young lady with brown skin, or a van  with more than two people in it, or a young man with a  bandana and baggy pants named Francisco, maybe President Obama  should  show the strong arm of the Federal government – as  Eisenhower did – and federalize the Arizona National  Guard so they can help law enforcement in Arizona define  ‘Reasonable Suspicion’  and assure the Governor’s promise  that she will not tolerate racial discrimination or  racial profiling – is kept.

Now, I can’t say everyone who  supports this law is  racist. But I have ‘Reasonable  Suspicion’  that the results of this law will produce racism.

What this law really reminds me of are the Black Codes -  the various legislation passed by Southern states at the end of the Civil War to control the labor, movements and  activities of newly-freed slaves. It also reminds me of  the Jim Crow laws that states and cities enacted to  continue the racial repressive practices of segregation.  Then, and now, there were different laws for different  people. One law for Whites. Another law for Blacks. Now,  in Arizona, they have one law for Whites and another law  for Mexicans.

If Arizona really wanted to assure their law  was not  discriminatory, why not require that everyone in Arizona  or visiting Arizona carry proof of citizenship and be required to show it at any encounter with a law enforcement officer. With that, the interpretation of  ‘Reasonable Suspicion’ would be removed from the call of  officers and everyone would be treated the same. But  that version of the bill would never have passed because  everyone would never agree to suffer the inconveniences  of having to carry ‘papers’ proving  citizenship and the  possibility of jail if you happen not to have the papers  on you.

When will Americans accept that we are all -  Whites,  Blacks, Asians, Africans, Mexicans – all of us – legal  and illegal – human and equal in every way? We must stop  using nationalism, patriotism and even legalism to cloak  racism. We must live up to our Declaration of  Independence and realize that all men are created equal,  that we are endowed by our Creator with certain  unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty  and the pursuit of happiness.

Now isn’t the pursuit of  happiness what most immigrants  come to America for?

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