‘Boycott Arizona!’ responds to apartheid law

Ever since the signing of Arizona’s racist SB 1070, protests and outrage against this apartheid-like law have continued nonstop. In addition to the protests and demonstrations demanding the repeal of SB 1070, the call for “Boycott Arizona!” has emerged and caught fire.

The boycott is a weapon that was effectively wielded against apartheid South Africa and was previously used against Arizona in the early 1990s when the state refused to enact the national Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. That boycott cost Arizona an estimated $350 million in convention business along with the 1993 Super Bowl. The economic boycott resulted in the creation of a state MLK holiday.

Immediately after the signing of SB 1070, the American Immigration Lawyers Association decided to move its fall 2010 annual conference out of Arizona. San Francisco and other cities in California passed resolutions calling for a boycott of Arizona. Arizona’s major league baseball team, the Diamondbacks, whose owners contributed heavily to the coffers of Arizona politicians who pushed through the bill, is being boycotted and faces demonstrators in any city where they play.

Award-winning author Tayari Jones wrote eloquently about why she decided to boycott Arizona and declined to appear at the Pima Summer Writers Conference in Tucson: “That people should be legally required to show proof of citizenship is similar to the antebellum mandate that Black people produce ‘free papers’ proving themselves not to be slaves. It recalls the pass system under South Africa’s Apartheid. Sadly, visiting Arizona for a conference or a vacation without fear has become an ostentatious display of privilege.” (tayarijones.com/blog/)

Hip-hop artists, poets, other entertainers and artists have endorsed the Boycott Arizona campaign. The Internet is ablaze with videos, on-line petitions and Facebook groups that support the boycott. Artists Against Arizona’s SB 1070 is one Facebook group calling on the artist community to boycott Arizona. Artists can join the campaign by finding the group’s Facebook page or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

This racist, vicious, anti-immigrant law was passed in Arizona just as the state prepares to unleash a harsh and austere budget that attacks public education, health care, and all social services. This attempt to divide people and blame immigrants for all of society’s ills will not succeed. The Boycott Arizona! Campaign is a weapon we can use to cripple the economy of Arizona’s racist ruling class. This can be a progressive weapon to weaken the Arizona bosses’ economy, just as these bosses are attempting to break down the workers, stealing jobs, education and access to social services. Boycott Arizona!