Youth taking a stance for justice

By Cristina FrésquezEl SemanarioMay 6, 2010As local governments continue to violate the human rights of Latino communities across this country, our youth are standing up and saying ¡Ya basta y no más! The passing of the unjust racial profiling law, SB 1070, in Arizona has undoubtedly captured the attention of the nation as outcries of injustice and discrimination flood the streets of our communities.
In unity with other students across the nation, hundreds of students in Denver held walk-outs from their high schools and colleges, marching in solidarity to the capitol to take a stand against the discriminatory Arizona law. Youth from over ten different metro area schools marched on to the steps of the Capitol last week and made their voices heard, the messages of ya basta to SB 1070 and calls for comprehensive immigration reform echoed through the streets of downtown.
Carrying signs that proclaimed, “Students united against 1070” and “Brown is beautiful, not illegal”, students walked out of their schools at 1:30pm last Friday, the same time SB 1070 was signed into law in Arizona and exactly one week after the fact. Students were joined by allies in the walk-outs, which included teachers and, even principals.
“In Arizona we were used to living in fear. Fear of authority; fear of alienation; and fear of losing our homes. But as soon as we moved here I realized that all that fear was unnecessary. We didn’t have to fear Sheriff Arpaio’s checkpoints anymore,” explained Lady Reblado, student leader with Padres y Jovenes Unidos. Reblado grew up in Arizona, but her and her family had moved to Colorado recently. “Arizona has always been a tough place for our people, and now after SB 1070 everything has gotten worse. We are here today to say enough!”
The youth, a portion of whom are eligible voters, made it clear that they don’t approve of SB 1070 and they will not stand by and allow similar legislation in Colorado. Youth called out legislators who have worked to enact laws, like HB 1023, here in Colorado which are discriminatory by nature, including Andrew Romanoff who had voted against in-state tuition for children of undocumented immigrants.
“When any government thinks that they can pass laws to put chains on people, we’re going to stand up and say ya basta! We are not accepting the laws. We have a right to march against illegal laws and Arizona law SB 1070 is an illegal law, inhumane law, unjust law, and does not serve anybody – and we have to stand up against it,” declared Nita Gonzales, Principal of Escuela Tlatelolco.
The passage of SB 1070 is all too eerily familiar to the Latino communities of the Southwest. From 1953-56, the Federal Government enacted “Operation Wetback”, where local police and border patrol officials detained and deported over 2 million people who were “suspected” of being or looked undocumented, several of whom were actually US citizens. Because racist anti-immigrant sentiment continues to seep into our country’s subconscious, its crucial now more than ever for people to be active in fighting this oppression.
“History tells us that if we let it exist, it will not stop with just one group. It’s a poison that spreads and has the potential to divide all of us. This time we need to stick together,” commented Reblado, after reminding people what happened in Nazi Germany.
The organized students have specific actions they want to see President Obama take charge of, including stepping in to support and defend people of color in Arizona; make it clear to Arizona and all other states that only the Federal government has the right to develop and enforce immigration laws; eliminate all police and ICE relationships; order ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to stop all raids and deportations across the U.S.; support the boycott of Arizona based companies; and to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“We cannot let this happen in Arizona. We will not let this happen here. We will not let this happen anywhere. It is only in our unity that we can achieve this. We are youth and the power of our voices is great. I ask that all of you here keep an open heart to what you feel today. Let the movement take you and inspire you to be a part of something much bigger than yourself,” proclaimed Dylan Torres, a youth organizer with Padres Unidos. “This law promotes racism and hate. But our love and our passion are much stronger than their hate. Our love, our passion will defeat their hate.”