Erin Petersen

Milwaukee protests Arizona’s SB 1070

By - May 3rd, 2010 04:00 am

As part of a nationwide protest movement, thousands of Milwaukeeans  gathered near 5th and National Avenue on May Day to show their collective opposition to Arizona’s SB 1070 immigration law. The new law allows police officers the right to request identification from any person who they “reasonably suspect”  is in the country illegally, which essentially encourages systematic racial profiling of hispanics in the state of Arizona, opponents say.

I was among the marchers as Milwaukee’s protest stepped off around noon in front of  the Voces De La Frontera headquarters on 5th and Washington. Organizers addressed the crowd in English and in Spanish, calling upon President Obama  to intervene in Arizona’s bigoted new legislature and to focus on immigration reform in the United States. As the crowd made its way down the long stretch of National Avenue heading to the Mitchell Park Domes, everyone from toddlers to octogenarians waved flags and chanted “Sí se puede!” (Yes we can). Two hours later, as the crowd descended upon Mitchell Park, VDLF Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz said the passage of SB 1070 “awakened a new chapter in the immigrant rights movement” in America and that it’s “helped to unify the movement across race, gender and geography.”

Though pro-SB 1070 groups had also planned anti-protests, Milwaukee’s march was peaceful. That is, except for a brief but startling fire that sent smoke billowing out into the crowd in front of VDLF. Just before the march began, smoke was visible near the building, but because of the crowd it was unclear exactly where it was coming from. I heard a few people mention the possibility of  sabotage, but of course none of that could be verified right away and we moved on.

I stopped at the alley afterward to take a better look and found a charred dumpster. The Journal Sentinel released a quick blurb about the dumpster fire, but there was no mention of whether it was set intentionally in protest of the VDLF rally.

Saturday’s march is only the first step in a “peaceful, yet strategic” campaign to boycott Arizona until SB 1070 is repealed. More information here.

Categories: News, Urban Ideas

0 thoughts on “Milwaukee protests Arizona’s SB 1070”

  1. Anonymous says:

    I attended the march and experienced real democracy in action. The marchers need to keep up their activism.

  2. Anonymous says:

    It is shameful to draw Holocaust analogies within the framework of discussing Arizona SB 1070. However, the rationale expressed by those who compare the legalization of hate and Antisemitism that prevailed prior to the inception of concentration camps is, in my opinion, justified.

    The Anti Defamation League http://www.adl.org/civil_rights/ agrees:
    “ADL is honored to participate in this important telephonic press conference today and to stand with our friends in the Hispanic and civil rights communities year-round to fight bigotry, prejudice and discrimination.”

    By visiting http://www.azleg.gov a reading of the final text will reveal:
    Section 2, E allows law enforcement officers to arrest you without a warrant, because the officer determines “probable cause”, not a court.
    Section 4, E allows any peace officer to stop and detain anyone for “reasonable suspicion”.
    Sections 5 & 6, allows officers legal access to your private property, home or business.

    All the enforcement muscle is flexed on our streets, on our land and even in our homes as long as the authorities have ‘Reasonable Suspicion’. We lose Due Process. Probable Cause and legitimize racial profiling, is this a good trade for so-called border security??

  3. Anonymous says:

    […] The minority vote in 2008 played a decisive role for Mr. Obama both nationally and in several key states. He lost the white vote but outperformed among all other races. In North Carolina, where Mr. Obama won by a mere 14,000 votes, African Americans accounted for nearly a quarter of the electorate, and 95% of them voted for Mr. Obama, according to exit polls. Minority voters also helped push Mr. Obama over the top in Indiana, Virginia and New Mexico, while expanding his margins in big states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. photo source: ThirdCoast Digest […]

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