The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer.
It’s time! Ballots in hand, black Tucsonans must vote yes on Proposition 205 to defeat hate and defend sanctuary in our city.
I’m not from Tucson but it is home. My family of four moved to Tucson in 2012 by way of Kansas City and Selma, excited about the prospects in a multicultural, artistically minded, politically active city. In our first week in Tucson, as I stepped on to 4th Ave to visit Revolutionary Grounds, I was called the N-word for the first time in my life. It was strange counting more Confederate flags and plates on the road here than in Alabama.
And at the same time, my family quickly learned what it meant to live in the borderlands. Through close friends, we witnessed how a broken US immigration policy, racist state legislation and a complicit local government really meant a permanent state of fear in the everyday lives of a community who had to rely on churches and nonprofit organizations for sanctuary. It felt eerily familiar. We had to get involved.
I believe black Tucsonans intimately understand this just like we did. When policy and politicians fail us, we mobilize. Racism and xenophobia in the United States and Tucson drive us to be relentless advocates of freedom and justice for all because Assata Shakur’s words ring true: “Any community seriously concerned with its own freedom has to be concerned about other peoples’ freedom as well.”
Fast forward to today, I was proud to hear black Mississippians stood in solidarity with migrant families traumatized by ICE raids in August. Like them, I’m certain black Tucsonans know that when well-meaning good folk do nothing, it ends in tragedy for the marginalized.
As Zadie Smith says, nothing can compare to our living nightmare of disappearance, dissolution and, I must add, death. Tinted car windows, no papers and simply existing should never end in family separation, detention, deportation or death. The lessons from our shared experience compel us to stand in solidarity with our migrant family and friends.
Because of the lives we live, black Tucsonans are not fooled by false advertising. The label “Immigrant Welcoming City” is superficial. It implies Tucson is leading an ongoing community discussion and implementing measures to fully embrace our migrant community, when in fact, Tucson falls short of the name it claims.
ACLU research documents general order violations by local police even as the City Council claims Tucson is “immigrant friendly.” Friendship without safety and mutual support is unacceptable, harmful and not helpful.
As Angela Davis encourages us, we no longer accept the things we cannot change but change the things we cannot accept. Because of this, we are called to vote and send the message: Defeat hate and defend sanctuary!
Voting yes on Prop. 205 will keep families together and oppose disturbing state policy Tucson never wanted in the first place. Prop. 205, through 16 mandates, challenges the racist SB1070 legislation by stunting its impact without breaking the law.
It designates schools, churches and hospitals as safe spaces, limits racial profiling and stops local police collaboration with Border Patrol and ICE related to immigration. The ACLU, the organization that crafted Tucson’s 2014 general orders, endorses Prop. 205 because it is sensible, grassroots legislation written by a diverse group of regular Tucsonans.
Our unique lens of hate and ignorance in the U.S. validates the truth that, until we are all free, none of us are free. This resonates with black Tucsonans and we will vote yes for Sanctuary: Proposition 205, Tucson Families Free and Together!
