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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 9, 2012)
3'l’f ^ortlanh (Obstruer Page 8 May 9, 2012 Corporate Sponsors of a Reckless Agenda Group should redress the harm it caused M arc H . M orial Last m onth, the civil rights com m unity and A m e r ic a n s o f c o n science w on a m ajor victory against the cor porately funded conservative policy group that supported the “Stand Y our G ro u n d ” law responsible fo rd elay in g the arrest o f Trayvon M artin’s killer. T his sam e group is behind dozens o f voter ID law s, w hich are jeo p a rd iz in g the voting rights o f m il lions o f A m ericans. A fter an exodus o f m ajor corporate sponsors, prom pted by pressure from a coalitio n o f progressive and civil rights o rganizations, including the N ational by U rban L eague, the A m erican L eg isla tive E xchange C ouncil (A L E C ) o ffi cially en d ed its involvem en t in these issues, saying in part, “W e are e lim in a t ing the A L E C public safety and e le c tions task force that dealt w ith non econom ic issues.” Corporate support, w hich ranges from $7,000 to $25,000 in annual dues to the organization, began to w ither in the wake o f the public outcry against Florida’s Stand Y our G round law, w hich shields a gunm an from prosecution simply by claim- ing a suspicion that his or her life was in danger. G eorge Z im m erm an m ade that claim to Sanford, Fla. police officers who incredulously did not arrest him follow ing the Feb. 26 shooting death o f the unarm ed, 17-year-old M artin. W hile presenting itself as an organiza tion that prom otes legislation w hich serves the financial interests o f its corporate funders, A L E C has used its close ties to conservative state legislators to sponsor sim ilar “Kill at W ill” laws in 30 states - and the tragic body count is growing. In Florida alone, since the law was passed in 2005, that state’s “justifiable hom icide” rate has ju m p ed 300 percent. The organization has also supported dozens o f unnecessary voter ID law s across the country that m ay keep as m any as five m illion citizens from exercising their right to vote in this all im portant election year. In rallies, letters, and social m edia out reach, the civil rights com m unity rem inded A L E C ’s corporate sponsors, including C oca-C ola, M cD onald’s, PepsiC o and Kraft, that significant num bers o f consum ers fo u n d th e ir a sso c iatio n w ith the organization’s extrem e agenda offensive. W hen a grow ing num ber o f businesses began severing their ties with A LE C , the group backed aw ay from supporting these “non econom ic” issues. But we urge A L E C to go one step further. N ow that A L E C has ack n o w led g ed that its activ ities led it far b ey o n d the bo u n d s o f reaso n ab le com m ercial leg is lative activity, w e call upon the g ro u p to d ev o te its co n sid erab le reso u rces to re dress the harm s cau sed by the “P ublic S afety and E lectio n s” task force - d a n g ero u s p o licies that arm ed civ ilian v ig i la n te s a n d d is e n fra n c h is e d se n io rs, people o f co lo r, and the d isab led by the millions. T he full im p act o f these m easures has only begun to be felt. F or ex am p le, law s that restrict voting access are still in the p ip elin e in m any states. A sim ple disavow al o f its m isguided activ ities w ill be insufficient to co rrect the dam age that has already b een caused. W e call upon the A m erican L eg islativ e E xchange C ouncil to actively support o u r “O ccu p y the V ote” cam p aig n to rep eal these o n erous law s. Marc H. Morial is president and chief executive officer o f the National Urban League. Citizenship for Hard Working Young People DREAM Act keeps faith with our values R ep . C harles G onzalez T he proudest claim anyone can m ake is that Hhey are a citizen o f this great country. C itizenship com m ands duties I by ** and responsibilities freely a s sum ed by those w ho love and cherish the U nited States. C iti zenship inspires and enables us to m ake our ow n unique c o ntribution an d is at the c o re o f the A m erican d ream . T he original D R E A M A ct is a b ip ar tisan plan that en su res und o cu m en ted children will not be relegated to underclass status. It allow s law -abiding, h ard -w o rk ing young people to co ntinue c o n trib u t ing to their adopted h om eland and earn citizenship. T he D R E A M A ct perm its ch ild ren w ho violated no law w hen they IJorttani» (Dbseruer w ere brought to the U .S. to attain their full p o tential and en han ce A m erican society. »emocrats w orked w ith R epublicans to incorporate th eir ideas and m ade 11 significant changes to the bill. In fac t, R e p u b lic a n S e n a to r O rrin H atch from U tah w as one o f the law m akers w ho introduced the bill. It took nine years to get a vote on the floors o f the H ouse and Senate and though that is a long tim e, we did not give up. A nd w e w ill not give up now . In addition to o u r partn ers in both parties, the diverse D R E A M student com m unity had a m ajor im pact on g et ting the bill to the floor. E very step o f the w ay, D R E A M ers w ere there to show the w orld how im portant this legislation is for the econom y and for the p reserv a tion o f A m erican ideals. H earing from D R E A M ers w as im portant fo r leg isla tors in the C ongressional H isp an ic C a u Established 1970 USPS 959-680 __________________________________ 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 cus and as w e co n tin u e to w ork to w ard p assin g this bill, w e w ant to con tin u e h earing from them . E arning citizen sh ip is essential b e cau se m ere legal resid en cy w ill serve only as a life sentence to being releg ated to an u n d erclass status. It is against the values o f o u r co u n try to ask D R E A M ers to w ork hard, pay taxes and sacrifice th eir lives fo r o u r country, but deny them citizenship. It is also contrary to the long- estab lish ed legal principle that you d o n ’t p u n ish ch ild ren fo r the acts o f a parent. A ny leg islatio n that d o es not allow a p ath w ay to citizen sh ip is not w orthy o f bein g co n n ected to the D R E A M Act. W h en it co m es to im m ig ratio n reform , it has b een argued that ‘so m ething is b e t ter than n o th in g ,’ but is it really so m e thing if it g u aran tees a lifelong b lo ck to eq u ality ? T he D R E A M A ct is not dead, but it m ust be resu scitated w ith b ip arti san support. It is u n accep tab le to k eep a g ro u p o f y o u n g p eo p le in a state o f u n certain ty and to restrict th eir ability to assim ilate and b eco m e fully vested in this great country. T he A m erican people ap p ear to agree. A cco rd in g to a poll co n d u cted by F ox N ew s in D ecem b er, 66 percen t o f all reg istered voters su p p o rted a p a th w ay to citizen sh ip fo r u n d o cu m en ted im m ig ran ts w h o paid taxes, learn ed E n glish and had n o crim inal back g ro u n d . F o r the future o f o u r co u n try and o u r econom ic w ell-being, and in keeping with o u r n a tio n ’s p ro u d est trad itio n o f fair ness and ju stic e , le t’s p ass the D R E A M A ct w ith the b ip artisan su p p o rt it d e serves. L e t’s g iv e y o u n g p eo p le the chance to som eday raise th eir rig h t hands and take an oath o f d ev o tio n and alle giance to the only c o u n try th ey have e v er kn o w n and loved. A n y th in g less w ill be a d ream u n fu lfilled fo r the stu d en ts and o u r nation. Rep. Charles Gonzalez is chair o f the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. 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