Arizona new Juan Cuervo Law and 2010 Elections - Fear, loathing and voter supression

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

What do parties out of power do to get back into power?

They disenfranchise, intimidate and otherwise supress the vote of opposition. It works because it is easy to appeal to the baser nature of fearful narrow-minded human beings. The state of Arizona's new immigration law is the perfect trojan horse to spread fear, loathing, prejudice and Jim Crow style voter supression because it makes it legal to single people out just based on the color of their skin or their accent. And all this just in time for the important 2010 elections! Rove must be proud!

Arizona just passed legislation that makes it a crime to not carry a passport or immigration papers.

Arizona's shameful 'immigration' bill
EJ Dionne Washington Post

It is nothing short of astonishing that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Friday signed a bill that could make it dangerous just to look Hispanic.

That’s not the purpose of the new law, of course. As The Post reported, the law “requires authorities in Arizona to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are in the country illegally.” The Arizona Republic notes that it “would require anyone whom police suspect of being in the country illegally to produce ‘an alien registration document,’ such as a green card or other proof of citizenship, such as a passport or Arizona driver's license.”
...

The timing of this law is important too. Whether you think there is a problem with "illegal" immigration or not, this bill opens dangerous new ground, and it also creates a new Jim Crow era, this time some call it "Juan Cuervo". Just in time, eh?

How does this impact elections? Why do I say that the timing is important?

Arizona has key elections this year for many top state offices

Arizona has a primary election in August 24, 2010 for many key state offices including
Governor, SOS, Attorney General and more...
In November of this year will come the General Election.

Arizona's new immigration law creates a modern day Jim Crow era, some call "Juan Cuervo".
The new law is already having a chilling effect on hispanic citizens in Arizona, many whose family have been "legal" for generations. But because they fit the profile that is likely to be challenged for their papers, they are as vulnerable to harassment as "illegal" immigrants. And there may even be people (birthers) who claim that the birth certificates of "certain types" of people are not valid no matter what evidence is provided as proof.

The process of dehumanizing all of a certain race has ratched up several notches!
Making it legal to challenge someone's civil rights in Arizona just for looking a certain way, helps pave the way for massive voter caging and voter challenges. It also creates a "fear factor" that may supress the vote of certain people, who are legal citizens but who "look" a certain way. We've been down this road before, and it was violent!

History shows that racial discrimination, enacted into law is a powerful tool for election manipulation. North Carolina in the late 1800s is a perfect example of how racism can impact elections. The state of North Carolina had a history of multiple parties, using Fusion politics.
Over 1,000 African Americans served in elected office across the state. The two dominant parties happened to be the Republican and Populist parties, who cross endorsed one another's candidates from time to time. Democrats could not get elected. So the day came when the Democratic Party made a deal with white racists and also big business - they would scratch each others backs.

From the North Carolina History Project:

Fusion Politics

In the 1898 “White Supremacy Campaign,” led by future U.S. Senator Furnifold M. Simmons (1854-1940), chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee, the Democratic Party used identity politics to regain power. “Negro rule” and “Negro domination” became the catchphrases of the campaign.
Josephus Daniels (1862-1948), editor of the Raleigh News and Observer, was the unabashed press spokesman for white supremacy. Red Shirts, reminiscent of the Klan, intimidated blacks and thereby limited the number of Republican votes.
Shortly after a resounding victory, Democrats disfranchised African Americans and thereby ended a possible Republican resurgence. Democrats, however, realized they must maintain some of the Fusionist education and business policies and thus acquiesced to school funding demands and business regulation; in 1900, emulating Republican-Populist interest in education, Democrat Charles B. Aycock (1859-1912) became the party’s first “Education Governor.”

So together, the Democrats, the white supremacists and big business enacted a violent coup, even transported a gattling gun in a wagon around the state, and physically removed Populists and Republicans from office,The Democrats forcibly took office, eliminated Fusion Voting, remade the electoral system, and enacted Jim Crow laws. The Dems, when taking power, rewarded big business with tax breaks. The white racists were rewarded with the demotion of African Americans to non voting status.

With the new era of "Juan Cuervo" in Arizona, we can expect to see increased voter supression, increased voter challenges, and increased disenfranchisement. And increased violence. This fracturing of democracy is timed to impact the upcoming census and possible re-districting that will affect the next 10 years of elections greatly.

That is why Arizona's new "immigration" law affects elections.