A Slice of Bacon

I have lived in Arizona for a total of about eight years of my life. I love the place. While the summers are something most can’t stand, I don’t mind ‘em, because it allows cheaper golf and less snowbirds and a chance to hang by the pool and drink a (quickly melting) margarita. It’s a place I call home because I love it for so many reasons.

And then things like this happened, and you quickly realize that every place has a load of problems. As you know, Arizona passed a law making it okay to pull over people that fit a certain stereotype. Because the state of Arizona has struggled with illegal immigration, a law was passed to make it easier to pinpoint that segregated populous. In essence, if you’re of Hispanic descent, there is a good chance you’re going to get pulled over. 

Obviously, this doesn’t affect me personally, since I am a white 26-year-old, but it does affect me logically. I grew up in East Texas, a place that can be racist towards African Americans at times, but it never took shape with me because I never believed in it. Thank my parents, or my propensity to play a ton of sports, but I never gave a shit what color you were. If you were nice and cool and had a decent heart, I was most likely going to be your friend. 

On Sunday, I was sitting at the pool with a friend who brought one of his buddies who happens to work in the police department. He was wearing a hat that gave away his profession and the waitress, taking our orders on that beautiful, Arizona afternoon, inquired about the bill and his thoughts. This friend of a friend screamed in protest to her thoughts that the bill was a little much, saying “it gives us a chance to do our job!” 

That, sadly, just isn’t true. Doing your job means making our city safer, plain and simple. Pulling people over because of what color their skin is goes against everything our country was built on. The slope is too slick with this, and once we started on it, we can never go back. 

I hate that I am going to have to see this firsthand throughout the coming months. I hate that any friend of mine that happens to be Hispanic will have to be bothered by such a shortsighted solution to a much bigger problem. 

Remember when George W. Bush thought building a taller wall would keep immigrants out of our country? That logic seems to ring through here in 2010.