Dear Members and Friends of MALCS,
MALCS has launched a new blog space for public dialogue about current events titled MUJERES TALK. We invite everyone to submit, and to respond to other submissions. Visit the new site at: https://www.malcs.org/mujeres-talk/
The first topic we’re taking up is MUJERES AND MIGRATION, and we are pleased to feature our first post by C. Alejandra Elenes, titled “Mujeres, Migration & Arizona’s SB1070: Codifying Patriarchy and White Privilege.”
There should be no doubt that patriarchal and white supremacy and privilege are the ideological underpinnings of anti-immigrant legislation and policy in Arizona. The anti-immigrant climate in Arizona is not new, it is an intrinsic part of its history. Indeed at this historical juncture in the continuum of anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070 is taking center stage and has placed Arizona as the model for anti-immigrant legislation at the national level as other states are introducing similar pieces of legislation. As feminists we should pay attention to the link between public policy, power, nationalism, systemic oppression, and social and gender inequality. Laws such as SB 1070, not only create a hostile environment for Latinas/os in Arizona but are part of a national narrative of race and gender in the U.S. resulting from demographic changes and fears about the “browning†of America. In this climate, the female brown body is particularly targeted and objectified.