Analysis of Council Boycotts

[Michael Stauch]

http://durhamcounty.mync.com/site/durhamcounty/news/story/52940/durham-will-ban-travel-to-arizona-if-controversial-immigration-bill-passes/

Hey again folks,

I wanted to send along another email giving some thoughts on the city council boycott from my perspective. The basic idea is that we go stupid hard, city council just goes stupid. That is to say, they do nothing until we demand it, and even then try to satisfy us with half-measures when what we want is full justice. Justice goes stupid hard and can't be satisfied by tepid resolutions that do little to materially and fundamentally challenge racists.

In order to see how city council "goes stupid" we need to understand what happened at yesterday's city council meeting.

Going into the meeting, there were two competing resolutions - one called for an economic boycott of Arizona, NOT just a travel boycott. Mayor Bill Bell, in the above article, himself admitted that a travel boycott is ultimately pretty meaningless. He said, "I'm under the opinion that suspending travel to Arizona is going to have little - if any impact both to Arizona and to Durham's conduct of business." In her email, which I'm attaching below, Alba seemed to agree, demanding that the city council pass a full economic boycott of Arizona. A full economic boycott was our way of demanding that the city council go stupid hard at Arizona over SB-1070.

The second resolution, drafted by Eugene Brown in collaboration with Alba and others, placed the onus for immigration reform on the federal government.

In her email, Alba stresses that we want them to pass BOTH resolutions - an economic boycott of Arizona AND a call for federal immigration reform. To leave it at a travel boycott is not enough. We want the city council to go stupid hard and economically boycott Arizona.

Mayor Bill Bell took these two resolutions and mashed them together into a compromise resolution. This compromise resolution took Eugene Brown's call for immigration reform on a national level and added to it a call for a ban on travel to Arizona. It LEFT OUT an economic boycott of Arizona altogether. It also has a provision in it that says that the travel ban can be overruled by the city council if the city manager, the city attorney, or the city clerk think a particular situation warrants it.

This is still a win, as Alba says in her email. This is also clear because of how the racists responded. We know we're doing something right when the racists storm out of a city council meeting after the city council votes to approve a resolution!

But the exchange between Eugene Brown and Mayor Bill Bell is significant. Yesterday before the vote on the resolution, they went back and forth about the compromise resolution. In that exchange, Brown made it clear that he shares the white supremacist understanding of Arizona's immigration law that the conservatives that passed it have. He actually said that Arizona was "under siege" and that it was being "inundated." Those are some fighting words!

Mayor Bell pushed back on this. He was quoted in the paper as saying "As an African American, I take great offense that any government will allow persons to be questioned by their police departments about their immigration status simply because that person may be suspected of being in this country illegally."

So in the fight against Eugene Brown, he came off as an anti-racist defending folks from racist attacks. But let's be clear - his compromise resolution, in his own words, would do little to concretely effect Arizona. Justice demands an economic boycott of Arizona. Bill Bell's way of fighting against racism and for justice is by passing a resolution that he admits will have little impact on Arizona's conduct of business. This is not justice or anti-racism! This is politics as usual. It is a good thing we go stupid hard or Bill Bell, Mike Woodard and the rest wouldn't go at all!

So we should be proud of ourselves. We go stupid hard and if we didn't, none of this would have happened!

But we should also be disappointed in and angry at our elected officials who want to have everything both ways and refused the call of justice because they were willing to placate racists! How stupid is it to pass a resolution you know won't be effective against a racist-ass law? I know you know the answer to that...

As ever, in love with the work we do and with rage against the system,

Mike

ALBA'S EMAIL

Okay Durham, we have 24 hours to make the final push before City Council meets tomorrow night!

Here's the update:

We have gotten a lot of press, some helpful, some not. We were on the cover of the current La Conexion Newspaper with a picture of a full room of supports at the City Council work session on June 10th! Check it out! In response to your emails, our action on 6/10, and all the commotion we have made in the media, Councilman Eugene Brown is trying to save face by putting forth a resolution that shows that he doesn't hate immigrants. He will propose a counter resolution at the meeting on Monday that is based on a resolution passed by the Denver City Council. We were able to get a copy of the Denver resolution, and last Tuesday we met with him to see if he would modify some of the negative and problematic language in his resolution. We were successful! And while it certainly isn't ideal, the proposed resolution calls on the federal government and President Obama to overhaul the immigration system and pass comprehensive immigration reform! If you're interested, I have attached a copy to this email. We anticipate that this resolution will pass without any problems- This is a win! Without all our combined work of getting the word out & showing up, Durham would not be calling for comprehensive immigration reform! Great work!

BUT THIS IS NOT ENOUGH! This resolution does not denounce Arizona for passing sb1070, and it suggests no action in response! Brown is trying to pass this resolution as a REPLACEMENT for the boycott. So, we want to be clear that the action taken by the state of Arizona is unacceptable and demands a response. We want to send these clear messages: Durham will not use its power to provoke terror in its residents; racial profiling will not be tolerated in our community by law enforcement or any governing body; we do not want our state legislature to pass a law mirroring sb1070 here in NC; and that we, as a community, will not stand idly by while fear and hostility run rampant in our state or any other state! We demand our precious resources be used well; WE STILL WANT A BOYCOTT OF ARIZONA until the racist law sb1070 is repealed!

SO, we need to secure 2 more votes in the next 24 hours! Here's where we stand: Woodard-yes. Catotti-yes. Mayor Bell, Cole-McFadden, Clement, and Ali are all still uncommitted.These 4 need to hear from you!

Here's what to do:
1) Email council at Cou...@DurhamNC.Gov (EVEN IF YOU EMAILED ALREADY!!!) Tell them to vote YES to BOTH! This should not be an either-or vote. We say YES! to a comprehensive immigration reform at the federal level AND YES! to a boycott of AZ until sb1070 is repealed! See a sample email message below-

2) Call City Council's Office and leave a message. 919-560-4333 (All council members share a secretary.) Tell them to vote YES to BOTH! See a sample phone message below-

3) COME TO CITY HALL Monday, JUNE 21st at 7:00pm for the City Council Meeting! It will be held in Council's Chambers on the first floor of City Hall downtown (101 City Hall Plaza, Durham 27701). Several of the organizers will not be able to attend because of pre-planned medical procedures and out of state travel, so we really need local folks to show up in force! A PACKED ROOM WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE! Please let me know if you plan on being there & if you can bring a friend or two. Community leaders: we are depending on you!

4) VOLUNTEER TO SPEAK AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING on June 21st. We need speakers! -people of all colors, creeds, and ages- Please let me know if we can sign you up to speak! I will be more than happy to help you prep for your two minutes in front of council. Please consider speaking on Monday, even if you spoke at the work session!

Thank you again. This is an amazing community! We can be the change we want to see in the world! Keep the hard work & good energy flowing! 1 day left to make Durham the first city in the South to take a stand for immigrant justice and say HELL NO to sb1070!

***La Gente Unida Nunca Sera Vencida***The People United Will Never Be Defeated!***

Hasta la Victoria!
Alba

Sample email/phone message:

"I am calling to support the City of Durham Human Relations Commission resolution that the City suspend all travel to the State of Arizona until SB1070 is repealed.  I believe that this resolution should be voted upon in conjunction  with Councilman Eugene Brown’s resolution concerning the need for our Federal government to reform the United State’s broken immigration policy.  Together, these two resolutions will send a powerful message that Durham will not tolerate similar legislation like that which has been raised in the North Carolina General Assembly and that the federal government needs to act to reform our broken immigration policy.”