B.E. article on APhiA Arizona Boycott.
 

In the spirit of Greek unity I share this laudatory column about the Alpha's moving their convention to Sin City from Arizona as an act of economic activism, written by Omega man and Black Enterprise Chairman Earl Graves Sr.

http://www.blackenterprise.com/magaz...-your-dollars/



Take A Stand With Your Dollars
While we are often conflicted about immigration issues, Arizona's anti-immigration law has everything to do with us



General President Herman "Skip" Gates and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity have taken a position worthy of the legacy of their late, great Alpha brother, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

As most people know, given the generous amount of purple and gold items in my wardrobe, I am an extremely proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. However, several weeks ago, when the members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. announced that they would confront the considerable challenges associated with moving their 90th general convention to Las Vegas this month rather than convene in Phoenix as planned, I cheered.

The decision came in the wake of Arizona’s governor, Jan Brewer, signing what is widely considered the nation’s toughest immigration law, also set to take effect this month. Arizona Senate Bill 1070 allows the police to challenge the legal residency status of any person they suspect is illegally in the United States.

Without question, the move makes the rampant racial profiling of Latinos and other minorities, including all black and brown people, inevitable—and completely legal.

In announcing the decision, the nation’s oldest historically black fraternity joined the city of San Francisco, the city of Los Angeles, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and others in demonstrating their outrage. But as righteous as they believed their cause to be, it could not have been an easy decision to make. Given that the convention was mere weeks away, the move represented not only a logistical nightmare, but a financial one as well. As the fraternity confronted litigation with some contractors, Alpha Phi Alpha General President Herman “Skip” Mason Jr. estimated the penalties they faced at more than $300,000. But they did it anyway. Like every group or individual that has ever taken a stand in every civil rights battle ever waged, despite the inconvenience, the risk, the sacrifice, and the pain, they did it anyway.

The Alphas’ dramatic stance put African Americans at the forefront of the rising protest against a growing anti-immigration movement in this country. It’s a movement we’ve been slow—and in some instances unwilling—to become invested in, arguing more often than not that this has nothing to do with us. But it has everything to do with us.

How many of us are first, second, or third generation Americans? How many of us were raised in homes where our parents or grandparents were still struggling to adapt to a new culture that routinely underestimated or devalued them entirely because of their accents? How many of us have relatives still moving here—perhaps from Haiti or West Africa or elsewhere in the Afro-Caribbean diasporas—with little more than eager hearts, hard-working hands, and high hopes? How many of us are among the millions of American Afro-Latinos from Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other Spanish-speaking countries? How many of us are suspiciously eyed—even “randomly” frisked—as we pass through airport security in these terror-filled times?

Let us be clear: Whether we are among the first to stand against this type of injustice or not, we will be among the first victims of any injustices wrought. That’s a guarantee. If history has shown us nothing else, our vulnerabilities remain clear. President Obama himself remains a subject of suspicion, scorn, and vilification by those who refuse to accept his very legitimacy as an American simply because of his skin color and his name.

So, rarely have I been more proud or felt as deep a sense of solidarity with the Alpha Phi Alpha brotherhood as I did in late April. And when they gather at their 104th anniversary convention on July 21st, I’ll still be cheering for them from a distance, applauding the courage it took for them to take a stand, and grateful for the example it sets for us all. As for the monetary cost of the relocation to their membership, Black Enterprise has run enough events for me to know it’s nothing compared to the millions of dollars the state of Arizona lost with their business.

Money talks. And, in this case, it also walked. In so doing, the Alphas sent a clear modern-day message that echoes the timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was in fact one of their own: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Earl G. Graves is the founder, chairman and publisher of Black Enterprise.

There are two problems I have with the article:

1. I thought the bill was to prevent illegal immigration. The writer states that the bill is anti-immigration.

2. He makes this assumption that [American Blacks] should support the protest of the AZ bill since Afro-Caribbeans would be affected too. In a very short-sighted way, I don't see why American Blacks should be out front protesting. The AZ immigration issue is not 'our' fight.

Just to clarify: I'm not anti-immigrant. I'm anti-illegal immigrant, no matter what country you come from. Illegal immigrants use 'the system', but they don't pay taxes into 'the system' - that is the problem I have.

*love*

{{{{{hugs!!!}}}}}

Exactly. That's why you don't see many blacks at the immigration rallies. Because it isn't "our" fight.

As for his case for Afro-Carribeans obviously the author has not seen the great disparity between how Haitians are treated when they try to immigrate to America as compared to Mexicans (who are exploited for slave wages) and Cubans (who are held as heroes for daring to escape the communistic regime of Castro, which by the way I do not support as well.)

The bill is widely called the Arizona Anti-Immigration Bill. It may be more accurate to call it an anti-illegal immigration bill, but it's not outside the national conversation for the author to use such terminology in this article.

Perhaps because he wasn't speaking to "me," I had a different take. What I got from the article was that the author was saying everyone should be concerned. Then, he spoke out of his own experience (i.e. a person with Afro-Caribbean ties).

While I understand and appreciate what boycotters are trying to do, on the other hand, why punish the business owners who do not support the bill? I think it would have been a great move for Alpha Phi Alpha (among others) to have found an Arizona-based business that was vocal about opposing the bill and then given that person/company all their business.

I would expect the "average American" to probably call it the anti-immigration bill, but as a journalist for a prestigious publication, he should get his facts straight.


I am concerned. I just don't feel that as an American Black this is an issue that impacts me directly. Thus, I will not be out there protesting the bill.

This would have been a better option.

I should have been more specific. I was referring to journalists representing outlets including the Wall Street Journal and CNN.

Same expectation would apply. That is the problem - you (general you) should be able to rely on these publications for accuracy. I guess not.....

With time constraints and what was needed to pull off this convention, I don't think that would have been possible. Nice idea though.

I agree.

To be clear, I appreciate the praise that Earl Graves gave Alpha. You don't see that very often and it was appreciated.

Alpha Phi Alpha has strong reasons for boycotting Arizona, and one might say that the reasons are intrinsically tied to the soul of our organization. I'm not one to say "do your research" because you'd have to know what you were looking for, but I will say that Alpha was always intended to be a social justice organization, regardless of race.

I am glad to hear this. I wish my own fraternity had done the same. The current president of my collegiate chapter is a new citizen born in a South American country and made sure to note (in jest partially and in truth partially) on her facebook status that she intended to bring her passport with her. Many of chapter's alumnae (if not all) traveling to the event were also Latinas. I wish HQ had chosen to make a strong a stand as Alpha Phi Alpha has.

That's because his fraternity does not have our history.

Did something happen between last night and this morning?