I would say that like many other people in most ethnic groups, I like to be with my own kind, so it would be accurate to say of me and many others that I'm a separatist.- Virginia D. Abernethy National leader of Protect Arizona Now initiative
Stick to your own kind, Arizona. What "kind" is that, exactly? Is Arizona's kind the Native American tribes that were here when the Spanish arrived? Or maybe the Spanish themselves? Or the Mexicans who came later? And what does sorting people by ethnicity have to do with a ballot initiative that ostensibly aims to curb illegal immigration? It's worth considering how this separation thing fits in. Those with last names like - Hernandez, de Uriarte, Valdez - would be separated out for special treatment when they sought services. Those who share ancestral roots with Abernethy would not. That does nothing to curb illegal immigration. But it does provide a good way to judge this initiative. Protect Arizona Now enjoys public support based on real and legitimate anger at the federal government's failure to deal with illegal immigration. But a state initiative won't address that failure. It will separate Arizonans. By ethnicity. That's wrong and Arizona knows it. [
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