Around the Web: Farai Chideya’s “Hu-manifesto”; Denim Day; Face It; HB 56

Mark Zuckerberg holds 57 percent of the voting share on Facebook’s board. His control over the company will not change if he adds women to the board.

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HB56 is an Alabama law that is considered the strictest in the nation on immigration. When it first passed in 2011, Voto Latino posted about the issues that resulted from the swift and brutal changes:

It’s been 36 days since most of Alabama’s extreme anti-immigration bill, HB 56, was upheld in court. While some of the worst aspects of it have been temporarily blocked (i.e. requiring that schools check the immigration status of students), thousands of immigrants have fled their jobs, their schools and their houses in a exodus not seen in recent times. The almost 200,000 Latinos who remain in Alabama have been left in a state of fear and insecurity.

As the law stands, police are allowed to racially profile anyone they suspect of being illegal, all contracts with undocumented immigrants are invalid (i.e. child support, leases, or jobs), and it’s now a crime for undocumented immigrants to apply for a driver’s license or even a job. Immigration and human rights experts say this law is the most stringent and extreme in the developed world.

The result is that crops are rotting in the fields, buildings are not being rebuilt after the devastating tornadoes earlier this year and many small businesses are suffering huge losses in customers and workers. People are afraid to leave their house let alone make contact with police or social services. Domestic violence help centers say many immigrants have stopped reporting their abusers to police for fear of being detained

Through it all, Alabama’s governor has responded to complaints by employers and displaced workers by saying “Those stories are anecdotal stories… It’ll work itself out.”

The law has had the broadest impact on Latin@s in the region, but has filtered over into other displays of bigotry and xenophobia. The Repeal HB 56 site notes:

Alabama’s economy has benefited greatly from foreign investment. But the heavy-handed nature of H.B. 56 has created an unwelcoming environment for foreign-owned businesses, as was evidenced by two separate incidents in which a German Mercedes-Benz manager was detained and a Japanese Honda manager was charged for not carrying the required documents under the law.

Racial profiling should not be tolerated–nor enshrined in law. See here to sign the petition against HB56.

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