"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action'; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a ‘more convenient season.' Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

Dr. Martin Luther King, from a Birmingham jail

The Columbia chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity recently sent out an invitation on Facebook for what promises to be quite a party. In celebration of Cinco de Mayo AEPi members invited Columbia students to "La Casa," and for one memorable night to go "below the border" to the "hottest, wettest, and spiciest venue in the world." Don't forget the "ponchos, sombreros, bandanas, or ...your best cholo/a." Fortunately for AEPi, someone watches the news, and the invitation was soon modified to a less offensive tone, soon followed by a mea culpa.

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans commemorating the nineteenth-century Mexican victory over French imperialist incursions against overwhelming odds. AEPi is in the process of making amends for their mistake, and good for them. Conflating Latinos and crime is of course racist, and it is similar to assumptions underlying the anti-immigrant legislation recently passed by the state of Arizona. The question that I find interesting is how this quiet little controversy at Columbia relates to the recent events in Arizona.

The notion that undocumented immigrants broke the law and must be punished is an exercise of willful ignorance. Under this view, one would think that Mexicans and Central Americans by their very nature have an innate desire to be Americans. The question of NAFTA, which decimated Mexico's agricultural sectors and the working classes of the United States for the profits of multinational corporations, remains unanswered. By stubbornly asserting that undocumented immigrants broke the law, the act of searching for work to feed one's family is criminalized. This view ignores the most logical answer to the issue of undocumented immigrants, which is citizenship for all. Even when they accept this fact anti-immigrant arguments cling to the notion that these migrant workers must be punished, as if being America's most vulnerable and exploited class were not punishment enough.

The fact is that the bill is unconstitutional, for it violates individuals' 5th and 14th Amendment rights to life, liberty, and property with due process of law, as well as equal protection for all persons under the law. The 14th Amendment specifically prevents states from infringing on these rights. Notice the wording here is "persons," not citizens, meaning that it applies to all immigrants, documented or not.

The issues with racial profiling and comparisons of this legislation to Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow South need not be rehearsed here, except to point out that proponents of the law conveniently ignore them. Meanwhile, those who downplay this comparison as an exaggeration demonstrate a profound level of ignorance and an acute lack of empathy. The fact is that many undocumented immigrants in Arizona have already gone into hiding. Would they not find comparisons to the Gestapo appropriate? Did they not live in a perpetual state of fear of being discovered even before this bill? Are their lives less valuable than yours or mine?

This law is racist, cruel, and inhumane, and its supporters are simply ignorant of this fact. I call them ignorant because they refuse to see the bigoted tradition that they are a part of, that of Bull Connor, Joseph McCarthy, and John Calhoun. I call them ignorant because they argue in favor of a bill which promotes the conflation of Latinos, immigrants, and criminals, never themselves experiencing unjust incarceration while subjecting others to this fate. I call them ignorant because they scapegoat us for contemporary insecurities shared by all people in this country, while they discreetly welcome our presence during prosperous times. I call them ignorant a million times over, and I forgive them for it, because they know not what they do.

Yet I must confess that I no longer believe that the greatest threat to justice in the United States is racist Arizonan legislators or deluded Tea Partiers but rather the so-called "white moderate," many of whom view themselves as neither white nor moderate. Moderates who seem to believe the cause for justice ended with the assassinations of leaders such as Dr. King. Who paternalistically sympathize with our endless plight for freedom, but from the Ivory Tower continue to view the institutions of this country as just. Who believe that discussion and dialogue will somehow fight injustice better than direct action. Who fail to understand that their apathy is really complicity. It is times like these, when the fundamental unfairness of it all becomes so self-evident, that I fail to understand their lukewarm acceptance of our cause.

AEPi's party invitation is a real example of apathy in action, if such a thing were possible. It reminds us why we must resist. Make no mistake, this law will not stand. Already the writing is on the wall, and those who cynically rally to racist sentiments and economic insecurity merely enforce hostilities between communities who must learn to live in harmony. In doing so they prevent us from achieving our vision of justice. Were they able to have their way, millions of families would be forcibly removed by the state, while moderates wring their hands and do nothing. That is why we march on May 1 for immigrant rights. Because if we do not, the dream of equality remains imaginary.