BLog #15- "Border Patrol State"

Ironically enough I am studying this topic in my Social Work class right now, but we are discussing how the "dominant group" aka the whites set the norms and the ethnicities that dont fit in suffer from discrimination or prejudice. I completely agree with Ms. Silko and I see these same occurances happening in my home state and the state right next to me which is Arizona. Being from the West Coast there are many Mexican-Americans. As everyone is aware the state of Arizona recently passed a law saying that police officers can pull anyone over that they think looks suspicious as being an immigrant. This basically means that if you don't look white then they will pull you over in suspicion. Part of me agrees with this but I also don't at all because it is discrimination at its finest. Immigration is becoming a big concern not only on the West Coast but also Texas but I don't think that gives anyone the right to pull someone over based on what they look like. Something I experience that is related to what she Ms. Silko was describing in her story is the "check point" at LAX. When you are driving up to LAX to either get dropped off or pick someone up the police officers merge the lanes to one and will either allow you to pass through or will pull you over for suspicion. As much as people say it is random I do believe that the whole process is based on what you look like and your ethnicity. Especially since 9/11 I think these cops are suspicious of Muslims that come through when these people could just be ordinary American citizens trying to see family in another state or some basic thing. Another experience that I have gone through is I know many African American people that have been pulled over because of their skin color. My town back home is a small town where nothing happens and we all say the cops have nothing to do, and I have had a few of my friends tell me that they go another direction that is longer to get home just so they don't have to deal with being pulled over by cops. The term for this is "Driving While Black". I think this is dumb also, and that people shouldn't be pulled over unless the cop has a legit suspicion like a person swerving or they run their license plate and see that they have a warrant. As much as people believe immigration is becoming a problem discriminating against certain ethnicities isn't the way to solve it because America is referenced as the "melting pot". The "melting pot" refers to many different ethnicities and background making up the United States, therefore people shouldn't discriminate against different minorities because many of them could be American citizens just like everyone else.