WordPlay! WriteNet Week 15

This week a legal travesty occurred when Governor Brewer of Arizona signed into law SB1070 as a response to the problem of undocumented immigrants. The law requires peace officers to stop and inspect legal identification of anyone who appears to be in the state illegally. The potential for racial profiling as the law is presently configured is enormous. Although I am not personally targeted as a potential scofflaw, this law is heinous because it specifically goes after individuals of Latino/a heritage. People from other countries are also here without current visas in record numbers. Arizona cites the lack of effective federal solutions to the problem of illegal immigration as the genesis of its attempt to solve the problem with this law.
I personally disagree with this law for several reasons. First, because on its face, it can only be described as racist. Second, because political borders are artificial constructs; they do not show up when Earth is viewed from space. Third, because all residents of Arizona who are not members of indigenous Native American tribes are trespassing on that land. Finally, this law represents a perspective that contradicts the pillars of democracy, principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Whatever your personal beliefs about immigration, the exercises this week are designed to help you think and write about them.

Writing Exercises:

External Exercises
(See previous posts for detailed instructions)

1. Observation Exercise
2. Reading Report
3. Writing Journal
4. Sensory Details Exercise

Weekly Exercises: April 26, 2010

1. You have just crossed the border between Arizona and Mexico illegally. As you search for a place to stay, you are stopped by the police. Write about what happens next.
2. Do a word cluster on "immigrant."
3. If you were suddenly deported, who would be the person that is most painful for you to leave?
4. How would you explain this law to a pre-school child?

There is no wrong way to do it: just WRITE!