I was born in Douglas, Ariz., and raised in Agua Prieta, Sonora, right on the street that separates the United States from Mexico. During my childhood, the border was marked by an imperfect fence. If we accidentally threw a ball over the fence, we could simply walk over, retrieve it, and come back home.
Everything changed after 9/11. Self-proclaimed vigilantes known as "Minute Men" emerged. Individuals from outside our community who were driven by politicized xenophobia to "protect" the border from people like me, my family, and my neighbors, even though we had lived there our entire lives.
In 2006, I saw anti-immigrant sentiment and legislation gain even more momentum in Arizona, led by GOP politicians like Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio. For those of you who may not remember, former Senator Russell Pearce was author of the notorious SB 1070 "show me your papers" law. That same year, Mi Familia Vota put a clipboard in my hand—and I haven't been without one since.
My drive for equality, fairness, and community sent me to join the coalition that—for the first time ever—ousted a sitting legislator, Russell "show me your papers" Pearce. Democrats, Independents, Latinos, union members, educators, and youth activists came together and refused to be targeted due to the color of our skin. It was pretty clear to see who wasn't in this coalition: the GOP leading the xenophobic fight in Arizona. Little did I know as a scrappy young organizer that this would only be the beginning.
I still vividly remember the day a deputy from former Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office knocked on my door in 2008. The so-called toughest sheriff in the United States had been terrorizing our community and conducting raids on Arizona businesses searching for undocumented people over the last several years. Earlier that day, I stood alongside a group of community members at a Maricopa County Board of Supervisors meeting, where we demanded justice in the face of racial discrimination. We organized hundreds of people to speak in front of their elected officials, many for the first time in their lives. As mothers, fathers, and students testified about the horrors of Arpaio's illegal raids, we felt the power of community. This collective strength led a deputy to show up at my door, attempting to intimidate me in my own home.
I then took my advocacy work to the Arizona House and Senate, where once again, I continued to experience the GOP's obsession with racism instead of governing when my citizenship was challenged not once, but twice. I had to go to court two times and prove that yes, despite being a Latina who was born 5 miles from the border, I am as American as every one of my GOP colleagues in the State Legislature who were open with their racism.
Republican Senator Wendy Rogers may be the most egregious example, but she was far from alone in perpetuating these discriminatory attitudes. Actions speak louder than words and while Arizonans suffer under a housing crisis, extreme heat caused by climate change, and economic inequality, Republicans in the legislature have focused their attacks on the LGBTQ community, fear-mongering around teaching children the history of racism in our country, and even a new iteration of SB 1070, all championed by one party.
It's simple. Republicans work tirelessly to divide us on fringe culture war issues that have no real impacts on job creation, education, or helping everyday working families. Democrats know that there is more that unites us than divides us, and our track record proves it. Our past victories are not anomalies; they are the direct result of years of effort, and we are far from finished.
This is no longer a battle between Republicans and Democrats. This is about safeguarding the freedoms of every American from a group of dangerous and radical extremists who seek to impose their will on our lives, dictate who we can love, judge us by the color of our skin, and control nearly every aspect of our daily existence. I know who I want beside me, holding the next set of clipboards.
Raquel Terán is former minority leader of the Arizona Senate.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
