Tutu: "I do not disagree" with calls for Arizona boycott

In a TheCommunity.com essay on Arizona's new immigration law former Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaks about parallels in apartheid South Africa. He also says " I do not disagree with the calls to boycott the businesses in the State until [the law] is turned around."

Tutu ends by drawing a parallel between the drivers of migration today, and of the past:

The problem of migrating populations is not going to go away any time soon. If anyone should know this, it should be Americans, many of whom landed here themselves to escape persecution, famine or conflict. With the eyes of the world now on them, Arizona has the opportunity to create a new model for dealing with the pitfalls, and help the nation as a whole find its way through the problems of illegal immigration. But to work, it must be a model that is based on a deep respect for the essential human rights Americans themselves have grown up enjoying.

Organized boycott or not, the law is having a negative economic impact on the state, including businesses that cater to the Hispanic community.

Posted by John B. Chilton on May 12, 2010 10:00 AM | |
Comments (5)

I am confused between the headline and the first paragraph - is Bp Tutu for or against a boycott?

Posted by Ann Fontaine [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 12, 2010 10:56 AM

You're right, Ann, I misread the double negative.

Posted by John B. Chilton [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 12, 2010 10:59 AM

I've just read the Archbishop's article, and I think the headline on Episcopal Cafe is slightly off. He does NOT say a boycott is wrong ... he's saying the LAW is wrong.
Or did I misread him?

Posted by laurenstanley [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 12, 2010 11:01 AM

See the corrected headline - thanks John - I thought I had not had enough coffee.

Posted by Ann Fontaine [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 12, 2010 11:22 AM

Thanks to you, too, Lauren. I hope I didn't give any a heart attack, or cause a coffee sprayed keyboard.

Ann, it was I who was caffeine challenged.

Still I wonder about the way it is written. It's not a ringing endorsement of economic sanctions in this case. Also, Tutu could have drawn a South Africa parallel there, too, and didn't.

Posted by John B. Chilton [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 12, 2010 11:31 AM

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