Friday, college grads and alumni at ASU's Hispanic Convocation are going to tell SB 1070 supporters where to go, in the nicest way possible.
Los Diablos, ASU's Latino Alumni Association, has unveiled a brilliant new retort to Arizona's nasty "paper's please" legislation: A maroon and gold T-shirt, which reads, "You want to see my papers? Here's my degree from ASU."
The shirts will be worn during the ceremony to honor Hispanic graduates, which will take place tomorrow at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. The alumni association will also be selling the shirts for $10 a pop to fund a campaign to oppose SB 1070.
Los Diablos Board President George Diaz said the whole idea is to fight negative stereotypes, as well as the law.
"It
dispels the myth that Latinos are uneducated," explained Diaz. "That
somehow all of us are foreign. You know, my kids are fourth generation
Phoenicians. Not just Arizonans, Phoenicians. The idea that they would
be scrutinized to a greater level than somebody else is offensive."
Diaz,
who'll be wearing the shirt on stage tomorrow as he hails new ASU
grads, said the T-shirts are only the beginning of a drive to motivate
and educate people about SB 1070, and to get them involved in doing
things like writing op-eds arguing against the new law.
The alumni prez said the movement will be named "Operation Stand Up."
Los
Diablos was founded in 1984, and has to date awarded some 2,000
scholarships valued at more than $3 million. Scholarships range from a
minimum of $1,000 to the cost of a full year's tuition.
Though tomorrow's convocation specifically honors Hispanic students, it's open to all ASU students graduating this year.
Congrats
to Diaz and his fellow Latino Alumni Association board members. Chances
are, these T-shirts will soon become as sought after as those Los Suns jerseys from a week ago.
Los Diablos board member Tania Marquez told me they've already gone
through 200 of a 300 print run, and are anticipating having to order
more.
Hey, think you could save one for me in triple-XL?