The Virus Spreads: Boycott the Peach State
We are calling for your pledge to boycott Georgia and Georgia produce. Drastic measures, require a strong action. Georgia is following Arizona’s footsteps with their own version of the discriminatory and draconian anti-immigration law: HB87. Once again we see the same alliance of extremist groups and private prison corporations – those who pushed for similar bills in Arizona and Utah – doing the same in Georgia: FAIR, CCA (Correction Corporation of America) and now even the KKK.
Our communities have been a key part in the development of Georgia’s economy and now they are punishing us for a political game that will hurt the state in the long run. We are calling for a boycott as a last resort now that politicians in the state have decided to ignore our voices.
Things are getting nastier across Georgia in the debate on illegal immigration. Now, a group based out of Philadelphia has arrived in Atlanta equating the legislature’s support of a new tough immigration bill Gov. Nathan Deal is expected to sign into law as something the KKK would support, reports Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV.
People who oppose the crackdown and want the governor to veto the legislation –House Bill 87 – have erected banners on highway bridges.A banner strung Monday across the North Ave. bridge over the Downtown Connector refers to a north Georgia Ku Klux Klan group that supports the immigration crackdown: “KKK Supports HB87. Gov. Deal, Do You?”
Someone removed the banner by mid-morning, according to WXIA.
The organization helping organize the banner campaign in Georgia is called “The Diversity Projekt,” based in Philadelphia.
An Atlanta volunteer pushing the effort told WXIA late Monday she does not think all supporters of HB87 are KKK sympathizers.
The primary sponsor of the illegal immigration crackdown, Rep. Matt Ramsey, R-Peachtree City, told the television station the banner campaign amounts to “more left-wing hysterics by extremists who can’t accept that most Georgians want the governor to sign it into law.”
CORRECTION: Supporters of the banner campaign, who describe it as a grassroots effort, include Somos Georgia, “a growing movement of Georgians committed to immigrant, racial and economic justice,” according to its website. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that The Diversity Projekt is helping organize the banner campaign, but Kathrin Ivanovic, blogger at The Diversity Projekt and an organizer with Somos Georgia, said that Somos Georgia is helping publicize the effort that others started.
