In a racist move, community activist Alejandrina Cabrera has been banned from the ballot by the Arizona Supreme Court for allegedly inadequate English skills.
Cabrera, who was born in Yuma, Ariz., but raised in Mexico, has worked for 10 years as a political activist in San Luis, Ariz., where nearly 99 percent of residents speak Spanish. Cabrera was running for City Council, but Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla, whom she has battled politically in the past, filed suit in December to remove her from the ballot claiming she did not speak English well enough to serve. The Arizona Supreme Court reviewed the case and agreed to remove Cabrera from the ballot.
This is yet another shamefully racist decision in Arizona, coming on the heels of banning ethnic studies and the viciously anti-immigrant SB1070, which encourages racial profiling. Rather than allowing voters to choose their representatives, this decision denies the civil rights of Cabrera and her potential constituents.
