Save Our State facts for kids
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Save Our State (SOS) is a group that protests against people living in California without legal permission. They use strong methods to get their message across. Some organizations, like the Southern Poverty Law Center, have called SOS a "hate group" because of their very strong views.
As of November 2009, the Saveourstate.org website and its online forums were closed. The group's activities are now led by its Northern California Chapter.
Contents
How Save Our State Started
The group's name, "Save Our State," comes from a plan in California from 1994. This plan was called Proposition 187. It aimed to stop people living in California without legal papers from getting public health care and education.
Most voters approved this plan in 1994. However, it was quickly challenged in court. A U.S. district court stopped the plan completely four years later.
Joseph Turner's Role
Joseph Turner, who lived in Ventura, officially started SOS in July 2004. He felt that other groups trying to change immigration laws were not doing enough. He thought their methods, like writing letters, were not working.
Turner believed that if those methods worked, the situation would be different. SOS decided to use "aggressive" and "in-your-face" ways to protest. They also chose to use direct language, avoiding what they saw as "political correctness." Turner and his supporters felt that political correctness and multiculturalism were reasons why more people without legal papers were coming into the United States.
How Save Our State Protests
Members of Save Our State often travel to different towns to protest. They usually target places where day laborers gather, which sometimes makes local people upset.
Protest Tools
When they protest, SOS members often carry signs. They also sometimes carry pepper spray or other items for protection. They use video cameras to record what happens. Later, they share these videos online.
Joseph Turner calls their main protest idea "the transference of pain." He says his wife helped him come up with this idea. It means they try to make those they are protesting against feel uncomfortable or pressured.
Save Our State Activities
Save Our State's first protest happened in December 2004. They started a website with a discussion forum. Then, they announced they would boycott Home Depot stores. They did this because they believed Home Depot was supporting day labor centers near their stores.
This boycott campaign is still ongoing. SOS members regularly go to Home Depot locations to protest.
Baldwin Park Protest
Another protest by SOS caused a lot of discussion. SOS protested a large artwork called Danzas Indigenas at the Baldwin Park Metrolink station. The city had asked UCLA professor and artist Judy Baca to create this artwork.
The artwork had quotes on arches, and two of them angered anti-immigration groups. One quote from writer Gloria Anzaldúa said, "This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again." Another quote said, "It was better before they came."
Joseph Turner said the first quote was "seditious," meaning it suggested returning the land to Mexico. About the second quote, Judy Baca explained it was said by a white resident of Baldwin Park who was unhappy about the arrival of Mexicans after World War II. Baca said the quote was meant to be unclear, so people would think about who "they" referred to. SOS believed "they" meant "white people."
The Protest Day
On May 14, 2005, about 25 members of Save Our State held signs in front of the artwork. About 300 people came to protest against SOS. They shouted things like "Racists go home" and showed the flag of Mexico while SOS members carried American flags.
Police officers in riot gear from several nearby areas had to come. They formed a wall to keep the two groups apart. One woman was hurt and stayed in the hospital overnight, but she was released the next day.
Local newspapers and other media covered this event.
After the Protest
The former Mayor of Baldwin Park, Manuel Lozano, publicly defended the artwork. He said it was a work of art and therefore a form of free expression. He also showed his support for the groups protesting against SOS. Mayor Lozano publicly called Save Our State a "hate group." On June 25, 2005, Mayor Lozano led the Baldwin Park City Council to officially state that the monument would stay as it was.
Concerns About Extremist Groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center has described Save Our State as an anti-immigrant hate group. In 2005, the SPLC reported that white supremacists had joined some Save Our State protests. They also said that the Save Our State online forums often had insulting or hateful comments about Mexicans and other Latinos.
The same report quoted Joseph Turner saying that it was hard to stop these people from joining their protests. He admitted that he had removed some white supremacists from the forums. However, he allowed offensive comments to stay, as long as they did not encourage violence.
SOS leaders have made the most extreme racist skinheads leave their protests. They have also banned them from the group's events. However, people wearing clothing with Confederate flags are still often seen at their protests.
Images for kids
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Save Our State protests a day labor center in Laguna Beach, September 25, 2005.
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SOS and counterdemonstrators outside of a Home Depot in Glendale, California, December 10, 2005.
