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SB 403 · Historical game

Who said What?!

Let’s have some fun with a baby shower game to celebrate the birth of a Law! 🎉

September 2023

Black and white image of people marching with posters held up. Taken from behind. Centered, is a child sitting on someone's shoulders, towering over the other people marching.
Photo by Zoe VandeWater on Unsplash

Discover how Civil Rights laws are made in the USA!

Hey there! Guess what? We’re about to witness the birth of a brand new Civil Rights law! This bill has been hanging out in the California Legislature for a full 8 months, and all it needs now is a single signature from our governor to become a full-fledged law!

Let’s do the quintessential baby shower thing and play a party game!. We’ll learn about all the crazy things this Civil Rights Bill has had to fight against to make its way into our laws. It’s gonna be a blast! 😄

Game on!

Choose your answers, then check each question or check them all together. For questions marked “Select all that apply”, more than one answer can be right. You can also open each answer and explanation without playing. Nothing is submitted or saved.

Content note: racism, casteism and other forms of discrimination; strong language.

Question 1

Can you guess who claimed that a civil rights bill is unconstitutional because it’s too VAGUE? They argued that laws should be clear enough for anyone with ORDINARY INTELLIGENCE to understand what’s prohibited, because as they stand civil rights laws will end up with EVERYONE going to jail!

Select all that apply.

Show answer and explanationfor question 1

Answer: Both choices.

Bigots want their brand of bigotry to be defined wth precision. So that they can work around them easily.

Both casteists & racists (& homophobes & sexists) have used this argument to oppose civil rights legislation that protect the oppressed!

Masked man holding a sign that says "HATE IS A VIRUS!!" in a rally
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

References

  1. Strom Thurmond Filibuster opposing the Civil Rights Act
  2. Hindu American Foundation, a Hindu right wing group claiming to represent all hindus in America in a letter opposing protections for the caste oppressed

Question 2

Guess who made the statement that everything is going just peachy, but it’s the civil rights bill that’s stirring the pot and causing a WHOLE LOT OF DIVISION in their community?

Select all that apply.

Show answer and explanationfor question 2

Answer: Both choices.

Well, the racists and the casteists and the homophobes and the sexists – none of them see a problem being racist, or casteist or homophobic, or sexist. All they want is to be all of that!

This is totally understandable and one might even feel sorry for these folks. They really were getting away with all kindsa shit. Now people are on the streets fighting for their rights?! And these buggers can’t continue what they’ve been doing all their lives – treating people like shit and getting away with it? Uh oh. Sorry, not sorry.

Protestors’ hands holding a sign that says "NO JUSTICE NO PEACE"
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

References

  1. Strom Thurmond Filibuster opposing the Civil Rights Act
  2. Cupertino City Council meeting: public comments
  3. Cupertino city council proclamation

Question 3

Can you guess who held up a sign saying “We Worked Hard For What We Got” in protest against civil rights legislation?

Choose one answer.

Show answer and explanationfor question 3

Answer: The first choice.

It was a person protesting MLK that carried that particular sign.

But, you wouldn’t be too off if you’d said it was the second group. SO many folks who came to speak out against SB 403, the bill that bans caste discrimination, said they’d worked SO hard in this country, and they didn’t want to be subject to a civil rights bill that protects the caste oppressed people who had also managed to migrate here. What a pity!

A person wearing a white mask holds a finger to the mask’s lips in a gesture of silence.
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash

References

  1. Sign carried by american nazi party protestor during the civil rights march in washington: “I have a dream” speech
  2. Cupertino City Council meeting: public comments; Look online for posts against SB403 for similarly flavored comments

Question 4

Imagine you’re in a time machine, and you hear someone exclaim, “But what about the children?!” They’re worried that all this chatter about oppression is making their little ones squirm in discomfort! They argue that their children shouldn’t have to feel any discomfort about “something that happened ages ago and is no longer true.” Who do you think said this?

Select all that apply.

Show answer and explanationfor question 4

Answer: Both choices.

Of course they both said this!! So do the homophobes about any portrayal of LGBT people in media. And you think the sexists want their daughters to hear feminists speak?

Go to any right wing rally, and they’ll definitely bring up their utmost care for the feelings of children.

Seated kid facing away from camera facing vast farmlands
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Question 5

Guess who exclaimed that the civil right bill will NULLIFY all other constitutional rights – particularly their right to due process – because it bans their version of prejudice?
  • “Presumption of GUILT!”
  • “no DUE PROCESS – by god, this is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!”
  • “I’ll be imprisoned for being myself!”
  • “What about MY rights (to oppress)?!”

Select all that apply.

Show answer and explanationfor question 5

Answer: Both choices.

They are definitely worried about their rights while not giving an inch to the people they oppress! Again, the answer is BOTH!

Lady justice with a scale
Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

References

  1. HAF is a hindu right wing organization. It sent this letter to the California senate opposing any legal protection for the caste oppressed
  2. Every speech and writing opposing SB403 is this way, but here is an example of what an ally thinks about these myths