National Council of La Raza: Latino Vote Galvanized by Hate in Immigration Debate

Speaking at the National Press Club today, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) President and CEO Janet Murguía challenged the so-called generally accepted belief that immigration must be a viable wedge issue for the 2008 elections and warned that the demonizing rhetoric surrounding the debate is quickly making the matter “one of the largest civil rights issues not only to the growing Latino vote but of our generation.”

Head of the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., Murguía acknowledged that the immigration debate overwhelmed the presidential primary debates, but questioned the wisdom of those using immigration as a campaign wedge issue in 2008, particularly in “down ticket” elections at the congressional, state, and local level.

Murguía said that candidates are failing to account for the galvanizing effect of the vitriolic debate on the Latino vote. According to current estimates, Latinos are expected to make up 9% of the voting electorate this year. They also constitute a large share of the voters in four states that President Bush carried in 2004 by less than 5%. “And as the primary season has demonstrated, Latinos will be a deciding factor in which candidate becomes president of the United States this fall,” Murguía said.

Murguía also expressed concern that the extreme rhetoric of the immigration debate is fast becoming a polarizing force in the country. “Voices better left on the fringe of political debate have moved front and center,” she said, “and it is breaking communities apart.” She cited an FBI report which showed that hate crimes against Latinos rose 35% over the last four years and Southern Poverty Law Center research which indicated that hate groups targeting Latinos have jumped 40% since 2000. “Words have consequences,” said Murguía, “and hateful words have hateful consequences.”

NCLR has undertaken an educational effort through a website, “WeCanStopTheHate.org,” to discourage the use of hate speech and to challenge the cable news networks to be cautious in putting hate groups and extremists on the air. Murguía cited statistics showing that spokespeople from such groups appeared at least 120 times on cable news over the last three years. Murguía stated, “That’s like asking David Duke to appear as an expert on affirmative action.”

Murguía expects that immigration will continue to be a central issue for this year’s election at all levels. More than 1,400 state and local immigration-related initiatives have been introduced in the last year, compared to 1,300 in the past ten years. “But,” she warned, “Hispanic voters have spoken loudly and clearly that we will not be demonized. We will not be scapegoated, and we will not be ignored.””*

*From: http://www.nclr.org
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

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