Vitter Claims Offensive Images In His Ad Portray ?Fact Not A Stereotype?
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on October 30th, 2010 4:38 am by HL
Vitter Claims Offensive Images In His Ad Portray ?Fact Not A Stereotype?
A couple weeks ago, the Wonk Room reported that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was urging Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to apologize for and to stop running a race-baiting anti-immigrant attack ad on his opponent, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) that contained offensive ethnic stereotypes. “We found the ad to be totally abhorrent and shocking, and […]
A couple weeks ago, the Wonk Room reported that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was urging Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to apologize for and to stop running a race-baiting anti-immigrant attack ad on his opponent, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA) that contained offensive ethnic stereotypes. “We found the ad to be totally abhorrent and shocking, and I’m going to use the ‘R’ word and say racist,” Darlene Kattan of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana told a local news station.
In a debate last night, Vitter was asked to respond to the allegations. Rather than apologizing, Vitter affirmed, “I stand by the ad.” According to him, the images in it aren’t a “stereotype,” but rather, “a fact”:
MODERATOR: Do you offer them an apology or do you stand by the ad?
VITTER: We have an illegal immigration problem and a huge part of that is the Mexican border. That is a fact, that is not a stereotype. Ninety seven percent of our apprehensions of illegals is at the Mexican border. That is a fact, that is not a stereotype. Over 80 percent of the 12-15 million illegals in this country have come through that border from Mexico and South American countries. That is a fact, that is not a stereotype. Now there’s one thing in that ad that is offensive and that is Mister Melancon’s votes that the ad highlights. […]
MODERATOR: How do you respond to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Catholic Charities, the Archdiocese of New Orleans who say that this ad played into offensive racial stereotypes?
VITTER: Let me just ask you, what is the stereotype?
MODERATOR:They’re talking about the images seen in your ad.
VITTER: Is it a stereotype that folks coming across the border — that is a problem and they look like that? Dennis that is a fact, that is not a stereotype! Let’s get our heads out of the sand!
Watch it:
It’s interesting that Vitter avoided taking the Sharron Angle route of denying that the negative images in the ad are necessarily Latinos. Instead, he readily admits that there’s a connection between the two. Yet, Vitter’s ad isn’t a “fact” — it’s a racist parody of Latin culture. His implication that the running image of goofy Latino men who sneak through a hole in a fence with a giant neon welcome sign and then run off with a check from the government is somehow representative of people from Mexico and South America says a lot about how Vitter perceives reality. Wonk Room has more on how disconnected Vitter’s statement are from the immigration issue itself. About two dozen New Orleans-area community leaders called on Vitter to apologize and remove the ad, including representatives of African-American, Latino, and Vietnamese groups, and Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans.
Arkansas School Board Member Who Wanted ‘Fags’ To ‘Commit Suicide’ Vows To Resign
Earlier this week, ThinkProgress noted that with the backdrop of a disturbing wave of gay teen suicides, Arkansas school board member Clint McCance took to his Facebook page to urge “fags” and “queers” to kill themselves. McCance’s homophobic tirade came in response to a campaign by Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for educators […]
Earlier this week, ThinkProgress noted that with the backdrop of a disturbing wave of gay teen suicides, Arkansas school board member Clint McCance took to his Facebook page to urge “fags” and “queers” to kill themselves. McCance’s homophobic tirade came in response to a campaign by Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) for educators and others to wear purple to show support for gay teens who suffered from bullying — unfortunately, McCance just took this as an opportunity to engage in some bullying of his own. However, last night on CNN host Anderson Cooper’s program, McCance apologized for his hateful comments and said he would be resigning from the school board:
MCCANCE: It was out of control. You know and it does look like I’m a hate monger or a horrible person, and that’s not me at all. […]
COOPER: They said they can’t fire you, but that you can resign. Are you going to resign from the school board?
MCCANCE: I am going to resign from the school board.
It is to — to help my community, to help my school. I don’t want them to receive bad press or have a distraction because of some ignorant comments that have — that I made.
If they decide later, you know, a year, five years, 10 years from now to vote me back in, if my constituents want that, then — then I will run again.
Watch it:
While McCance said he still believes homosexuality is wrong in the eyes of God, he said he does not “have an problem with anyone’s sexuality.” Fortunately, most schools are cracking down on bullying. Last week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan sent new official guidelines on school-bullying to 15,000 school districts and 5,000 colleges and universities with the message “bullying is not acceptable” and can violate federal civil rights laws.
