Missteps with Minority voters and the decisions they face..

La Prensa has an interesting AP article written by Erin Texeria, that is entitled, "Republican gains with minority voters offset by missteps" but also highlights some recent problems with the Democratic Party and minority voters as well.



The main "Missteps" from the article then any additional information in blue:

Reports surfaced last week that Sen. Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican, called his house painter a ``nice little Guatemalan man'' during a June speech. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. It turns out the worker is legal.

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“The other day, the little fella who does our maintenance work around the house, he’s from Guatemala, and I said, ‘Could I see your green card?”’ Burns said at a June meeting recorded by Democrats. “And Hugo says, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Oh gosh.”’ (Burn's staffer says the story was anecdotal). Burns is also known for his recent August comment in which he stated, the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who "drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night."

George Allen, a Republican senator from Virginia, twice referred to an opponent's volunteer using a term considered by some to be a racial slur. ``Let's give a welcome to Macaca here,'' Allen said. ``Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.''

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"This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great. We're going to places all over Virginia, and he's having it on film and its great to have you here and you show it to your opponent because he's never been there and probably will never come."

Former Democratic congressman and civil rights leader Andrew Young, who is black, said this month that Asian, Jewish and Arab shopkeepers in black neighborhoods sold shoddy goods to blacks and drove away their businesses.

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"Well, I think they should; they (big stores) ran the mom-and-pop stores out of my neighborhood," he told the Sentinel. "But you see those are the people (owners of mom-and-pop stores) who have been overcharging us--selling us stale bread, and bad meat and wilted vegetables. And they sold out and moved to Florida. I think they've ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it's Arabs, very few black people own these stores."

And, amid protests, the Democratic party this month pulled an advertisement from its Web site that compared Latino immigrants to terrorists.

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The ad opens with the words "Security Under Bush and GOP?" It features scenes of a masked man with a bazooka, scenes from terrorist attacks and police inspecting a subway train. It also shows Osama bin Laden, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a docked ship as it claims "4 times as many terrorist attacks in 2005."

Then comes footage of a person climbing over a corrugated metal border fence and another preparing to climb it as the words "millions more illegal immigrants" form on-screen. In the following scene, viewers see the words "North Korea has quadrupled its nuclear arsenal" with footage of a tank and North Korea President Kim Jong Il.

Of course it can be said that these statements are a reflection on the individuals rather than the party. However the above incidents clearly point that both the Republican and Democratic party could do a better job when it comes to inclusion and sensitivity. Even locally we have a situation where there are those in the Hispanic community who feel as if they being divided when it comes to the Toledo City Council race. It was assumed by many that Bob Vasquez would be the candidate that was supported until Lourdes Santiago was selected by the Lucas County Democratic Party. Some in the Hispanic community are forced with the decison of do those who supported Bob now support Lourdes or do those who supported him in the last election still continue to support him. Then the concerns about the whole endorsement process that goes far beyond minorities or one individual candidate, but relates to all of us which, is a topic for another day...

As the original article that inspired this post states:

Outreach to minorities can ring hollow if it's not backed by strong policies, said Louis DeSipio, a professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Which to me can be easily summed up as we have a lot of people willing to talk the talk, but less willing to walk the walk...