United Farm Workers Co-Founder Eyes Big Latino Turnout in November Election
Dolores Huerta talks immigration and the Latino vote.
“The strongest weapon ever, the non-violent weapon, is our vote,” says Dolores Huerta. “Take it to the ballot box.”
All over the Western world it seems vitriol against immigrants and refugees is fueling right-wing, nationalist political campaigns. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has infamously said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people”.
Two of Trump’s major policy proposals are to build a “great wall” to prevent people from illegally crossing the border, and a mass deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrants, thus dividing families.
What is behind this movement toward protectionism? And what does it really seek to protect us from? When a Latino parent hears this kind of rhetoric, how do they explain it to their children?
Dolores Heurta, co-founder of United Farm Workers, joins host Stephen Henderson on Detroit Today.
“The Latino community is incensed over all of the attacks on our community,” says Huerta. “When they talk about immigrants, they really mean Latinos, they really mean Brown people, and that fuels the racism that we already know is so inherent of our society. And that is really sad.”
Voter registration seems to be growing in the Latino community. Huerta says the Latin vote can be influential. In order to fight what Huerta calls an attack on the Latino community, she urges, “It is incumbent upon us for our communities to know what’s going on and not get disillusioned,” and emphasizes, “The strongest weapon ever, the non-violent weapon, is our vote… take it to the ballot box.”
Click on the audio player above to hear the entire conversation.
