In response to what it considers a surge in hate speech that has surrounded the immigration debate on news programming, The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) called for a nationwide campaign to end hate speech and has called for media network executives and presidential candidates to distance themselves from known hate and vigilante groups and end the demonizing of immigrants.  From a NCLR press release, NCLR President Janet Murguía chastised cable news television for "handing hate a microphone" over the past three years by hosting spokespeople from hate and vigilante groups such as Dan Stein of Federation for American Immigration Reform and Jim Gilchrist and Chris Simcox of the Minuteman Project more than 110 times, usually identifying them only as "anti-immigration advocates." She singled out television pundits such as CNN’s Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck and MSNBC political commentator Pat Buchanan for parroting hate speech and driving the immigration debate in a manner that demonizes the Hispanic community.  

Presidential candidates who Murguía  characterizes as seizing on the immigration issue to avoid talking about other issues such as Iraq and the economy also came under fire. She faulted the candidates for "amigo shopping," a derogatory term used by suburban youth who attack and rob day laborers knowing that their victims have little recourse. Murguía specifically called on Mike Huckabee, 2008 presidential candidate and former governor of Arkansas , to renounce the endorsement of, and sever all ties to, Jim Gilchrist, a cofounder of the Minuteman Project and a self-avowed "vigilante."  

"There’s a bully in the room," said Murguía, "and each of these candidates has a choice. They can stand up to the bully or they can cater to him. It is a question of courage or cowardice. To date, we have seen far too little courage."  

Citing study results from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, Murguía points out four categories of derogatory terms that have become commonplace on news programming:

·         Referring to immigrants as "an army of invaders" or an "invading force"

·         Associating immigrants with animals and refers to them as "a massive horde" or "swarm"

·         Accusing immigrants of "bringing crime and disease" to America , including "leprosy, tuberculosis, and malaria" and "gang warfare"

·         Purveying the conspiracy theory of "reconquista" or "Atzlán" – the taking back of lands in the southwestern United States for Mexico

In the campaign to raise awareness and promote tolerance, NCLR has launched a site in addition to their own, www.wecanstophate.org.  The site provides examples of hate speech on news programming, as well as the goals NCLR hopes to achieve with the campaign.  For example, NCLR has called on Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee to renounce his endorsement by Minuteman Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist, a frequent speaker on cable news programs opposing immigration reform.  The organization has also written to executives of Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN to discuss extremists appearing regularly on their programming (as of this writing, CNN Worldwide’s CEO has agreed to meet with the group).

Murguía says she recognized that ultimately the power to change the debate lies with the Hispanic community itself, prompting this call to action. "Latinos buy products from the advertisers supporting these programs," she said. "Latinos vote in primaries and in the general election. We have a significant role to play picking winners and losers in both arenas. We need to make it clear to those who embrace hate that they do so at their own economic and political peril."

NCLR’s web site is being joined by the Anti-Defamation League which this week also established a web page to fight hate speech on cable news networks and in other places. The site is at http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/immigration.asp.

Lou Dobbs attracted controversy recently when Murguía was a guest on his show and he called ADL a "joke." Greg Siskind reported on the remark at http://blogs.ilw.com/gregsiskind/2008/02/jewish-press-ou.html.