Austin Capital Management sent an email out to a number of their investors with a picture of four Latino men, three were giving a thumb's up. The caption above and below the picture said, "Important tax reminder: Don't forget to pay your taxes...muchas gracias!... 21 million illegal aliens are depending on you!" It isn't clear who the Latino men in the photograph were or where or when it was taken. The next day, the e-mail made its way to members of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “The content of the email...is beyond offensive to the Hispanic community,” Frank Fuentes, chairman of the U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association, said in the statement. “Messages, such as the one sent out by [the company] serves to do nothing more than propagate fear and fans the fires of ignorance and hatred toward a group that toils tirelessly, in oftentimes underappreciated crafts, for the good of themselves, their families and for ALL individuals who call America their home.”
"It promotes people's hatred towards (all Latino) people who are here in this country and that are here to work to provide for their families," said Rita Gonzales-Garza of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). "People generalize and think that everybody who looks a certain way must be here illegally and must not be paying taxes and that's not true at all."
David Friedman, the Chief Operation Officer at Austin Capital Management, declined an on camera interview but sent a statement which in part says: “We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this e-mail. Neither Keycorp nor Austin Capital Management authorized or condones the insensitive content of the e-mail or its distribution. Please be assured we take these matters very seriously and will take appropriate action.”
David Friedman, the Chief Operation Officer at Austin Capital Management, declined an on camera interview but sent a statement which in part says: “We sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this e-mail. Neither Keycorp nor Austin Capital Management authorized or condones the insensitive content of the e-mail or its distribution. Please be assured we take these matters very seriously and will take appropriate action.”
Some commenters responded to this article with: "When does illegal alien become a race?" A commenter responded: ""illegal alien" becomes a race when you attach, according to the article, "a picture of four Hispanic males with a caption that reads “Muchas Gracias!"" And when people perpetuate stereotypes, the not-so-bright (i.e. Joe the Plumbers of the world) wrongfully generalize it to the Hispanic population as a whole.
Two interesting asides:
1. Austin Capital Management is a hedge fund manager that is currently being sued by investors because of the millions they lost investing with Madoff.
2. When a reporter called the sender of the email, she laughed. She thought it was funny.
References:
The Injuries and wounds of Pastor Steven Anderson by Border Patrol in Arizona.
ReplyDeleteA Nice and Kind Baptist Pastor Beaten, Tormented, Tortured and Injured by Border Police while driving from San Diego to Phoenix.
His church has been very kind to Latinos, helping them with Spanish Language Sermons and Classes. He is a noble guy. I did some research on this man and his church, they integrate people to American life.
The pastor was tortured, tormented, steped on, injured with broken glass, etc ...
Does Steven Anderson look Latino or Mexican ??
No he is a crew cut blond anglo, a law abiding American Citizen.
See many videos in YouTube.
Or in my site RACIALITY.COM where I am also building a beautiful Encyclopedia of ArchaeoGenetics, Archeology, ArchaeoMythology, etc ... to fight ignorance, imbecility and stupidity.
Raciality.com
Vicente Duque
Latino, Hispanic and Illegal Alien are not races so there can be no racism in this regard. The three primary racial stocks are Negroid, Caucasoid, and Mongoloid.
ReplyDeleteRacism is an excessive and irrational belief in or advocacy of the superiority of a given group, people, nation, usually one's own, on the basis of racial differences having no scientific validity.
By definition then, advocacy of: secure borders, improvements in border infrastructure, staffing and rules of engagement, birthright citizenship only for those who have at least one parent who is a citizen, the rule of law,the national interest, national sovereignty, E-verify, raids and roundups,vigorous internal enforcement, minimization of detention stays, humane detention conditions, expeditious repatriation of illegals, hard time for repeat offenders, the preservation of one's culture, language, and ideals, a stable population,and immigration reform that accomplishes all of the above; opposition to: illegal aliens, amnesty, chain immigrations, excessive legal immigration, tax scoflaws, the fraudulent use of another's ssn or identity, border violations, human, weapon, and drug trafficking, and miscreant employers are not racism in any sense of the word.
I might add that those who defend illegals by suggesting that they all pay taxes on everything they earn are as guilty as those who suggest none of them pay income taxes. Neither has the date to back up their claims except perhaps for some anecdotal evidence.
ReplyDeleteAnother definition: A racist is anyone who is winning an argument with a Neolib or who brings up legitimate points that the Neolibs are unable to respond to rationally rather than emotionally.
ReplyDeleteUltima,
ReplyDeleteI think the commenter had it right:
A commenter responded: ""illegal alien" becomes a race when you attach, according to the article, "a picture of four Hispanic males with a caption that reads “Muchas Gracias!"" And when people perpetuate stereotypes, the not-so-bright (i.e. Joe the Plumbers of the world) wrongfully generalize it to the Hispanic population as a whole.
Dee wrote, "A commenter responded: 'illegal alien' becomes a race when you attach, according to the article, "a picture of four Hispanic males with a caption that reads 'Muchas Gracias'."
ReplyDeleteWell, what can I say? The commenter is wrong. He or she is misusing the term "race". Just think what it would be like if we interpreted everything we read the way to commenter did. Every one would be a racist and there would myriad races. Just doesn't make sense. This is the result of the imprecise use of language to arouse emotions -- nothing more.
I suppose the next thing we will hear is that this was a hate crime rather than a joke. Hasn't everyone been the butt of a joke some time in his or her lifetime?
I was struck by the interesting parallel between how the Native Americans in the PBS series felt about the colonists and how most Americans feel about illegal aliens.
ReplyDeleteThe Indians expressed concern about their sovereignty, their culture, their natural resources, their language,etc. These are the same concerns expressed by the Pro-America movement and for which the members are often accused of racism. I guess that makes the Indians racist, doesn't it? It looks like we will be going back through this kind of a sordid chapter in our history all over again as the new natives are overrun by illegal aliens. This should put the Pro-America movement in perspective, at least if one has any sympathy for the Native Americans and what they had to endure at the hands of the invading immigrants.
There will be Great Demonstrations on May 1 of 2009 ..... for Immigrants, Tolerance, Kindness, Respect for all our Fellow Human Beings.
ReplyDeleteFor Understanding .... There is only one Human Species. There is only one Mankind.
America needs the Latinos and Immigrants for Economic Purposes, for Work, for the Future.
Because the Future is in Elementary Schools, High Schools, Colleges and Universities.
And not in Geriatric Refuges, or Gerontologic Asylums.
And the Latinos are in Elementary Classrooms and not in Geriatric Gerontologist Wheelchairs.
See the Latino Fiesta Parties Singing and Dancing on May 1st here : ( Not the best artists, many aficionados )
Watch the Videos :
Milenials.com
Vicente Duque