Latin leaders in US demand CNN drop Lou Dobbs

October 16, 2009
Tucson Contact: Derechos Humanos: 520.770.1373 520.770.1373
National Media Contact (English): Brandon Hatler: DobbsMustGo@gmail.com
National Media Contact (Spanish): Natali Fani: 301.442.8459 301.442.8459 / natali@mateagroup.com

Press Conference
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
11:00am
El Tiradito Shrine
356 South Main Avenue, Tucson, Arizona

Latino Leaders Across U.S. Demand CNN Drop Controversial Host Lou Dobbs for Extremist Ties
Dobbs' participation in event organized by hate group FAIR sparks Latinos nationally to launch unprecedented bilingual campaign using email and text messaging

TUCSON -- Coalición de Derechos Humans and other Tucson allies have joined with organizations from 25 U.S. cities with the largest Latino populations today to mount a national technology-driven campaign to demand that CNN drop Lou Dobbs from its program offering. Citing his links to extremist groups and his ongoing promotion of dangerous anti-Latino and anti-immigrant rhetoric, Tucson groups will join the call for CNN to drop Dobbs.

The campaign launches as Dobbs broadcasts his radio show this week from a national lobbying conference sponsored by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which was founded by white nationalist John Tanton and is designated as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Earlier this year, FAIR was linked to Shawna Forde, head of the Arizona-based Minutemen American Defense, who is charged with killing 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father. Recent studies have tied anti-immigrant hate speech to increased violence against Latinos in America.

"Enough is enough. CNN has allowed Dobbs to spout hate on its network for too long, and his alignment with a hate group like FAIR should be the last straw," said Roberto Lovato of Presente.org, the national online group that is organizing the effort. "We are calling on CNN President Jon Klein to drop Dobbs if he and his network are to maintain any semblance of credibility in the fast-growing Latino media market."

The appearance at this year's FAIR event is the latest in Dobbs' long career of aligning with white supremacist groups and using his platform on CNN to spread lies and conspiracy theories about Latinos and immigrants.

"We see the effects that Dobbs and other hate radio jocks have on our communities on a daily basis," says Kat Rodriguez of Derechos Humanos. "Hate speech should never be tolerated, especially from a news personality associated with a supposedly unbiased network like CNN."

Presente.org and its partners are using a combination of traditional and new media in English and Spanish to educate Latinos across America about Dobbs' anti-Latino history. Efforts will include Spanish-language radio PSAs that connect to a text-message campaign, email petitions and a bilingual website hub.

The campaign includes local partner organizations in the 25 U.S. cities with the largest Latino populations, listed below. These same cities account for more than 75 percent of the Hispanic television audience in the country. Latinos are the fastest-growing demographic group in the nation at 44 million, representing about 15 percent of the total U.S. population.
http://www.bastadobbs.com/
Text Message: BASTA or ENOUGH to 3-0-6-4-4
List of Groups & Cities
Accion America (Dallas, TX)
Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change (Austin, TX)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) (San Diego, CA)
CARECEN (San Francisco, CA)
Center for Media Justice (Oakland, CA)
Centro Presente (Boston, MA)
Chicano Consortium (Sacramento, CA)
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)(Los Angeles, CA)
Coalicion de Derechos Humanos (Tucson, AZ)
Colorado Latino Forum (Denver, CO)
CRECEN (Houston, TX)
Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), (New York City, NY)
Dolores Street Community Services (San Francisco, CA)
Esperanza Peace & Justice Center (San Antonio, TX)
Families for Freedom (New York, NY)
Florida Immigrant Coalition (Miami,FL & Tampa, FL)
Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (Atlanta, GA)
Hermandad Mexicana (Las Vegas, NV)
La Comunidad, Inc. (Everett, MA)
La Pena (Austin, TX)
Latino Leadership, Inc. (Orlando, FL)
Main Street Project (Minneapolis, MN)
Massachusetts Jobs with Justice (Boston, MA)
Mexicanos Sin Fronteras (Washington, DC)
National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (Chicago, IL & Nationwide)
National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (Oakland, CA)
New Mexico Media Literacy Project (Albuquerque, NM)
No Border Wall (Brownsville, TX)
Project Voice New England/American Friends Service Committee of New England (Boston, MA)
Somos un Pueblo (Chicago, IL); The Chelsea Collaborative (Boston, MA)
The New Santuary Coalition of New York City (New York, NY)
Tonatierra Community Development Institute (Phoenix, AZ)
William C. Velasquez Institute, San Antonio, TX & Nationwide

Blog Endorsers
CitizenOrange.com
VivirLatino.com
CultureKitchen.com
LatinaLista.com
TheUnapologeticMexican.org
XicanoPwr.com
LatinoPoliticsBlog.com
DosCentavos.net

Coalición de Derechos Humanos
P.O. Box 1286 Tucson, AZ 85702
Tel: 520.770.1373 520.770.1373
Fax: 520.770.7455
www.derechoshumanosaz.net