The Associated Press reports many of the 500,000 people who crammed downtown Los Angeles last Saturday to protest the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act learned where, when and even how to demonstrate from the Spanish-language media.
The mass protests against the legislation designed to stem the tide of illegal immigration were not spontaneous. According to the Associated Press the protests were organized, promoted or publicized for weeks by Spanish-language radio hosts and TV anchors as a demonstration of Hispanic pride and power:
In Milwaukee, where at least 10,000 people rallied last week, one radio station manager called some employers to ask that they not fire protesters for skipping work. In Chicago, a demonstration that drew 100,000 people received coverage on local television more than a week in advance."This was a much bigger story for the Latino media," said Felix Gutierrez, a professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. "If the mainstream media had been paying better attention, there would not have been the surprise about the turnout."
Adrian Velasco first learned of House legislation to overhaul immigration policy on Los Angeles' Que Buena 105.5 FM. Over two weeks, the 30-year-old illegal immigrant soaked up details about the planned march against the bill from Hispanic TV and radio. On Saturday, he and three friends headed downtown.
I have always found it annoying that I am forced to pay for Spanish language channels from my cable provider. Why should I pay for something I won't use and don't desire. Now I find it objectionable and offensive. Somehow it doesn't seem right that we have enabled a sub-culture to become established in the United States that doesn't even have an aspiration for assimilation.
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