Voces de la Frontera: Racine Residents Rally against Hate

Racine, WI – “As a Latino student it is insulting to me that Representative Paul Ryan would provide an interview to FAIR, a group with known ties to white supremacists,” says Christian Pacheco, a junior at St. Catherine’s High School and member of Students United for Immigrant Rights (SUFRIR), “Racine should not be a home for hate and our politicians shouldn’t associate with hate groups.”

Voces de la Frontera and its student affiliates SUFRIR and Students United in the Struggle (SUITS) will rally Tuesday outside Representative Paul Ryan’s Racine office. The protest was prompted by Paul Ryan’s recent participation in the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)’s “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” event in September. FAIR has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and has been strongly denounced by national civil rights organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. They have employed known white nationalists, accepted major donations from a foundation dedicated to the promotion of eugenics and its founder has well-documented ties to the white nationalist movement.

“All humans should be obligated to respect equal rights” says Jarasha Williams, a senior at Case High School and member of SUITS, “we’ve been working hard to build unity in Racine and this move by our congressman is not helping us move towards equality.”

This is not the first time that FAIR has been the source of controversy in Racine. “In 2004 FAIR unsuccessfully tried to strip me of my license to register voters by claiming I was an undocumented immigrant” recalls Maria Morales of Voces de la Frontera, “I was born in Texas. I worked for Racine County for over a decade. They made that claim based on my race and my commitment to the immigrant struggle. It is an outrage Paul Ryan would give any credence to their lies.”

The rally will begin at 3:30 pm outside Ryan’s Racine office. Protesters will be carrying a giant pledge against hate which they will be asking the congressman to sign. The protest also coincides with a national march in Washington DC calling for comprehensive immigration reform.

What: Rally Against Hate
When: Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Time: 3:30pm
Where: 216 6th st., Racine
Visuals: Giant pledge against hate

Posted @ 1:36 p.m.