Latinos are Pissed at Dolores Huerta, Here’s Why

Jorge Rodriguez-Jimenez - 02/22/16 - #mitúWORLD
credit: @thinkprogress / Twitter

The Democratic Nevada caucus was a shit-show. What should have been the first display of Latino political power during this election cycle has instead resulted in Dolores Huerta, one of most recognized Latino civil rights leaders, likely tarnishing her legacy by making what now appears to be baseless and racially charged accusations against Bernie Sanders supporters.

Here is the comment that sent the Latino community into a tailspin.

Dolores
Credit: Andrew Davey / YouTube

Huerta claims that Bernie supporters allegedly chanted “English only” at her when she offered to provide a Spanish translation for caucus procedure.

She even tweeted about the incident on her not-always-active Twitter page.

Latinos were quick to rush to Huerta’s side like:

giphy-1
Credit: Scream Queens / FOX / Scream Queens / Giphy

Because it doesn’t matter who you are, no one messes with Dolores Huerta…NO ONE.

READ: Civil Rights Icon Endorses Hillary Clinton

There was an outpour of support for the civil rights legend on social media, which included.

We kind of blindly supported her because she is Dolores F**king Huerta.

https://twitter.com/yosoymalinche/status/701183812114362368

And we were ready to fight over it.

But EVERYTHING changed when video of the event was released and no one heard “English only” being chanted.

Instead, you could hear people calling for a neutral translator with no ties to either campaign.

And people who were at the event started fighting back claiming that Huerta’s story was false.

READ: Bernie Sanders Opens Up About His Immigrant Experience During Victory Speech

You might be thinking, “Why didn’t they just let her translate?” Because it would have been against the rules, that’s why.

Screen Shot 2016-02-22 at 11.47.46 AM
Credit: nvdems.com

Instead of retracting her comments, Huerta has doubled down, even going so far as to tell a Univision reporter that the Bernie Sanders campaign doesn’t respect the Latino community.

The whole story has us feeling like this:

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Credit: followatch / Tumblr

Dolores Huerta has done so much for Latinos — no one can take that away from her — but this controversy hurts more than it helps.

It’s very clear that Huerta is an ardent Clinton supporter.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Dolores Huerta being all in on Hillary. What we’re not down with is her employing dog whistle politics to discredit her opponent. Claiming that Bernie supporters didn’t want her to speak Spanish is suggesting that they were trying to suppress her for being Latina.

READ: Hillary Clinton Was Asked about this Race-Related Question and Here’s How She Answered

But she doesn’t speak for all Latinos, and people are allowed to disagree with her. This is a good thing. It’s what democracy is all about.

This kind of mudslinging doesn’t benefit anyone, least of all Latinos. Huerta should focus on getting people to vote regardless of who they support. Causing this type of drama is counterintuitive and is straight up not a good look for the civil rights advocate. Let’s get back to motivating young Latinos to use their voices to create change.

Watch the video below and judge for yourself if Huerta’s claims are true or false:

Credit: Stefan Becket / YouTube

Do you think Dolores Huerta is telling the truth? Share this story with your friends by tapping that share button below and show them how crazy politics can really be! Register to vote today by downloading the Latinos Vote app for iOS and Android. Our voice matters. #WeAreAmerica

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