Latinos are Pissed at Dolores Huerta, Here’s Why
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.
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.
I offered to translate & Bernie supporters chanted English only! We fought too long & hard to be silenced Si Se Puede! #ImwithHer #NVcaucus
— Dolores Huerta (@DoloresHuerta) February 20, 2016
Credit: @DoloresHuerta / Twitter
Latinos were quick to rush to Huerta’s side like:
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.
Harrah's casino site- Bernie supporters chant "English-only" to stop civil rights leader @DoloresHuerta from providing Spanish translation.
— America Ferrera (@AmericaFerrera) February 20, 2016
Credit: @AmericaFerrera / Twitter
We kind of blindly supported her because she is Dolores F**king Huerta.
https://twitter.com/yosoymalinche/status/701183812114362368
Credit: @yosoymalinche / Twitter
And we were ready to fight over it.
If Dolores Huerta confirms it, I take her at her word.
But I still want footage of those "English-only" surrogates for shaming/scrutiny.
— Falstaff (@FollowIntoDark) February 20, 2016
Credit: @FollowIntoDark / Twitter
But EVERYTHING changed when video of the event was released and no one heard “English only” being chanted.
So, Ms Huerta: losing it? Or lying? To think how long I'd admired you. https://t.co/AIWxJ7hTCy #DoloresHuerta #BernieSanders
— Carolyn Breedlove (@elumos) February 22, 2016
Credit: @elumos / Twitter
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.
.@AmericaFerrera I was there. Nobody frm Bernie's side said English only. Moderator did when no neutral translator was found@DoloresHuerta
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) February 21, 2016
Credit: @SusanSaradon / Twitter
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.
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.
La polémica del día. Dolores Huerta me da su versión. Asegura que seguidores de Sanders no la dejaron hablar español pic.twitter.com/80fK9AHUY1
— Fernando Peinado (@FernandoPeinado) February 21, 2016
Credit: @FernandoPeinado / Twitter
The whole story has us feeling like this:
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.
Dolores Huerta accuses Sanders supporters of shutting down Spanish translation at caucus https://t.co/XxU4gRyQkB pic.twitter.com/z91QjydLrg
— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) February 22, 2016
Credit: @thinkprogress / Twitter
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.
CAUSE Action Fund Annual Dinner. We need an electoral revolution! We've got the POWER! VOTING POWER! #SiSePuede pic.twitter.com/NP9uWkiwgV
— Dolores Huerta (@DoloresHuerta) April 20, 2015
Credit: @DoloresHuerta / Twitter
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.
