MALDEF rushes to Villaraigosa's defense

So Rush Limbaugh called Antonio Villaraigosa "the shoeshine guy" and L.A.'s mayor turned the other cheek. Not so the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which came out with a vigorous protest. The group's president, John Trasviña, wrote a letter criticizing Limbaugh's swipe at the mayor, Rick Orlov reports in The Sausage Factory.

"The fact that your stated first impression of [Mayor Villaraigosa] was to consider him "a shoeshine boy" instead of the elected mayor of America's second-largest city speaks volumes about your view of America and the role or status of people who do not fit your preconceived notion of what an elected official should be," Trasviña wrote.

"Perhaps as our community continues to increase its presence as the teachers, lawyers, professionals and civic leaders that our country depends on, you will finally move beyond your outdated mindset which attempts to exclude an entire American population from being the leaders of this nation."

A bit derivative, what with Don Imus calling a reporter from the NYT "the cleaning lady." Seriously, what's this thing conservative pundits have with manual labor?

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Keith]

The "shoe shine guy" was in reference to Obama's campaign where secret service prevented a shoe shine guy from meeting Obama. need to do at tad more research before running a story off a one-liner guys.

[GoDux8]

What happened to freedom of speech/expression? Can't have it both ways MALDEF. I guess something is only "racist" if comes from a white person,huh?
MALDEF-why not file a lawsuit against La Raza whose mantra is "for the race everything, for those outside the race, nothing." Don't get much more racist than that.

[Bill M.]

Villar is not a shoeshine boy. He's a scamming ex-thug,and adulterer who barely passed the bar exam. He's turning LA into a third world city, thanks to organizations like MALDEF. PASS JAMIEL'S LAW.

[Steve Johnson]

Bill M.

I agree with everything you wrote except one comment. Villareconquista never passed the bar exam. He tried multiple times, but couldn't pull it off. The bar exam covers knowledge of law, not politics and patronization. Which explains why this idiot still is not an attorney.

God bless America!

[Enrique Juarez]

Rush is a loud mouth who attracts listeners with his outrageous one liners. For MALDEF to even acknowledge his comments is a waste of time...GoDux8, come on LA RAZA? Latinos love the US and we are more than willing to share.

[Carol]

The definition of racism: discriminatory behavior that has institutional power behind it. So basically since the majority of the power in this country is being held by European American males between the ages of 30 to 60, and Mr. Limbaugh belongs to the majority group, he is a racist and any ignorant comment he states against a person that is not part of the majority group is a racist comment. Just wanted to clear that up for GoDux8 who obviously has not had any education in Mulitcultural Psychology which I would recommend. You might actually learn something.

[Michael Maguilacutty]

As a hardworking and proud shoeshine "boy"...I resent the association with a politician.

[GoDux8]

I think Rush is popular because of his substantiative arguments, and he has a way of concisely saying what many believe.

[GoDux8]

Okay, how about bigoted? bibig·ot Audio Help (bĭg'ət) Pronunciation Key
n. One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ.

Is that a good enough definition of LA Raza for you, Mr. PC?

[Dom]

How many of the NCLR have been arrested for attacking us Whites for our color or speech? How many Minutemen have been arrested for violent acts against Latinos? Wasn't Simcox (Leader of the minutemen) convicted of a Federal felony concerning illegal activities along our southern border? The man is a convicted criminal for violations far more severe than most of the "Illegal" he opposes!