Thursday, June 4, 2009

Valentine and Saltsman offered Nolensville Road platform from which to clear their names


Media distorts Phil Valentine and Chip Saltsman, according to RNHA-TN

"Both Chip and Phil are repeatedly accused of racism"

"'Conservatives voices' that might generate ill-will to Americans, that happen to be Hispanic, as a by-product of their popular commentary on illegal immigration"

When I heard that Phil Valentine was going to be the speaker at an event hosted by the Republican National Hispanic Assembly of Tennessee, that the event was going to be at a latin music club just off of Nolensville Road, and that Chip Saltsman (tied to "Barack the Magic Negro" and "Star-Spanglish Banner") was a sponsor, I had to get more detail.

RNHA-TN President Raul Lopez was kind enough to shed some light:
Both Chip and Phil are repeatedly accused of racism because of their comments and humor on illegal immigrants. I know them both personally and have always been treated respectfully, and fairly. I’ve also heard them support “legal” immigration.

In the past, “sound bites” or portions of their commentary may have been used, out of context, to paint them as inflammatory racists, and of course, a truly masterful job has been done associating them to the whole of the Republican Party.

We want to set a stage for them to share their positions in context, and free from the editing of any advocate or journalist with an agenda.

"Hispanic leaders" should have been doing a long time ago... engaging the "conservatives voices" that might generate ill-will to Americans, that happen to be Hispanic, as a by-product of their popular commentary on illegal immigration.

Valentine and Saltsman in the pages of the Hispanic Nashville Notebook

The following are excerpts from previous stories in the Hispanic Nashville Notebook about Valentine and Saltsman.

A May 2006 story describes a remark by Valentine at so-called "De-Magnetize Tennessee" meeting:
Valentine says, "Shoot him" in response to a description of what a border agent can and can't do when apprehending an illegal immigrant. The resulting chuckles and applause indicate that the comment was Valentine's attempt at humor and that it was well received by the audience.
Reprinting a paragraph about Valentine from The Nation's August 2006 cover story on "The New Nativism":
The son of a former Democratic Congressman in North Carolina, [radio personality Phil] Valentine is a leading voice--and instigator--of Tennessee's nativist backlash. 'Wake up and smell the tacos,' Valentine likes to say, flaunting his political incorrectness. His website recently featured a full-color image of the Statue of Liberty wearing a sombrero, with a huge black mustache pasted on, a jar of salsa instead of a flame and a bottle of Patron cradled in her lower hand. Liberty rests on a tottering foundation of Chicklets, Tostitos and a Taco Bell sign."
Condemning Saltsman's distribution of a CD with the song "Star-Spanglish Banner":
Tennessee's Chip Saltsman has withdrawn his candidacy for the chairmanship of the Republican National Convention after circulating a CD which contained controversial songs, with "Barack the Magic Negro" gaining the most media attention. Another song on the CD was the "Star Spanglish Banner"...

Circulating the "Star-Spanglish Banner" song puts Saltsman on the Hispanic Nashville Notebook's list of Tennessee officials who have deliberately circulated negativity about Hispanics.

Republicans warn, apologize about negativity in discussions about illegal immigration

I've linked to Republican Leslie Sanchez's warning to her fellow conservatives multiple times before in the Hispanic Nashville Notebook:
Substantial numbers of immigrants (not to mention their children and grandchildren, too) hear attacks on "illegal" immigration as attacks on them -- so that a discussion of, say, day laborers can quickly turn into an anti-Hispanic free-for-all.
At a prayer gathering in Nashville, Republican Senator Sam Brownback asked for forgiveness for the negative tone of the immigration debate:
Brownback "[asked] a Hispanic man onstage for forgiveness for the negative tone Washington's immigration debate has taken."

"'I want to say to my Latino brothers, forgive us for that,' Brownback said. 'We want you in America. We love you and ask you to forgive us for these negative comments.'"

Event details

Here are the event details from the Tennessean (h/t Post Politics):
An invite calls for business attire and a $50 “suggested contribution” for Una Noche con Phil Valentine. The conservative talk show host will address the fact some call him racist over his stance on immigration.

The event is at 6 p.m. June 27 at Ibiza, 15128 Old Hickory Blvd.

1 comment:

  1. If Raul Lopez wants to help these two carnival barkers re-invent themselves, more power to him. Mr. Valentine, especially, has shown himself to be anti-Hispanic, and I have first hand experience with him. I still have pictures he posted on his website(now scrubbed clean) that cannot be considered anything but racist.

    Any Latino worth his salt would be asking him some tough questions, and demanding some apologies.

    ReplyDelete

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