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2016 Postmortem

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(85,915 posts)
Mon Mar 28, 2016, 09:59 AM Mar 2016

Rosario Dawson, how dare you lecture Dolores Huerta? [View all]

bwdone2017@theonlyadult
Rosario Dawson, how dare you lecture Dolores Huerta? | Cindy Casares http://gu.com/p/4hq9d/stw


If labor activist Huerta has concerns about Bernie Sanders, let’s listen to them. Don’t insult her integrity by calling her an ‘instrument of the establishment’

Despite the most recent primary results, Bernie Sanders is still losing to Hillary Clinton. In my opinion, it’s not because he has bad ideas, but because his campaign strategy is to portray himself as an exemplar of moral virtue and Clinton as evil incarnate. Not only that, he decries anyone who doesn’t agree with him as a corrupt sell-out. Some of his supporters seem to agree.

When legendary farm labor, feminist, and voting rights activist Dolores Huerta published an op-ed saying she didn’t know enough about Sanders to vote for him, citing his inconsistent record on immigration and his lack of presence in the United Farm Workers struggle (that’s the labor union she co-founded with the late Cesar Chavez), the person who spoke up on Sanders’ behalf was an actress who once played Huerta in a poorly received biopic of Chavez. Rosario Dawson, a 36-year-old from New York City whose Latino ancestors hail from Puerto Rico, a US territory, and Cuba, the beneficiary of an open-door US immigration policy these last 57 years, wrote an op-ed in the Huffington Post lecturing Huerta.

“I am surprised, dismayed, and concerned that you would do your legacy such a disservice by becoming an instrument of the establishment, rather than joining this movement to create a better America like you once inspired us to do,” Dawson said.

Forget that Huerta not only cofounded the UFW but has dedicated six decades to fighting on the front lines of the workers’ rights movement. She’s been arrested 22 times while demonstrating for the cause and was even hospitalized in 1988 – as a grandmother – with two broken ribs and a ruptured spleen while protesting President George HW Bush’s opposition to the UFW grape boycott. Forget all of it. Dawson has declared Huerta’s legacy destroyed on Bernie’s behalf.

In case there was any doubt as to whether Sanders approved of her message, Dawson was subsequently picked to introduce him at speaking events in San Diego and Los Angeles, where she told crowds to be wary of the media. She spoke of how she been registering Latino voters for 11 years through Voto Latino. Good for her. Dolores Huerta has been doing it for 56, since back when that kind of thing could get you lynched.

The whole episode smacks of the Sanders’ overall style, one that, in the words of former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank, “alienates his natural allies”.

Frank once said of Sanders: “His holier-than-thou attitude – saying in a very loud voice he is smarter than everyone else and purer than everyone else – really undercuts his effectiveness ... To him, everyone who disagrees with him is a crook.”

I suppose that, in addition to Huerta, UFW president Arturo Rodriguez (Cesar Chavez’s son-in-law, who has been fighting with the UFW since 1973), is a crook, too. He also wrote an op-ed questioning Bernie Sanders’ voting record on immigration. Sanders voted against the 2007 bipartisan immigration bill on the grounds that it didn’t have enough protections for new guest workers (although it did boost protections for farmworkers). Yet Sanders didn’t appear to have the same concerns when it came to co-sponsoring a 2011 bill to allow agricultural guest workers, currently only allowed for seasonal farm work, into Vermont’s dairy farms, which offer year-round work.

“Although Senator Sanders opposes use of guest workers because of concerns over exploitation,” wrote Rodriguez, “is he willing to make an exception for guest workers in agriculture? Is this the same kind of exception that saw – and still sees – farm workers excluded from the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act guaranteeing minimum wages and overtime pay after eight hours, and other protections?”

It’s a fair question from a man who has spent many decades fighting on behalf of farm workers. But please, Dawson, tell us how the UFW are a bunch of corrupt sell-outs. Better yet, I’d love to hear the answer from Sanders himself.


Cindy Casares is a columnist for the Texas Observer and the founding editor of Guanabee Media, an English-language, pop culture blog network about Latinos established in 2007

read: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/27/rosario-dawson-dolores-huerta-bernie-sanders?CMP=share_btn_tw
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I would agree if she didn't try to throw Obama under the bus in 2008 NWCorona Mar 2016 #1
Who tried to throw Obama under the bus? Pls explain how. brush Mar 2016 #2
Sorry for not being clear NWCorona Mar 2016 #3
And this Uponthegears Mar 2016 #5
Thanks for the reminder. EndElectoral Mar 2016 #9
amazing how some get a pass. amazing how roguevalley Mar 2016 #14
Labeling people who disagree as "corrupt" and "establishment" is about silencing people. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #40
I feel that way about Sanders. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #25
My feeling is that the baton goes to the young activists and young voters now, Autumn Mar 2016 #4
The votes, actions, and opinions of people over thirty count too. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #15
It's a dishonest game she plays. It's not questioning and disagreeing. She has a pattern Autumn Mar 2016 #20
When is it going to be okay to question Sanders? It goes way beyond Huerta. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #33
You can question him anytime you want. I only read your header and I'm done. Autumn Mar 2016 #35
Cover your ears and close your eyes then, but I don't require people to agree with me. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #38
Thos issues have been addressed already beedle Mar 2016 #42
First back to my original point, before the deflection, then addressing the deflection. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #51
But this thread right here--it's about Huerta. So we're really not going way beyond her here. DisgustipatedinCA Apr 2016 #64
that's not how I view the legacies of my ancestors and peers bigtree Mar 2016 #16
Dolores Huerta lied, no one chanted English only. If Dolores Huerta doesn't know who Autumn Mar 2016 #18
she was mistaken on that bigtree Mar 2016 #22
A lie is a lie, not a mistake and she has a pattern of doing that. She did it the last time Autumn Mar 2016 #24
yeah bigtree Mar 2016 #32
Wow. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #58
She attacked Sanders....And did she bother to talk to him or anyone on his campaign? Armstead Mar 2016 #26
The moderator yelled "English only!" and the crowd cheered. yardwork Mar 2016 #27
You know what? It's been heard. Over and over again. She even walked it back. Autumn Mar 2016 #29
even heroes are not immune to criticism tk2kewl Mar 2016 #6
No person is immune to criticism, someone running to be leader of the country least of all. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #17
If god went against Bernie cosmicone Mar 2016 #7
Doubtful NWCorona Mar 2016 #11
God has a lot to answer for Armstead Mar 2016 #31
God needs a good lecture beedle Mar 2016 #44
Rosario Dawson correct, Huerta said all the same things about Obama in 2008 and worse. Bluenorthwest Mar 2016 #8
Dolores Huerta is entitled to her opinion, it's no cause to dismiss her as "establishment," shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #21
At least Dolores Huerta has good company under the bus, w/ Paul Krugman and E. Warren. CalvinballPro Mar 2016 #10
and John Lewis! and planned parenthood, and people who vote for Clinton. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #23
It's an opinion TrueDemVA Mar 2016 #12
I miss the unrec button. Scuba Mar 2016 #13
As hard as this failed last time melman Mar 2016 #19
oh, yes bigtree Mar 2016 #28
thanks for sharing it shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #37
How dare Huerta accuse Rocky Anderson of sexism? Dems to Win Mar 2016 #30
well, she's amply defended bigtree Mar 2016 #34
I really liked Rosario Dawson's comments, but are you saying she should defer to Ruben Navarrette Attorney in Texas Mar 2016 #36
Look at these people trying to impugn her character. Reminds me of Scientology. shadowandblossom Mar 2016 #39
As much as I love Rosario bravenak Mar 2016 #41
There you go, silencing another PoC for not holding the right views nadinbrzezinski Mar 2016 #43
how dare you think YOU can tell either woman what to think? TheSarcastinator Mar 2016 #45
No one, no matter how accomplished and revered, is above reproach whatchamacallit Mar 2016 #46
Sorry, How dare Cindy Casares beedle Mar 2016 #47
clue bigtree Mar 2016 #48
Civil rights icons can lie? beedle Mar 2016 #49
no one except the Sanders folks are selling this line of yours bigtree Mar 2016 #56
You say that as if it's a magic incantation. DisgustipatedinCA Apr 2016 #65
it's a reality for the millions who have benefited from her advocacy bigtree Apr 2016 #66
Oh yes indeed, that woman is just too uppity for her own good! beam me up scottie Mar 2016 #50
There's that word again... Blue_Tires Mar 2016 #52
I never heard of Rosario Dawson before this. LisaM Mar 2016 #53
OH NOES!! Fall in line people. Never question those that have come before you even if it is someone jillan Mar 2016 #54
I think both these women one_voice Mar 2016 #55
Who is she NOT to question Huerta? These people aren't gods. They can be questioned. Joe the Revelator Mar 2016 #57
k&r Starry Messenger Mar 2016 #59
That is a great article in the OP Gothmog Mar 2016 #60
K&R.. Gracias, bt Cha Apr 2016 #61
That's how these people are.. everyone of them. they know nothing but insults and disrespect.. Cha Apr 2016 #62
How dare she? Is there some law I didn't know about that says you can't call out a liar? DisgustipatedinCA Apr 2016 #63
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