Media Injects Immigrant Bashing into Presidential Campaigns

Why the shift in media focus to immigration? Is it due to the “success” of CNN’s Lou Dobbs, whose daily immigrant bashing ignores his reliance on undocumented immigrants to clean his daughter’s horse stables? Or do television networks simply prefer “hot button” issues, even when framed in racist terms that confuse, rather than clarify, the debate.

An election campaign season that began by focusing on Iraq and health care has descended into debates about the immigration status of Mitt Romney’s gardening crew and the willingness of Democratic presidential candidates to report undocumented immigrants to the police. It appears that Lou Dobbs’ nightly attacks on undocumented immigrants is having its intended impact, with campaign ads already reviving the images of brown-skinned people in the shadows undermining America’s soul.

What a disgrace. And while the leading Democrats have tried to redirect questions toward the need for legalization and comprehensive immigration reform, the media insists on propelling the dialogue deeper into the mud.

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