Time Reporter: Racist, Biased or Just Plain Lazy

I didn’t know whether to be amused or outraged by Time magazine’s Steven Gray’s attempts to perpetuate the stereotype of the Republican Party as a bunch of racists in "Can Michael Steel Broaden the GOP." The outrage came as Gray tried to equate "white separatist" David Duke with all Southern Republicans. I "moderated" myself to eye-rolling when a choice of pork as the entr�e was offered as proof of the Republican Party’s inherent racism.

But as a Hispanic attendee of the DuPage County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner, cited in the article, I did enjoy the audience description as "a white crowd of roughly 700 (there was a handful of blacks and South Asians)." (I also enjoyed the pork! Though I’d have preferred roasting the pig in a caja china outside the hotel before the meal, but maybe the Republican Party isn’t ready for that just yet.)

I happened to be one of more than even a handful of Hispanics attending that night. How could Mr. Gray omit our presence? Does he think that Hispanics aren’t present if there isn’t a mariachi band playing in the background? Perhaps we blend in too well with our white friends when we take off our sombreros. Perhaps the lack of translation above the speaker’s podium confused him. Surely, no Latinos come to an English-speaking event, right?

Before Mr. Gray decides to deride an entire party as racist, he needs to take the plank out of his own eye. It would help him see some things he missed. Gray would see that there are a growing number of Hispanics in DuPage County (and across the country) who align themselves with an un-moderated Republican Party. They realize that Steele’s message of conservative principals is in line with most Hispanic’s principals. In fact, the DuPage County Chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly is one of the fastest growing chapters in the country. The membership of the DuPage RNHA is comparable in numbers to the membership of the DuPage Young Republicans.

I hope to see you at next year’s event, Mr. Gray. I’ll throw on my striped poncho so you can pick me out easier. Look for me taking a siesta under a tree.