Saturday, December 16, 2006

Official apologizes for remark about Hispanic immigrants

"The head of the state Highway Traffic Safety Division, Roberto Rodriguez, has apologized for telling a Spanish-language newspaper Hispanic immigrants need to remember they can't drive drunk and then bribe police to avoid arrest like they did in their old countries.

Rodriguez's comments, which have drawn criticism from some Latinos, appeared in the Nov. 22 edition of the bi-weekly newspaper Reporte Hispano, as part of a story on the increasing number of drunken-driving arrests among Hispanics in New Jersey.

�They ought to remember that now they are not in Latin America where if there is a problem due to driving drunk one pays the police so they �will look the other way,�� Rodriguez was quoted as saying. �Hispanics should accustom themselves to the culture of the USA, its norms and its rules. Here, if you drive drunk they will catch you and put you in jail.�

He was also quote as saying: "In the Latino community people don�t drink to feel happy, but to get drunk. This is not a problem, if it weren�t for the fact that many drive drunk."

The story cited statistics provided by Rodriguez that show drivers of Hispanic origin made up 16.5 percent of those arrested for driving drunk in 2004 compared with 13.5 percent of those arrested in 1997.

Rodriguez sent a letter to the newspaper yesterday apologizing for his comments, although he noted the statistics remain "deeply troubling" to him.

"This is a serious and deadly issue in New Jersey and I apologize if it appeared that my comments on the problem of driving under the influence among Hispanics were based on inappropriate ethnic stereotypes," Rodriguez wrote.

David Wald, spokesman for the Department of Law and Public Safety, which oversees Rodriguez' division, said Attorney General Stuart Rabner learned about the comments Wednesday and found them "stereotypical and inappropriate." Rodriguez is scheduled to retire Dec. 31 after more than 23 years in state government."

The truth can be construed as stereotypical, but being the truth, is never inappropriate. Used to say, "if the shoe fits..." Then folks of moderate breeding would strive mightily to overcome a perceived or genuine weakness. Now it's bad theater to even suggest that some of us are drunk driving assholes.

In Mexico as well as other dirty places, when pulled over by a officer of the law one does not roll down one's window. The documentation is pressed against the driver's side glass, because, to offer it means surrendering it. Then paying through the nose to get it back. It may however be profered with an American $20 bill attached to send the officer on his way, and that IS how many of our southern-most brethren learn to drive. To sugest otherwise is insulting and does not get to the heart of the matter.

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