LULAC Hails Removal of Lou Dobbs from CNN

November 11, 2009

Contact: Lizette Jenness Olmos  (202) 365-4553 mobile

Campaign to Have Anti-Immigrant Anchor Taken Off the Air Succeeds

Washington, DC – The League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest and largest Hispanic civil rights organization in the country hailed that CNN anchor Lou Dobbs will leave CNN today. The announcement was made on his 7 p.m. program “Lou Dobbs Tonight.”

“After years of giving Lou Dobbs an unparalleled and powerful perch from which to spread hate, fear, and misinformation about immigrants, the executives at CNN have finally realized that they could no longer justify his nightly smear campaign against the hardest working people in America,” stated Rosa Rosales, LULAC National President. “I am amazed that it took them so long to realize that the show was beyond the bounds of common decency.”

LULAC participated in the Drop Dobbs and Basta Dobbs campaigns to pressure advertisers to abandon his divisive show. The LULAC National Assembly had also passed a resolution calling for advertisers to withdraw.

“While we strongly believe in the right to free speech, that does not mean that demagogues have the right to a prime time show in which they bash hard working people of color,” stated LULAC National Executive Director Brent Wilkes. “CNN and other media outlets have a responsibility to provide a fair and rational discourse on important issues affecting their viewers or risk a backlash from the public.”

The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Hispanic membership organization in the country, advances the economic conditions, educational attainment, political influence, health, housing and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community-based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide.