After months of pressure, Lou Dobbs’ departure from CNN is not only a sign that the network is interested in restoring its credibility but also that immigrants and Latinos will stand up firmly to hate mongering.
Last night, the CNN pundit announced his resignation. Dobbs spoke about dealing honestly and straightforwardly with issues, a description that flew in the face of the repeated hostile actions that led up to this moment.
On his show, Dobbs falsely reported that immigrants were causing an increase in leprosy. He claimed the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce was in cahoots with drug cartels. Dobbs regularly invited to his show representatives of groups with closely tied to the xenophobe and racist John Tanton. According to research by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Tanton subscribes to white European supremacy and has corresponded with white nationalists and former KKK lawyers.
EL DIARIO/LA PRENSA has long pointed out Dobbs' lies and distortions. And the recent national campaign, led by organizations like Presente.org, built momentum for his ouster. The campaign calling for CNN to “dump Dobbs” activated and mobilized a grassroots base into a massive online petition drive.
It took a long time for CNN to see the error of its ways, but last night, the network communicated that it took its slogan “the most trusted name in news” seriously. And the victory of the national mobilization, as Presente.org, put it, communicates that organizations will not be able to profit from promoting hate without a firm backlash.
Dobbs is certainly not the only, or the last, of pundits to viciously target immigrants. But he was the leading face, using his hundreds of prime time hours to create an immigrant bogeyman and to churn out lies.
We applaud the determined organizing by Latino, immigrant and media groups and we applaud CNN for coming to the right decision.
We applaud the determined organizing by Latino, immigrant and media groups and we applaud CNN for coming to the right decision.
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