For the first time in its 20-year history, Latina magazine has endorsed a political candidate, reports The Huffington Post.
The magazine announced Friday, October 14, that it is officially endorsing Hillary Clinton and taking a stand against the candidacy of Donald Trump.
The magazine further explained its stance in a statement on the website.
“After enduring a targeted onslaught on our community by Donald Trump for the past 16 months, the stakes for Latinas has never been greater,” Which is why we are joining forces with fellow leaders in media and business, artists, activists, and influencers, to stand together to officially endorse Hillary Clinton for president.”
The magazine says in the statement that it would not endorse a candidate during a “normal election year,” however "this has not been an ordinary year."
“This year, 27 million Latinos will be eligible to vote, and 3 million of them are eligible for the first time,” Latina explains. “The choice facing our community could not be clearer. A vote for Hillary Clinton is not only a rebuke against Donald Trump’s xenophobic attacks; it is a better choice on the vital issues that matter most to us.”
In another part of the statement the magazine reviewed the Trump comments that kicked off the Latino backlash against him and his campaign to be President of The United States.
"When Donald Trump launched his campaign on June 16, 2015, he vowed to build a wall to separate the United States and Mexico. And in his latest debate, he doubled down on that message by calling undocumented immigrants “murderers” he is going to “force” back to their native country."
The magazine's stance has been supported by a slew of Latino activists, community leaders and actors including Eva Longoria, John Leguizamo, Dolores Huerta.
“It’s time to fight back against Donald Trump and deport his presidential dreams to the dustbin of history,” it reads. “Our community has worked too hard and come too far to be criminalized, caricatured, disrespected and demonized.”
To read the full statement go to Latina Magazine
It comes at the same time that the New York Times has published an op-ed piece titled. "How Dictatorships Are Born," in which columnist Roger Cohen points out that, "Societies slide into dictatorship more often than they lurch, one barrier falling at a time. “Just a buffoon,” people say, “and vulgar.” And then it’s too late."
He points out that "Today, millions of Americans who plan to vote for Trump are apparently countenancing violence against their neighbors, people who might be different from them, perhaps Muslim or Latino."
He gives the example of something that happened to a woman named Veronica Zuleta who was born in El Salvador and became an American citizen more than a decade ago. She was in the upscale Draeger’s Market in Menlo Park when the man next to her said, “You should go to Safeway. This store is for white people.”
Donald Trump has made it acceptable to say the unthinkable: “Go back to where you came from” is the phrase du jour in a country made up of immigrants.
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