Thread: Charlotte Latinos campaign to explain DWI dangers after wrec

Note: I added the word "illegal" in red letters to the article below.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp ... v=menu70_2

Charlotte Latinos campaign to explain DWI dangers after wrecks

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Latino leaders in Charlotte have launched a campaign to stop drunken driving. The action comes after a pair of fatal wrecks that authorities blame on Hispanic immigrants who'd been drinking.

Businesses and Hispanic media are targeting immigrants where they worship, shop and drink to encourage the use of designated drivers. Hispanic leaders fear that unless they make their point, hardworking and law-abiding illegal immigrants will experience a backlash of discrimination.

Hilda Gurdian is publisher of the Spanish-language newspaper La Noticia. She says drunken-driving laws in Latin America are more lax than those in the United States -- so there's a need to better educate Charlotte's Hispanic community about the danger of driving while intoxicated.

Police say about 25 percent of the D-W-I suspects Mecklenburg County last year were Hispanic. Hispanics make up only eight percent of the county's population.

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/my ... 254159.htm

Posted on Fri, Nov. 25, 2005

Hispanics campaign to discourage drunken driving

Two recent fatal crashes concern community

By Tony Mecia and Tim Funk

Knight Ridder


CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Hispanic leaders are organizing an unprecedented anti-drunken-driving campaign after two crashes authorities say were caused by immigrants.

Businesses and media outlets are targeting Hispanic immigrants where they worship, shop and drink, encouraging them to use designated drivers and giving them T-shirts and bumper stickers with the slogan: "Mi decision: Si bebo, no conduzco" ("My decision: If I drink, I don't drive").

Fatal crashes involving illegal immigrants in the past five months have prompted widespread concern among Hispanic leaders.

They fear that hard-working and law-abiding immigrants will experience a backlash of discrimination.

Radio host Osiris Collazos is helping organize the effort and said the campaign has gathered momentum since last week's crash on Interstate 485, which killed 18-year-old University of North Carolina at Charlotte freshman Min Chang.

Authorities say the driver of the other vehicle, Jorge Humberto Hernandez Soto, was drunk and heading the wrong direction on I-485 at the time of the crash. Hernandez has said he lived in Florence County, S.C.

In July, a Mount Holly teacher, Scott Gardner, died in a Brunswick County wreck when his car was struck by a truck driven by Ramiro Gallegos. Gallegos lived south of Wilmington.

Critics have said the crashes demonstrate the need for tighter border enforcement, an idea that is controversial in the Hispanic community.

In Mecklenburg County, about 25 percent of driving-while-intoxicated suspects arrested last year were Hispanic, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. It's not clear how many were immigrants. Hispanics make up 8 percent of the county's population.

Leaders acknowledge the need to reach out to immigrants, who in many cases know little about the law.

"We're not all drunks, but our consciences tell us we have a responsibility to educate the community," said Collazos, who hosts a morning show on WBZK-AM, 980. "We have to avoid another death."

The campaign is intended to reach immigrants through T-shirt and bumper sticker giveaways at nightclubs, public-service announcements on radio, articles and ads in Spanish-language newspapers, and posters at businesses frequented by Hispanics. Backers include the Latin American Chamber of Commerce, La Noticia newspaper and radio stations WBZK-AM 980 and WNOW-AM, 1030. Organizers hope to raise $25,000 for the effort.

Collazos said she has been talking about drunken driving on the air for months but that the idea of a larger campaign came together three weeks ago.

Hilda Gurdian, publisher of the Spanish-language newspaper La Noticia, said there is plenty of room for more education. Drunken-driving laws in Latin America are "very flexible," she said.

"We need to do more," she said. "I don't think we have done enough in that area to educate people about this very important subject."

Cheryl Jones, head of the Metrolina chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, welcomes Hispanics' efforts. MADD has not offered programs geared to Hispanics because it lacks the resources and has focused lately on underage drinking.

"I don't think anyone that is of any ethnic background is as open to people from the outside as they are to their own," Jones said. "A little old white woman walking in there? They're going to go, 'Pfff, yeah, right.'"