http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/n ... 346066.htm

Posted on Wed, Dec. 07, 2005

Hispanic leaders: Issue is drinking, not legal status
Death of Latino motorist by suspected drunken driver overlooked, they say
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ
fordonez@charlotteobserver.com

Leaders in Charlotte's Latino community say the death of a Hispanic motorist by a suspected drunken driver shows that the problem of drinking and driving has been overshadowed by illegal immigration.

Robinson Lora, 22, a Dominican Republic-born husband and father of a 14-month-old boy, died Thursday when his Dodge Neon collided with an oncoming pickup truck driven by Richard Lynn Sellers, 34, of Chesterfield, S.C. Investigators believe Sellers, who also died, had been drinking.

Spanish-language radio, newspapers and community discussions have been consumed with the role reversal: a suspected drunken driving wreck with a Hispanic victim compared with two earlier fatal collisions allegedly caused by Hispanics.

The earlier fatalities prompted further examination of the accused drivers, who were illegal immigrants with histories of drunken driving charges. It also led to calls from U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., of Charlotte, for stiffer immigration laws.

But Latino leaders say the death of a Hispanic by an alleged drunken driver shows the concern is misplaced.

"Now, we have a Hispanic that was killed by an Anglo. What are we going to do about this?" said Maudia Melendez, president of the Jesus Ministry, a Latino advocacy group. "Are we going to talk about him all over like they did with the other two? It was blown out of proportion. We keep saying drinking and driving is a social problem, not a Hispanic problem."

Ron Woodard, director of N.C. Listen, an immigration reform group, acknowledges that all the drunken driving fatalities are tragedies. And that drunken driving is not a problem that is going to go away if illegal immigrants are removed from the country. But he says Myrick's proposed legislation would at least help force out those in the U.S. illegally when they break the law.

"Obviously, all drunk drivers are not Hispanic. And, obviously, all drunk drivers create a public safety problem," he said. "But if they weren't in the country in the first place ... then there wouldn't have been those wrecks."

Lora died a week before his 23rd birthday, according to Rossy Bedoya, a family acquaintance and reporter for El Latino, a Spanish-language newspaper in Greenville, S.C.

Family members described Lora as a hard worker, loving father and husband, who attended church regularly and liked to play basketball.

"It can't be that he's no longer here," Lora's wife, Jessica, told Bedoya. "I don't know how I feel, only that it's unfair -- it's unfair."

Before the identities of the driver and victim of Thursday's crash were released, Rafael Prieto, editor of the local Spanish-language newspaper Mi Gente, said much of the Latino community worried another immigrant would be responsible.

After the deaths of Mount Holly teacher Scott Gardner in July and UNC Charlotte freshman Min Chang last month, Latino advocates feared the lasting effects if a third immigrant was named.

Community leaders, who have set up an anti-drunken driving campaign, want to eliminate the stigma of Latinos as drunken drivers.

The Spanish-language newspaper Mi Gente led this week's paper with a fiery front-page headline that read "Anglo Ebrio Provoca La Muerte de un Hispano" or "Intoxicated Anglo Causes Death of a Hispanic Man." Two weeks earlier, the paper ran a similar headline about Jorge Hernandez Soto, charged in Chang's death. It read: "Hispano Ebrio Mata a Adolescente" or "Intoxicated Hispanic Man Kills Adolescent."

Prieto now questions why the media coverage and public interest isn't as high now that the driver's name is American and not Latino.

"It shows that the focus of Hernandez Soto was that he was undocumented, and not that he was drunk," Prieto said. "Drinking and driving occurs in all elements of society, whether its Anglos, African Americans, Asians, or Hispanics."