Thread: Eerie silence is voice of Hispanic protest in Albertville of

Published: Thursday, October 13, 2011, 6:21 AM Updated: Thursday, October 13, 2011, 8:12 AM

By Paul Gattis, The Huntsville Times
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ALBERTVILLE, Alabama - Along Baltimore Avenue on the south side of town heavily populated with Hispanics, there was an eeriness to the silence Wednesday.

In protest of the state's new immigration law, more than three dozen Latino-owned businesses temporarily closed their doors and a record number of Hispanic schoolchildren remained home.

A protest march was apparently in the works but fizzled because the permit was requested only the day before. City law requires at least a 10-day notice.

"All of the people here got together and decided we're going to support (the protest)," said Marco Barrera, who boycotted his job at a local car dealer that caters to Hispanics. "Don't open (businesses). Don't do anything."

About one in three residents of Albertville are Hispanic, but few appeared in public Wednesday. Store fronts with Spanish signs were locked and parking lots were empty.

The protest wasn't limited to locally-owned Hispanic stores. Los Arcos, a Mexican chain restaurant, was closed in Albertville, and Guntersville and Arab.

At Albertville City Schools, Superintendent Dr. Ric Ayer said 217 Hispanic students were absent Wednesday. That is the highest number of absences for Hispanics the system has ever seen. Only 37 Hispanic students missed school a day earlier. However, Ayer said Wednesday's no-shows made up only about 25 percent of the Hispanic enrollment.

Local poultry plants, which employ large numbers of Hispanics, either closed or scaled back operations because of the protest. At Wayne Farms Processing, a security guard said the plant was closed Wednesday because of the protest.

At the Tyson Farms plant across town operations were slowed and also at the Tyson plant in neighboring Blount County "because of a potential shortage of workers," according to a statement by the company.

The statement also said the company was "not encouraging our workers to participate in a protest."

Still, it seemed arrangements were made for a Wednesday shutdown. Edwin Velez, pastor at the First Hispanic Baptist Church in Albertville, said his son-in-law works at a poultry plant and that his dilemma over skipping work was alleviated because "the company made the decision" and the option for working Saturday was available. Velez did not name the poultry plant.

Elsewhere across North Alabama, the effects were not as striking. But there were signs of an organized effort.

In Huntsville, most Latino grocery stores and businesses were open, although three normally bustling taco trucks were closed. In Huntsville schools, 118 Hispanic students were absent. That's 13 percent and nearly as many as missed school the day after a federal judge allowed most of the law to take effect.

There were few absences among Hispanic children in Athens, said Keith Oldroyd with Athens City Schools. But Decatur saw a spike; 200 Hispanic students, or 13 percent, stayed home on Wednesday. Normal absentee rates are below 4 percent, said Chip Miller with Decatur City Schools.

The impact of Wednesday's protest - designed to correspond with the Dia de la Raza, the Latin America holiday celebrating Columbus' arrival in North America - may be limited.

Albertville Mayor Lindsey Lyons said that of the 40 Hispanic businesses that closed in Albertville, only one - a large supermarket - ranked among the top 20 businesses in town for generating sales tax.

"The impact on one day is going to be very minimal," Lyons said.

Barrera couldn't disagree.

"I hope it has a big impact but I don't think it will really matter," he said. "It's up to the people in Montgomery who are passing the law."

Further south, the boycott seemed to have mixed success across the Birmingham area. While some businesses were closed, other employers reported all of their workers came to work.

Orlando Rosa, operations director for Rivera Communications - the group of Spanish-language radio stations promoting the boycott - estimated that more than 100 businesses were closed as a result of the boycott.

In Hoover city schools, 117 of the 664 Hispanic students enrolled did not come to school, said Jason Gaston, spokesman for Hoover schools. The district had 381 total absences Wednesday.

In Jefferson County schools, 470 Hispanic students were absent, making up about 25 percent of the total absences in the district Wednesday. By comparison, only about 135 Hispanic students were absent the day after the immigration law went into effect.

Almost half of the students who were absent in Shelby County schools Wednesday were Hispanic, said Cindy Warner, spokeswoman for the district. Of the 1,783 students absent Wednesday, 873 are Hispanic, she said. By comparison, just 82 Hispanic students were absent Monday.

"If that's what they want to do, it's fine," Sen. Scott Beason, a sponsor of the immigration law, said of the work stoppage.

"Legal citizens have nothing to fear, and I think the legal immigrants are beginning to see that. They were told immediately that there would be all these problems, but I think the legal immigrants are beginning to see this law does not affect them. They are welcome here, and everything is going to be just fine," Beason said.

Beason said he had not seen much impact of the work stoppage in his Gardendale district.

"My little boy's favorite Mexican restaurant was closed, but I don't know if that was part of the protest or not," Beason said.

"I think it's unfortunate," Beason said of the work stoppage, adding that businesses need to be open during this difficult economy. "I hope it didn't create a situation where people hurt themselves more than they hurt anybody else," Beason said.


http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/10/eer ... _hisp.html

ALBERTVILLE, Alabama - Along Baltimore Avenue on the south side of town heavily populated with Hispanics, there was an eeriness to the silence Wednesday.

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That is NOT an 'eerie' sound. People have just forgotten what a normal peace sounds like when their town has not been ransacked and occupied by illegal aliens.

We need this normal, peaceful sound to return to every town, county, and state in the country.

We Are Many

In protest of the state's new immigration law, more than three dozen Latino-owned businesses temporarily closed their doors and a record number of Hispanic schoolchildren remained home

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Outstanding. The people of Albertville were spared from illegals driving to work and/or shop without license or insurance. Citizen students could actually learn without interuption for translation. I hope the protesting Hispanics also turned off their radios with that awful music.

The eerie silence is what you get when you cater to only one ethnic group, not welcoming others. You sow what you reap, now start packing!