Thread: NJ-Sen. Menendez book fights stereotypes

Menendez book fights stereotypes

Monday, October 05, 2009
The Star-Ledger
By David Giambusso
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

About 50 people crowded into a small dining room at Mi Bandera restaurant in Union City yesterday to buy signed copies of a book penned by a hometown political star, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ).

"I want to show how Latinos have been here before the nation was founded," Menendez said of his book before delivering remarks to the group. As costumed revelers lingered on the street below following the city's Hispanic Day Parade, Menendez addressed the crowd in both Spanish and English.

"We have been in defense of both the creation of the country and its history since then," he said.

In "Growing American Roots: Why Our Nation Will Thrive as Our Largest Minority Flourishes," Menendez highlights the contribution of the Latino community to American history and its expanding role in years to come as the Latino population rapidly expands. In the book -- co-written with former Washington Post editor Peter Eisner -- Menendez combats xenophobic perceptions of Latinos in the media and calls for "sweeping social and economic legislation, immigration reform, improved health care, and an end to the discrimination and prejudice that Hispanics face," according to a release from Penguin Group, the book's publisher.

Calling for more accurate Census numbers, Menendez said the 2010 survey should be ratified so "the most accurate numbers possible" are available in order to ensure educational resources, medical care and voting rights are being afforded to all Americans.

"There are some that suggest we shouldn't be counted," Menendez said of Latino immigrants. "The Constitution clearly says that every person needs to be counted."

Those "some" include conservative television pundits such as Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs, whom Menendez says, "speak ill of our community."

Menendez pointed out that Latinos have participated in every war in this country since the American Revolution and have made major contributions to the nation's cultural and political history. Moreover, says Menendez, Latino influence will continue to grow. "In 2050, the projections are that one-third of our nation will be Latino," he said.

Peggy Anastos of Wayne bought three copies of the senator's book -- one for herself, her daughter, and a friend -- and said she had always been a strong Menendez supporter. "Why else would I be here on a Sunday?" she said.

Anastos also took issue with the fears of immigration propagated by pundits such as Dobbs and Beck.

"We are a nation of immigrants, so they should be afraid of themselves," she said.

Menendez, the son of immigrants, was the first member of his family to graduate from college after growing up in a tenement building in Union City. He went on to get his law degree, become a school board member and a mayor, and in 2006 he was appointed by Gov. Jon Corzine to fill his vacated Senate post. Later that year, Menendez was elected to a full six-year term.

David Giambusso may be reached at (973) 392-4178 or at dgiambusso@starledger.com.

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No Thanks Menendez. We prefer to keep our borders mostly closed from now on to save the remaining space for our posterity/children, and for theirs.

Menendez. does not support the American people. He obviously has an agenda.