http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/regstat ... 89971.html

'Crackers' label stings illegal-immigration foes
Democrat says word was intemperate but that some critics of licensing plan deserve the title.

By Michael Gardner
Copley News Service

SACRAMENTO -- Oakland Democrat Don Perata ridiculed San Diego-area opponents of illegal immigration Thursday by describing them as "crackers," an old slang term often used in place of redneck or bigot.

Assemblyman Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta, compared cracker to the n-word and claimed Perata calculated its use to inflame tensions.

"He has decided to throw fuel on the fire. These folks are good-hearted, sincere people who are worried about the effects on California," Haynes said. "To call them crackers is to literally inflame people. It is the same as using the n-word when you're referring to black activists."

Within a couple of hours, the state Senate's leading Democrat issued a clarification about his "crackers" comment, but stopped short of making an apology.

"While I am concerned about the coarse and divisive tone used by a small minority in the driver's license debate, I believe that the vast majority on both sides are people of good will," he said.

Perata used the crackers description in response to a question about the wisdom of going into an election promoting legislation to give illegal immigrants the ability to obtain driver's licenses. But he acknowledged he may have erred.

"I don't want to give undue advantage in an election to people I do not believe have the best interests of this democracy at heart, and some of those people that I intemperately call crackers fall into that category," Perata said.