FROM THE OPPOSITION

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Dear friends,

In order to help keep our members informed, MATT.org is pleased to begin sharing the valuable work of other like-minded organizations as well as opportunities to take action on issues that are important to you.

Sincerely,
Aracely Garcia-Granados
Executive Director
MATT.org
Let's Prosper Together



Dear Advocate:

We are counting on you to help put hate speech in its place. http://tinyurl.com/9qpkxw
Right now there is a bully in America, a small but vociferous minority that is attacking the core ideals of our diverse society.

We can't let such intolerance go unchallenged. http://tinyurl.com/7blgqv
These voices are not new.
Once they said that African immigrants deserved to be in chains.
They said that German, Irish, and Italian immigrants were not worthy of being American.
They said that Japanese Americans should be forced to live in internment camps.
This hate has repeatedly brought shame upon our country, and undermined our nation's collective progress.

Today they are at it again, manipulating frustration over our broken immigration system to incite intolerance against immigrants and those perceived to be immigrants. They spread falsehoods and misinformation to block constructive dialogue and debate; all of our communities are experiencing the spillover effects of that wave. We must learn from the painful lessons of our past and challenge the voices of hate wherever they are raised.

Recently, the consequences of this hate were felt in Patchogue, Long Island when 37-year-old Marcelo Lucero was stabbed and beaten to death http://tinyurl.com/7r446w by a group of seven teenagers who said they were looking for "a Mexican" to harass. On December 3, 20 more victims of this kind of violence http://tinyurl.com/8zw6yf came out of the shadows at the Congregational Church in Patchogue to reveal they had been beaten, threatened and attacked with beer bottles because they are Hispanic. And just four days later on December 7, José Sucuzhanay was hit over the head with a beer bottle and beaten with an aluminum baseball bat http://tinyurl.com/7obcyp just half a block from his home in Brooklyn, NY while his attackers shouted anti-gay and anti-Latino expletives. He died on December 9.

TAKE A STAND NOW!
ADD YOUR VOICE TO THE EFFORT AGAINST HATE:


Send a letter to cable networks http://tinyurl.com/9hj9wq asking them to use their airtime responsibly and stop parroting hate speak (or visit We Can Stop The Hate http://tinyurl.com/a97l8p or
http://tinyurl.com/7j4v4f and click on "What You Can Do").

In addition to cable networks, we intend to target radio shock jocks in the coming months. Sign up for the We Can Stop The Hate action list http://tinyurl.com/8rsqxn and join us to take hate off the airwaves.

Send this letter to your contacts and ask them to do the same!



At We Can Stop the Hate http://tinyurl.com/a97l8p or http://tinyurl.com/9abddo you can also:

Watch Leadership Conference on Civil Rights' Wade Henderson talk about "America's Immigration Legacy" http://tinyurl.com/9mgkxd and learn about our experience with previous immigrants and our treatment of those communities.

Watch "Suspect Spokespeople" http://tinyurl.com/a2ampb to learn about hate groups and vigilantes who have infiltrated the immigration debate.

Watch "Fear and Loathing in Prime Time" http://tinyurl.com/6tee5c
by MediaMatters for a look at cable news network shows that provide over-the-top and often inaccurate information about immigration.

Watch Anti-Defamation League's Stacy Burdett talk about "The Code Words of Hate" http://tinyurl.com/a3379g
used to demonize immigrants and appeal to base racial and cultural fears and prejudices.

Watch Sothern Poverty Law Center's Heidi Beirich in "Behind the Veil" http://tinyurl.com/9qc8k5 describe the connections between many of the anti-immigrant groups fomenting intolerance and their ties to White supremacy and hate.

Learn more about these connections with the help of Campaign for a United America's FAIR Family Tree, http://tinyurl.com/7hswws a tool to help journalists, elected officials, and civic and labor leaders understand anti-immigrant networks in the United States.

Help us spread the word. Send this to your family, friends, and networks.
Together, we can stop the hate. http://tinyurl.com/a6s7hc