On her radio show of September 24, 2014, conservative host Laura Ingraham went after Cuban-American television host José Díaz Balart with the fury of a banshee after the MSNBC host conducted an interview in English and Spanish with undocumented immigrant María Cruz Ramírez. “He also did the annoying thing — saying her name in the native tongue at the very beginning when he introduced her,” said Ingraham, who also admitted, “Now I’m just having fun.” Evidently her definition of fun is ridicule and morbid sarcasm.
At the beginning of her September 24 broadcast, Ingraham admitted she had just learned that Díaz Balart “was actually a host on MSNBC, he has an actual show, so see how much I know.” However, her statement clearly demonstrates that she also knows nothing about respect and appreciation of diversity, multiculturalism and pluralism. She definitely knows nothing about good manners.
In contrast, in an interview with Huffpost Voces on September 26, about Ingraham’s comments, José Díaz Balart always referred to her as “dama”, which translates as “lady” but more than that it confers respect and deference. In the same interview, Díaz Balart mentioned that, sadly, Ingraham is not alone in her views and criticism. “Desde que comencé en este programa de MSNBC cada vez que he traducido o presentado una voz que es inusual me han criticado.” In other words, “Ever since I started this program on MSNBC, every time I have translated or presented an unusual voice, I have been criticized.” Díaz Balart specifically referred to the times when he has translated simultaneously from Spanish to English. The criticism comes from viewers and other media outlets. ¡Qué cosa, caballero!
Díaz Balart said he had not been affected at all by Ingraham’s comments but that a many people felt that she was laughing at the Latino community. Yes, she was, José. During the same broadcast, Ingraham went on to ridicule Latinos by stating that they keep asking for all sorts of handouts, learning to speak English only when they receive them. Laura Ingraham’s bigoted rhetoric, and her persistent choice of the words ”amnesty” and “illegal” are intentional to perpetuate and fuel anti-Latino sentiments in an American society that remains uninformed and polarized on this issue.
Atabex 