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Immigrant advocates seek unity, toleranceBy KAREN SUDOL, FREEHOLD BUREAU Asbury Park Press, April 10, 2004 FREEHOLD, NJ -- Reflecting on the message of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a group of spiritual and civil rights leaders gathered yesterday to promote unity and tolerance in a community divided over immigrant issues, particularly day laborers. "Today is about us and our commitment to building a more diverse and tolerant nation," said Frank Argote-Freyre, policy adviser for the Hispanic Directors Association of New Jersey. "We must not respond with hatred and anger but with firmness and dignity. Let us challenge their vocabulary of intolerance." As for Freehold, Argote-Freyre told the group of 40 that people need to know the Latino community considers the borough their home. "The Latino community must be seen as the cultural spiritual and economic resource it is," he said. "Solutions cannot be imposed upon us but rather discussed and negotiated with us. . . . We are not quality-of-life issues. We are men, women and children. We are not illegals." Argote-Freyre was one of a handful of speakers at a memorial service held in honor of King at Second Baptist Church on Throckmorton Street, which hosted a temporary hiring hall for day laborers from January to March after borough officials shut down the muster zone where they had waited for work. The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund filed a class-action lawsuit in December on behalf of a coalition of immigrants' rights groups and day laborers who said the borough harasses the Latino community and sought the reopening of the muster zone. The public portion of the muster zone reopened after a federal judge last month ordered the borough to allow it to operate without intervening. Yesterday's service included representatives from the state Division on Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the community outreach liaison for the state Attorney General's Office. Also attending were community outreach and immigrants' rights representatives, spiritual leaders and members of the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League, which organized the event. Shai Goldstein, the league's regional director for New Jersey, said he wanted to hold the service at the church because the Rev. Andre McGuire, the church's pastor, had reached out to the Latino community, offering the church as a temporary hiring hall. "They were willing to house them (day laborers) when they had no place to go," Goldstein said. Goldstein compared King's words with what those attending had accomplished in Freehold: standing up for justice and simple decency. He referred to a quote that Cesar E. Chavez, the longtime advocate for farm workers' rights, had offered about King: "During my first fast in 1968, Dr. King reminded me that our struggle was his struggle too. He sent me a telegram, which said, 'Our separate struggles are really one. A struggle for freedom, for dignity and for humanity.' " Goldstein encouraged everyone to continue to remain united against all forms of bigotry. Mahonrry Hidalgo, 30, of the Committee of Workers for Progress and Social Welfare, a group representing the day laborers, said he was glad to see so many different community leaders attend yesterday because it showed solidarity. "It's time for us to be part of the decisions and become more involved," he said. McGuire said the purpose was to bring unity to the community. Karen Sudol: (732) 462-6509 or ksudol@app.com (Emphasis added.) |
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