Ad Brings Stereotype Charge
Nick Anderson, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 9
WASHINGTON — Controversy erupted this week in a tight U.S. Senate race in Oklahoma over a Republican television commercial that shows images suggestive of illegal immigrants being rounded up by law enforcement and a pair of dark-skinned hands counting money as a narrator talks about welfare.
The advertisement, attacking Democratic Senate nominee Rep. Brad Carson, is sponsored by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is backing former Rep. Tom Coburn.
“Brad Carson voted to make it easier for illegal immigrants to cross our borders and take our jobs,” the narrator says. “And Carson voted to allow immigrants to get on welfare.”
On Friday, Democrats charged that the ad fed into racial and ethnic stereotypes, by portraying Latinos as illegal immigrants and blacks as welfare recipients.
