N. Carolina sheriff inserts foot into mouth

A piece of constructive criticism: if you’re law enforcement official heading an anti-immigration campaign you may want to tone down the harsh rhetoric ever so slightly.

In a newspaper interview last month, (Johnston County, North Carolina Sheriff Steve) Bizzel complained that "Mexicans are trashy" and pointed to several children playing and said "All they do is work and make love." Though he quickly apologized, his contrition wasn't enough to ward off critics who call his comments evidence that the nation's increasingly popular efforts to enforce immigration statutes locally have nothing to do with law and order.

County commissioners gave their wholehearted support to Bizzel despite his inflammatory remarks to the News & Observer. One local daily reported that most Johnston County residents have been supportive of their sheriff claiming that he “pretty much has done a good job” and was “telling the truth.”

Probably worse than Bizzel’s claims was the support given to him by a Carolinian running for Congress:

"What El Pueblo and La Raza (Latino rights groups) should be doing is organizing clean-up crews, organizing Saturday educational crews," Webster said recently, following a Kids Voting forum in Raleigh. "They should be teaching these youngsters: Don't you get tangled up in any bad, bad gangs. Look after your family. Respect the women. Respect the people. Clean up your community. Study. Learn. Just because you're male doesn't mean your macho self is not responsible for your own doings."

Ugh, how very classy.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the pizzeria to eat a few slices cooked by an un-trashy guy from Puebla. Perhaps later I’ll run into my Mexican-born neighbor when he returns from work as an IT specialist.

Image- North Carolina Courts System (Johnston County, North Carolina courthouse building)
Sources- News & Observer, New York Times, Dunn Daily Record, Independent Weekly