Immigrant Remarks By Ehrlich Still Burn: Local Leaders Want an Apology [View All]

[Freddie Stubbs]

By Darragh Johnson and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, May 12, 2004; Page B01


Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s remarks last week dismissing multiculturalism as "crap" and "bunk" echoed across the state yesterday, as Democratic and Latino leaders demanded an apology and Ehrlich defended his comments as "utter common sense."

In Montgomery County, the County Council unanimously passed a resolution expressing "deep concern" over the governor's "ill-chosen remarks" and suggested "the phrase 'I'm sorry' as appropriate to the occasion."

In Baltimore, Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) addressed the issue -- in Spanish -- during his weekly radio address, saying, "Few of us would be here if our non-English-speaking relatives hadn't struggled for a few years -- or decades -- to learn English."

In Takoma Park, a half-dozen state and local Latino leaders and about 50 immigrant advocates gathered to decry Ehrlich's "far right" remarks and call for more resources to teach immigrants English.

more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A18954-2004May11?language=printer