THE MISUNDERSTOOD YOUNG CONSERVATIVES

Here is the text of an email I received after publishing this column last weekend ...

Mr. Villarreal,

I am writing to you in response to your April 17 article titled "Washington Is Bolstering An Anti-immigrant Movement, Will The First Latino A.g. Take A Stand?"

Mr. Villarreal, you accused YCT-UT of holding a “capture an illegal immigrant days” this is simply not true. I would like to point you to a press release put out by YCT on March 3, 2005. The full PR may be obtained here.

It is clear what was coined in your article is pure fiction. While I was not there for the alleged event (I attend Texas Tech University in
Lubbock) you wrote that, "hundreds of protesters confronted the Young Conservatives." These protesters were 'protesting' a Texas Independence day event/table. Protesting an event such as TID is clearly a lack of respect for the people who sacrificed their lives for freedom. While I respect anyones right to assemble and protest, it is despicable that you seem to applaud the acts of these "hundreds" of protesters.

Below is a statement made by our then current State Chairman, David Rushing on the situation concerning the alleged “capture an illegal immigrant days” at YCT-UT.

"Articles in newspapers across the state on Thursday covered
protests against the Young Conservatives of Texas’s UT chapter.
While YCT-UT was merely running a table designed to celebrate Texas
Independence Day, the protesters had gotten wind that the chapter
was going to hold a “Capture an Illegal Immigrant” event similar to
one held in January at YCT’s University of North Texas chapter.
Regardless of what internal debate may have occurred among UT
chapter members, no illegal immigration event was held at UT, yet
their Texas Independence Day celebration was crashed by protesters
wishing to silence YCT’s political expression."

In the future please research your articles more carefully.

Regards,

Kevin Wood
kwwood@swbell.net
Chairman YCT-TTU
YCT Vice Chairman of Communications

http://www.yct.org

So, as far as I can tell, they fully endorse the racist and childish capture an immigrant game, but they just decided against doing it at UT Austin on that particular day. Well pardon me Mr. Bigot.

And Texas Independence was no fight for freedom, it had more to do with rich white men kicking Mexicans out of land they had lived on forever. Some of the political motivation for the fight for independence was the desire to own slaves, which was outlawed by the Mexican government, but was making white men just east of Texas very wealthy. I guess the Young Conservatives are still fighting those old battles.