UF students protest election stereotypes

A day before Election Day, UF students took a stand against negative stereotypes about the Hispanic community made by politicians and the media.

At around noon Monday, eight female members of the Hispanic Student Association stood in the middle of Turlington Plaza and said their names, majors and that they were Latina. The demonstration, Turn Ignorance Around, was held to break down stereotypes about the Hispanic community and to encourage Hispanic voters to go to the polls, said Edward Zambrano, the treasurer of HSA and organizer of the event.

“Our whole entire goal of this demonstration is to make sure that we, as a community, go out and vote and express our opinions so that we’re no longer taken lightly,” the 20-year-old UF political science junior said.

A small crowd formed around the group as some of the women raised their fists. The other demonstrators loudly repeated the offensive comments made by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and read statistics about Hispanic voters.

The demonstrators wore T-shirts, some of which read “I’m a trafficker” or “I’m a dealer” on the front and “I’m a trafficker of knowledge” or “I’m a dealer of care” on the back. All of them read “I vote” on the back.

The organization purchased over 400 T-shirts and handed them out for free to Hispanics and non-Hispanics alike during the demonstration.

“We’re a strong community that is unified,” Zambrano said. “We aren’t looking for handouts. We’re looking to better our lives just like everyone else.”

Mario Agosto, the president of HSA, said the organization wanted to host the event because immigration and discrimination have been controversial topics in the presidential election. The organization chose phrases for the T-shirts that were said throughout the election, he said.

“We are out here defeating these stereotypes,” the 20-year-old UF criminology and law junior said. “We are no less than anybody else.”

Mariana Castro, 22, said she saw HSA’s Facebook event and attended to get a T-shirt.

As she held her “I’m a dealer” T-shirt, she said she appreciated how the demonstrators talked about the undocumented population.

“I’m undocumented,” the UF neurobiological sciences junior said. “What has been said this election has been unacceptable.”

She said she is in the U.S. through deferred action for childhood arrivals, an immigration policy set up by President Barack Obama. But she is scared the next president could repeal it.

“It’s insane that this is the rhetoric that we have to deal with,” she said, “but because of what has been said, people are very open to talking about it now.”

Eight students stand in a line on Turlington Plaza and break down stereotypical labels associated with the Hispanic community. The demonstration, hosted by the Hispanic Student Association, was also aimed at encouraging observers to vote.