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To the Editor:
I have been a State Representative for twenty-eight years, and a Democrat all of my life. During the last twenty-eight years, the Democratic Party has changed. I can’t say that all of these changes have been for the better.
Representative Anabel Figueroa is a colleague and a friend. She has sincerely and repeatedly apologized for certain comments, and I will not repeat either her comments or her apologies here. However, notwithstanding the fact that she has sincerely apologized, she has been the object of unrelenting attacks. I can only conclude that her tormentors are engaged in a campaign of sanctimonious virtue signaling designed to obscure the antisemitic strain which threatens to metastasize within the Democratic Party.
I am amazed that those who argue for tolerance do so while exhibiting intolerance toward an immigrant woman from El Salvador, who should be given a second chance. It seems to me, that those who embrace diversity, equity and inclusion, (DEI) seek to prove their commitment by demonizing and disparaging the only Latina in Stamford’s State Legislative Delegation. Perhaps they intend to send a message to anyone who dares to challenge the Mayor or her acolytes.
Anabel Figueroa was denied renomination by the Stamford Democratic Party bosses to her seat in the General Assembly, despite being an incumbent. She was defeated after her primary opponent weaponized her words on the eve of the election and used them against her.
Now, unsatisfied by her election loss, her attackers seek to extract additional revenge, by removing her from her elected positions on the Board of Representatives and the Democratic City Committee. They attempt this purge, despite years of serving her constituents diligently and with integrity. Her record reveals no pattern of hate or intolerance.
A famous passage from the Wizard of Oz is “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” I can’t help thinking that the attacks on Rep. Figueroa contain the hidden message, “pay no attention to the growing antisemitism in the Democratic Party, which is hiding behind our curtain of outrage.”
A few examples will suffice.
A paid staff member employed by Congressman Jim Himes, serving as a member of the Bridgeport City Council helped to draft and supported a resolution which labeled Israel an “apartheid” state, and disparaged the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.
He still has his job in the Congressman’s office.
Has Congressman Himes been urged to repudiate or fire his employee?
Of course not!
Vice President Harris did not attend the Israeli Prime Minister’s address, to a joint session of Congress. Has this act of disrespect to America’s greatest ally, and the only democracy in the Middle East been condemned? Of course not!
Ilhan Omar, a virulent antisemite lent her support to the Ivy League Brats and agitators who threatened the physical and mental wellbeing of Jewish students at Columbia and other institutions, during pro-Hamas demonstrations. Has the Democratic Party officially condemned Ilhan Omar for giving antisemitism free rein? It has not.
Tim Waltz, the governor of Ilhan Omar’s home state, and the Democratic Party’s candidate for Vice President, has supported Ilhan Omar for Congress. Do we condemn him for supporting an outspoken antisemite? Not on your life!
The Hamas wing of the Democratic Party openly lobbied to deny the Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, the nomination for Vice President. Has the Democratic Party in the boyhood home of Joe Lieberman condemned this appeal to religious bigotry which some of us naively believed had been put to rest once and for all in 2000? You have got to be kidding!
A small minority in the LGBTQ community brandished pro Hamas placards and signs in the streets of New York, oblivious to the fact that under Islamic Law, they would suffer persecution or worse for their lifestyle and sexual orientation. Do we call out this hypocrisy? Never.
Rep. Anabel Figueroa has repeatedly apologized. She deserves the opportunity to continue to serve her community, a community that is unquestionably without economic or political power. Perhaps she and our Latino community are regarded as low hanging fruit and are susceptible to being bullied by the virtue seekers. After all, Latinos are seen as powerless.
The Latino community of Stamford represents approximately thirty per cent of the city’s population. To deprive it of its only voice in the General Assembly is bad enough, but to expel that voice from the Board of Representatives and the Democratic City Committee only highlights the hostility towards diversity present in the elected officials of the City of Stamford. Perhaps a passage from the New Testament can offer guidance to all faiths, “Let he among you who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez
Deputy Speaker
Hartford-District 3