MEXICO CITY (AP) May 25, 2005
- Mexican President Vicente Fox, reaching out to the U.S. Black community
after making comments seen as racist, is asking Black leaders to help him
secure a migration accord with the United States. But at least one civil
rights leader still wants an apology first.
Fox planned to ask U.S. political activist Al Sharpton to help him secure a migration accord when the two meet later Monday at Fox's official residence in Mexico City to discuss the recent conflict, presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said.
"There's a request that the president has already made about the usefulness of having some personalities in the African-American community within the political sphere support the migration law," Aguilar said in a morning news conference.
But Sharpton may be a tough sell. He has said that he will demand that Fox apologize when the two meet, 10 days after Fox made the public remark that Mexican migrants take jobs that "not even Blacks" want in the United States.
"Rev. Sharpton is clearly not satisfied with Fox's statements being labeled a 'misinterpretation,' " Sharpton's office said in a news release issued Sunday. "The issue is not only the racist statement Vicente Fox made, but the fact that some Mexicans are being used unwittingly to undermine jobs for Latinos and African-Americans in the United States in an almost 21st century slave trade."
Sharpton said he would like Fox to help ensure that Mexicans working illegally in the United States aren't forced to work for low wages and few benefits.
"President Fox has the opportunity to join a movement to protect those Mexicans as well as American workers to provide international standards in immigration," the statement quoted Sharpton as saying. "I'm not interested in a photo op. I'm interested in a policy discussion."
In his first personal response to the controversy, aired Sunday on U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson's Chicago gospel station radio program, Fox held back from a formal apology, instead repeating the previous insistence of his spokesmen that his comments had been misinterpreted.
"Why not apologize?" Jackson asked during Sunday's 30-minute interview, which Fox agreed to during a meeting with Jackson in Mexico City on Wednesday.
Fox responded: "My government has proved its high commitment to human rights."
The Mexican president added that he was eager to work with minority groups in the United States to improve labor conditions.
"That's why I feel so well in my conscience and in my position, because I am a passionate defender of human rights and integration of minorities, and full respect for every person in his aspirations," Fox said. "My comment was fully oriented in that direction."
Jackson thanked Fox for "showing a contrite spirit." During his visit to Mexico, both leaders agreed they could use the incident to work together to unite Hispanics and Blacks in the United States.
Many Mexicans were at first puzzled by the outcry over Fox's comment, saying the president was justified in his reaction to new U.S. immigration policies that include extending walls along the border and cracking down on illegal migrants.
Frustration has grown in Mexico with the failure of the U.S. government to approve a migration accord widely promoted by U.S. President George W. Bush.
Fox's administration has expressed interest in an immigration bill being put together by U.S. Sens. John McCain and Edward M. Kennedy that would let illegal immigrants get three-year visas that could be renewed once.
Fox planned to ask U.S. political activist Al Sharpton to help him secure a migration accord when the two meet later Monday at Fox's official residence in Mexico City to discuss the recent conflict, presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar said.
"There's a request that the president has already made about the usefulness of having some personalities in the African-American community within the political sphere support the migration law," Aguilar said in a morning news conference.
But Sharpton may be a tough sell. He has said that he will demand that Fox apologize when the two meet, 10 days after Fox made the public remark that Mexican migrants take jobs that "not even Blacks" want in the United States.
"Rev. Sharpton is clearly not satisfied with Fox's statements being labeled a 'misinterpretation,' " Sharpton's office said in a news release issued Sunday. "The issue is not only the racist statement Vicente Fox made, but the fact that some Mexicans are being used unwittingly to undermine jobs for Latinos and African-Americans in the United States in an almost 21st century slave trade."
Sharpton said he would like Fox to help ensure that Mexicans working illegally in the United States aren't forced to work for low wages and few benefits.
"President Fox has the opportunity to join a movement to protect those Mexicans as well as American workers to provide international standards in immigration," the statement quoted Sharpton as saying. "I'm not interested in a photo op. I'm interested in a policy discussion."
In his first personal response to the controversy, aired Sunday on U.S. civil rights activist Jesse Jackson's Chicago gospel station radio program, Fox held back from a formal apology, instead repeating the previous insistence of his spokesmen that his comments had been misinterpreted.
"Why not apologize?" Jackson asked during Sunday's 30-minute interview, which Fox agreed to during a meeting with Jackson in Mexico City on Wednesday.
Fox responded: "My government has proved its high commitment to human rights."
The Mexican president added that he was eager to work with minority groups in the United States to improve labor conditions.
"That's why I feel so well in my conscience and in my position, because I am a passionate defender of human rights and integration of minorities, and full respect for every person in his aspirations," Fox said. "My comment was fully oriented in that direction."
Jackson thanked Fox for "showing a contrite spirit." During his visit to Mexico, both leaders agreed they could use the incident to work together to unite Hispanics and Blacks in the United States.
Many Mexicans were at first puzzled by the outcry over Fox's comment, saying the president was justified in his reaction to new U.S. immigration policies that include extending walls along the border and cracking down on illegal migrants.
Frustration has grown in Mexico with the failure of the U.S. government to approve a migration accord widely promoted by U.S. President George W. Bush.
Fox's administration has expressed interest in an immigration bill being put together by U.S. Sens. John McCain and Edward M. Kennedy that would let illegal immigrants get three-year visas that could be renewed once.
