The Tennessee Senate has refused to honor Nashville activist Renata Soto.
Senators voted Monday to reject a resolution that would congratulate Soto on being elected chair of the National Council of La Raza, a Latino-rights organization.
The resolution received just nine votes — half the number needed for passage. A dozen lawmakers abstained.
That group included Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville. He said he has no problem with Soto, but many GOP senators take issue with La Raza, particularly its advocacy for undocumented immigrants. Norris cited one protest in particular.
“An event one day last year where illegal aliens were encouraged not to show up for work, and that sort of thing. And it was just more than some of my members could take,” he said.
Norris was referring to the Day Without An Immigrant walkouts in 2006. La Raza was not an official organizer of those protests, but Soto was
quoted in a local newspaper article as supporting the event.
Norris said he asked the resolution’s Senate sponsor, Nashville Democrat Jeff Yarbro, to remove references to La Raza.
Yarbro declined, saying Soto and La Raza are no more controversial than others who’ve been honored by the state legislature. He cited the Eagle Forum, the NAACP and the Anti-Defamation League as examples.
Previously, the
House voted in favor of the resolution, but not without hesitation.
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