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The Board of Directors of The Latino Coalition (TLC) has condemned the statements on affirmative action made by Jim Webb, democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Virginia. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch (in an article titled "Webb shifts position on affirmative action. Democratic Senate hopeful says program should help blacks only"), Webb said that affirmative-action programs should deal exclusively with blacks.

"This shows that Jim Webb is simply an opportunistic and self- serving candidate who will say anything voters want to hear in order to get elected," said TLC President Robert Deposada. "It also shows how little Jim Webb knows about the diversity of Virginia. I guess he doesn''t realize that there are quite a few Americans of Hispanic heritage in Virginia, who suffered discrimination throughout history."

According to The Washington Post on June 6, Webb said that "the original intent of affirmative action expanded, and a lot of different ethnic groups who never suffered state-sponsored discrimination at all came under the rubric of affirmative action. The assumption that everyone who was white had a benefit and anyone who was not white didn''t have a benefit; it was not a fair assumption."

"Does Webb honestly believe that Latinos never suffered discrimination? Is he so naive or was he speaking to an all- white audience and was trying to woo them?" Deposada added. "First he says to white audiences that he opposes affirmative action, and then he tells an African American audience that he supports it for blacks only. But that shouldn''t surprise anyone. Until very recently he was a Republican attacking radical Democrats, but now all of a sudden he became a Democrat, in order to run for the U.S. Senate."

Jim Webb has told white audiences that he opposes comprehensive immigration reform. "It would be interesting to see if he changes his views on immigration while addressing a Hispanic audience," Deposada said. "The fact is that he doesn''t stand for anything. He is simply a self-serving opportunist who will say anything that voters want to hear. And Virginia deserves better. Latino voters in Virginia should send a clear message to Jim Webb, and vote against him in the Democratic primary on June 13th."

The Latino Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C. TLC was established to address policy issues that directly affect the well-being of Hispanics in the United States. TLC's agenda is to develop and promote policies that will foster economic equivalency and enhance overall business, economic, and social development of Hispanics. For more detailed information on The Latino Coalition, please visit their Web site at http://www.TheLatinoCoalition.com