Don Zimmerman advice to Hispanic Students

Last week, Austin City Councilman Don Zimmerman made a statement during a city council meeting to a group of Hispanic students. What he said to those students caused an "uproar" from Hispanic leadership and the Hispanic community.

First of all, Don Zimmerman is not new to controversies. The Austin American Statesman highlighted a few of those controversies last year, such as his comments regarding gay marriage, and suing the city of Austin over its campaign finance rules.

During the city council meeting, Zimmerman provided some advice to Hispanic students:

“I’d ask for everyone here, including the children, when you grow up, I want to ask you to pledge to finish school, learn a trade, a skilled trade, get a college education, start a business, do something useful and produce something in your society so you don’t have to live off others,”

This caused Texas House Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa to tweet:

The same advice Zimmerman provided is the same advice I received from my uncle, a lifelong Democrat and a Vietnam Vet, when I was in high school. My uncle, who is a Mexican-American with multiple graduate degrees from UT-Austin, suggested I learn a trade (e.g. refrigeration, radiologic technician, or electrical technician)--a skilled trade pays between $50,000 to $108,000. Additionally, unlike myself and probably many of my cousins, my uncles, aunts, and parents did whatever they could not to rely or live off others.

So, why does his comments raise controversy? Is it because he is White addressing Hispanics? Is it because he is a Republican?

Personally, I find no offense to his comments. If we were to dissect his comments and not read it holistically, it would read as follows with my interpretation in red and italics:

“I’d ask for everyone here [the audience]
including the children [the Hispanic students], 
when you grow up [learn from life],
I want to ask you to pledge to finish school [high school], 
learn a trade, a skilled trade [a tradesman specializing in a particular trade or craft], 
get a college education [higher education],
start a business [become a business owner and manager], 
do something useful and produce something in your society [give back to the community]
so you don’t have to live off others...[don't depend on others]"




Sources:

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/council-member-don-zimmerman-courts-controversy-wi/nnK26/
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/zimmerman-under-fire-for-comments-towards-hispanic-students-1/302749248

@GinaForAustin @ndhapple @DonZimmermanATX