On Friday, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-Left smear group that has demonized the Trump administration and sued Trump over his immigration policies, partnered with a Grammy-winning artist to demonize Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a new song, “El Corrido de David y Goliat.” The song is the first of many to come from the SPLC’s “Immigrant Songs Initiative.”
The SPLC aims to spread “knowledge” about immigrants’ rights through song and to fight back against the Trump administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration.
“Knowledge is power – the power to remain free and safe,” Mary Bauer, director of the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project, said in a statement. “This incredible song by Flor de Toloache has the potential to empower a lot of immigrants in a creative way. We’ve seen too many cases where immigration officials have illegally and unfairly apprehended immigrants, disregarding their basic human rights. The more people know about their rights, the better.”
The song does not lay out immigrant rights so much as present a story about an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official overstepping his legal authority in order to deport immigrants.
Echoing the Bible story from 1 Samuel, the Grammy-winning band Flor de Toloache sings about a white ICE officer named “Goliat” oppressing a Latino father “David” and his family. David defeats Goliath not with a sling shot but with his knowledge of the law. He refuses to provide his papers or to sign any documents, so Goliath loses his job.
“A gringo called Goliat/O’Conner was his last name/he hurt a lot to the people,” the song goes. “Supposedly he was a law enforcer/he only enlisted in Immigration/so he could deport you./He knew the poor/humble people/know nothing about laws,/that’s why he was so abusive/catching alleged illegals,/that were actually not,/allied with other Federals.”
“One day there was a big raid/in a Latino neighborhood./Goliat and all his troops/arrived shouting/for everyone to get out/to deport them all,” Flor de Toloache continues.
The ICE officer reaches the house of David and his family. Since David “was aware of the laws … he didn’t go outside.” Instead, the Latino man says, “Without a search warrant/officer you should move along.”
“Goliat was furious./Knocked the door down with a blow./He demanded papers from everyone,/ [saying] ‘Everybody must respect me.'”
“David didn’t comply/ [saying] ‘You entered here by force.’/ David, his wife and three sons/were all taken away,” the song continues.
“Keeping calm/they signed no papers./They didn’t answer questions/even when they were threatened./David was preparedin case this happened one day,” Flor de Toloache concludes. “His papers he kept in a safe place./ … They were all released,/the arrest was illegal./Lawyers helped hima/and the process stopped./David knew the laws/and Goliat was fired.”
The song is a “corriado, a popular narrative music genre about oppression, the daily life of peasants, and other socially relevant topics,” the SPLC explained.
It is important for ICE, Border Patrol, and other immigration agencies to follow the law and respect people’s rights. However, this “David and Goliath” song frames the immigration debate as one of hostility — between the innocent underdog immigrant and the evil, hateful ICE officer. This narrative demonizes “gringo” (white) law enforcement officers, attributing hateful motives to them.
The SPLC routinely brands mainstream conservative and Christian groups “hate groups,” listing them along with the Ku Klux Klan. This month, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) sued the SPLC under racketeering statutes for falsely branding them a “hate group.” The SPLC also counts each individual chapter of every organization on its “hate group” list as a separate “hate group,” artificially inflating the numbers even further.
According to a PJ Media analysis, there are at most 335 actual hateful organizations on the SPLC’s “hate group” list, even though the smear factory claims there are 1,020.
The SPLC has routinely branded the Trump administration “anti-Muslim,” and connected Trump to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter — despite the shooter’s hatred for Trump.
Now the SPLC is promoting “David and Goliath” songs to demonize ICE and present immigrants as unquestionably good. Given the SPLC’s track record, it seems obvious the real “Goliath” in this story is Trump, and the far-Left group sees itself as fighting a righteous war against the president’s “hate.”
Follow Tyler O’Neil, the author of this article, on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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