Fiesta Patrias Grand Marshall Has a Long History of Anti-Latino Hate on Social Media
Candidate for Mayor of Waukegan, Alderman Keith Turner, was named a Grand Marshall of last weekend’s Fiestas Patrias parade, which struck many members of Waukegan’s Latino community as odd, as Alderman Turner has a long history of anti-Latino social media posts and rhetoric.
Keith Turner has served as an Alderman in Waukegan since 2017, was re-elected in the spring of this year, and had previously unsuccessfully run for multiple political offices, including Lake County Board and State Representative. Turner has run for office as both an independent candidate and as a Democrat and serves the people of Waukegan’s 6th Ward as a member of the Democratic Party.
The Fiestas Patrias organization, run by prominent Latina activist Margaret Carrasco, initially was not awarded a permit to host a parade and festival in Waukegan due to multiple reasons, including failing to file the necessary paperwork on schedule and owing thousands of dollars in fees from the previous year’s event. Further details are in the Lake County News-Sun article, “Groups battling for control of Waukegan’s Fiestas Patrias fest.”
On July 17, the Waukegan City Council gave Ms. Carrasco’s Fiestas Patrias organization a hearing before the City Council. It granted the organization the right to host a parade and festival on the same day as the Spanish-language newspaper Puro Futbol, which initially had sole rights to events on that day. Alderman Turner voted for the unprecedented event and was rewarded by being named a Grand Marshall of the parade.
Alderman Turner had multiple vehicles in the parade with signs supporting his campaign for Mayor. The next day, Waukegan Watch received more than a dozen emails from residents who attended the parade who were dismayed that Turner was given such a prominent role. They shared with this publication dozens of racist and anti-Latino social media messages from Turner. Turner announced the launch of his campaign at a sparsely attended event on September 9. Before he launched his campaign, it appears that he went back and deleted a vast majority of his social media posts in an attempt not to be held accountable for these vile and offensive posts.
Below, we are sharing just some of the dozens of posts sent to Waukegan Watch. It seems that Alderman Turner has tried to fool Latino residents and successfully fooled Ms. Carrasco, who certainly would be unwilling to support a candidate for Mayor who holds racist beliefs against Latinos.
Waukegan is a majority Latino city that is accepting of all people, including those who come to the United States to improve their lives and help their families. Waukegan celebrates the rich contributions of our African-American, Latino, and LGBTQ residents. Alderman Turner’s social media posts do not Waukegan values.
If Waukegan Watch hears from Alderman Turner, we’ll update this story.
