Obama Speaks to Hispanic Evangelicals

From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS -- Barack Obama addressed Hispanic evangelicals at a small prayer meeting in southern Texas and focused on problems affecting the Hispanic community, a group that has generally voted for Hillary Clinton this primary season.

“Our conscience cannot rest so long as schools from East L.A. to West Chicago to Brownsville are crumbling or overcrowded or under funded, so long as Hispanics are more likely to leave school than any other Americans,” Obama said.

“Because when our children aren’t getting the world-class education they need to reach for their dreams and compete in our economy, that’s not just a Hispanic problem, it’s an American problem.”

He addressed the so called “brown-black” divide, saying that he rejects the notion and believes that the stigma of tension between African-Americans and Hispanics is false.

“Whenever I hear folks talk about the “brown-black” divide, I remember my days as a community organizer, when I brought African-Americans and Hispanics together to fight a rising drop-out rate in our schools."

"I remember my days as a civil rights lawyer, when I worked with my Hispanic brothers and sisters to protect our voting rights. And I remember May Day 2006, when I marched shoulder-to-shoulder with the Hispanic community to stand up for comprehensive immigration reform.”

Obama’s speech was laced with religious undertones, even though he addressed campaign issues such as immigration.

“What I refuse to accept is the rising current of distrust and even hate that’s being directed not just at immigrants, but at all Hispanics," Obama said.

“We are, each of us, children of God, and the Bible tells us to love all of our neighbors, no matter where we come from or what documents we have.”

According the he campaign, over 14 million U.S. Latinos identify themselves as evangelical.