The Mexican and Mexican-American communities scored a victory when they sent a clear message to the administration of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg: We will not tolerate being insulted and being called "bandit swine flu carriers," as Betsy Perry called us. Perry was Bloomberg's nominee to the Commission of Women's Issues of New York, which represents and advocates for women in the city. She resigned after making her comments.

The pressure began even before Mexican community leaders and City Comptroller William Thompson, Jr. began to protest.

Students and young professionals added thousands of signatures to an e-mail petition sent to Mayor Bloomberg's office and Commissioner for Immigrant Affairs Guillermo Linares asking for Perry's resignation.

For many Mexicans, emigrating to the United States to seek a better life and to be able to offer a better future to our families is a huge sacrifice. Our people are often humiliated at work and forced to work 12-hour days or longer and for salaries under minimum wage. This is why it is so unfair to be categorized as "bandits guilty of spreading swine flu."

As students, we are infuriated by this type of comment that sows hate and turns our people into victims of anti-immigrant sentiment.

As educators who work with Mexican and Mexican-American children and young people, we are concerned that our students will not want to go to school because their classmates make fun of them and call them "bandit swine flu carriers." How can we ask our students to put their trust in politicians like Betsy Perry to defend the rights of women when the same person is insulting them, degrading them and calling them bandits? Must these children and future leaders suffer hate and anti-immigrant sentiment because they are the children of a minority?

On the other hand, the way that Bloomberg accepted Betsy Perry's apology on behalf of the Mexican community is also questionable. No one asked to meet with us to apologize.

Because the resignation was happily accepted by thousands of Mexicans and millions of Latinos, this was just a political ploy for the mayor not to lose the Latino vote in the next election.

Before the protest in the Mexican Consulate, getting an apology from Betsy Perry strengthened Latino voters and kept them happy.

How ironic is life that New York's Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., Bloomberg's principal rival for the 2009 mayoral elections, was the one who pushed first for Perry's resignation after her anti-Mexican comments.

Michael Bloomberg's political strategy pushed Betsy Perry aside to leave the path open for Latino and Mexican-American support.

As for William Thompson, his political strategy offered support to the Mexican-American community by asking for Betsy Perry's removal and questioning the mayor's stance, in order to gain greater support from the Latino community.

What these political strategies show is that the Mexican and Mexican-American communities have the chance to change the course of politics in New York in the years to come.