ROBERT SIEGEL, Host:
Daniel Hernandez has emerged from the tragedy a hero. He was a new intern who rushed to the aid of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after she'd been shot.
M: The first thing I did was to pick her up and prop her up against my chest to make sure that she could breathe properly. Once I was sure that she was able to breathe properly and wouldn't asphyxiate, the next thing I did was to apply pressure to her wounds to make sure that we could stem the blood loss.
SIEGEL: Writer Daisy Hernandez, no relation to Daniel Hernandez, has this reflection.
M: I wasn't the only person on Saturday who rushed to her Android when news came of the Tucson shooting. I wasn't looking, however, to read about what had happened. My auntie had already filled me in - someone tried to murder una representante. People have been killed, she reported. What I wanted to know was the killer's surname.
M: It's painfully ironic that a gay Latino man came to the aid of Representative Giffords in the storm of gunfire. If a judge hadn't blocked provisions of Arizona's SB 1070 law, however, the intern's surname would have easily qualified him as a target for police under different circumstances on Saturday.
A: I admit that it was only after I saw the shooter's gringo surname that I was able to go on and read the rest of the news about those who lost their lives on Saturday and those who, like Representative Giffords, were severely wounded. I admit also that I felt some small relief in knowing that at least this shooting wouldn't be used as a reason for yet another backlash against immigrants, or at least that's what I'm hoping. In this political climate, it's hard to tell.
SIEGEL: Daisy Hernandez is the co-editor of "Colonize This! Young Women on Today's Feminism."