tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16065181838887673022024-03-05T08:18:28.007-08:00The Perez FactorLatino political news, perspectives, and information.POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-84342033108456387072013-01-30T11:18:00.002-08:002013-01-30T11:18:59.079-08:00Latino Congressman shares his thoughts on Immigration<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AMdeAZEfeG5TMN5acJwBsKBWt2VNAzb9OIOxVmPRCVkHrCyP6lSFEPu9f3tzhfnXYjVn2g9wNcG2WnZeHYWths_wTsVM8H4COE2pqLFR1vzft0FfADv6I5NFDjOEy0mJsYch1-gPhHY/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-01-30+at+11.11.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AMdeAZEfeG5TMN5acJwBsKBWt2VNAzb9OIOxVmPRCVkHrCyP6lSFEPu9f3tzhfnXYjVn2g9wNcG2WnZeHYWths_wTsVM8H4COE2pqLFR1vzft0FfADv6I5NFDjOEy0mJsYch1-gPhHY/s200/Screen+shot+2013-01-30+at+11.11.13+AM.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Raul Grijalva</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>My <span style="font-size: small;">thoughts on fixing immigration</span></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">By Rep. Raul Grijalva<span style="font-size: small;">, <span style="font-size: small;">D-Az</span></span></span><b> </b></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>TUCSON, AZ</b> -- </span>The
conversation we're all having about immigration reform isn't new.
Congress has been talking -- and talking plenty -- about how to fix our
broken immigration system for a long time. I've been proud to represent
you in that conversation since I got to Congress, and now that we're on
track for a real bill I'm proud to speak up for your concerns in
Washington. But that's not all I'm doing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">On
Jan. 28, I spoke at a great rally in Phoenix with some of our strongest
allies in this fight. Groups such as Mi Familia Vota and Promise
Arizona have spent years on the ground making immigration reform
possible, and at this crucial moment, they're fighting to make the final
product something we can be proud of, not just something we can barely
live with. I'm happy to lead that fight on your behalf and I hope you'll
join me in keeping up the pressure. Now is the time to make your voice
heard.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm
getting ready to introduce a whole package of border and immigration
bills during the first week of February. We can't just have our say in
the press, although that is an important part of our strategy. We need
to be on record in Congress to remind everyone that immigration reform
can't just be a code word for a triple-layer fence and Arpaio-style
family raids. We have to improve our ports of entry to speed
cross-border commerce and create jobs all across the country. We have to
protect public land in our border areas because if Republicans get
their way our wildlife preserves and national parks will be a thing of
the past. We can't let that happen.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Your
needs, your values and your families are what are most important in
this fight. Immigration reform isn't about me -- it's about you, and
it's about what kind of country we want to build. Our future can be
about a more realistic, more tolerant and more inclusive society, or it
can be about what a few loud conservative activists think "Real America"
looks like. If you agree with me about which one you prefer, make your
voice heard. I say it a lot, and it's always true: democracy doesn't
work without you.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please
spread the word. People don't know how important this is unless they
hear from friends and people they trust. Thanks so much for all you do.</span></span></div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-3134583503903024502012-11-13T10:18:00.000-08:002012-11-13T10:18:15.049-08:00National Hispanic organization chimes in on Latino Vote<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QNAscs5HZTDf-ZLDtGTJaPxl-P1ojzFgD0A5SWlXBOk9bRCIloAotUGHh1T2rrU_fCvjSIqi1O-oDOVqAodz9EPudy0EwseMZRFcKcbrGI6-tMuf7O4fTWizHKAR9TVNt7PeEjkzk1A/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-11-13+at+10.15.25+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QNAscs5HZTDf-ZLDtGTJaPxl-P1ojzFgD0A5SWlXBOk9bRCIloAotUGHh1T2rrU_fCvjSIqi1O-oDOVqAodz9EPudy0EwseMZRFcKcbrGI6-tMuf7O4fTWizHKAR9TVNt7PeEjkzk1A/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-11-13+at+10.15.25+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Kamasaki</td></tr>
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<b>So What Do We Do Now? <br />Latinos and the 2nd Obama Admnistration </b><br />By Charles Kamasaki, National Council of La Raza<br /> <br />For perhaps the first time in history, the Latino vote is widely acknowledged to have proven decisive in a Presidential election. How should the community's advocates react? The natural tendency is to push for more across the board, hoping that the community's greater political power will automatically translate into public policy wins. <br /><br />While surely there's some truth to this assumption, it won't be easy. Getting anything done in today's highly-charged, deeply polarized environment is very difficult. And paradoxically, the prominence of the Hispanic vote may actually reduce the incentive for some partisans on both sides of the aisle to enact policies their political opponents might get credit for. <br /><br />As Latino advocates consider what to do next, it would behoove us to step back, take a hard look at the current landscape, and make some strategic, intentional decisions about where we allocate our collective advocacy resources. Let's start by taking a hard look at what just happened. <br /><br />First, the good news: the absolute number of Hispanic voters in 2012 increased substantially over 2008 - a significant milestone given that overall turnout probably went down a bit.[1] As many as three-quarters of Latino voters supported the winner, President Obama, according to the Impremedia/Latino Decisions poll, which is likely more reliable than the media consortium's exit poll. <br /><br />Nine newly-elected Representatives will join the Congressional Hispanic Caucus next year, and Ted Cruz will join Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez in the Senate. To the surprise of many, a ballot initiative on in-state tuition for undocumented students won a major victory in Maryland. And this hasn't gone unnoticed. Dozens of reporters, politicians, and pundits have noted the community's growing clout, often ably assisted by press events and news releases issued by Latino advocates. <br /><br />However, one of the biggest dangers advocates face is believing our own spin. Without in any way denigrating the progress we've made as a result of major civic engagement efforts by many of our organizations, if we parse the data carefully there are some dark clouds hidden behind the silver lining. <br /><br />On the electoral front, a major long term concern is that the Hispanic electorate is not keeping up with the community's population growth. "Straight line" growth - that is, replication of the 27-28% increases in actual voters that took place over the last two cycles - should have produced about 12.4 million Hispanic voters this year, but it appears that total Latino 2012 turnout will be below 12 million.[2] <br /><br />A related concern is that the talk about the importance of the Hispanic vote was not matched by commensurate investments in expanding the electorate. As a result, hardly a dime was invested in nonpartisan citizenship or voter registration work in non-battleground states like California, Texas, New York, Illinois, or New Mexico, which have the greatest concentrations of potential - but not yet actual - Latino voters. <br /><br />On the policy front, the ideological make-up of Congress hardly changed at all, and some key allies like DREAM Act sponsors Richard Lugar in the Senate and Howard Berman in the House, won't be returning next year. This means that translating the community's growing electoral power into policy change will remain difficult at best. <br /><br />Allocating one's advocacy resources involve inevitable trade-offs: short-term vs. long term, pushing the envelope vs. settling for a compromise, asserting parochial interest vs. working in broader coalitions, and so on. There are no "right" answers, and obviously every institution and advocate will do what they have to do on their own top priorities. But events require us to concentrate collectively on at least two major fronts right now. <br /><br />The first involves imminent debates over how to address the "fiscal cliff." Representing a community with both an immediate need for jobs and long-term human capital investments, Hispanic advocates should push for some form of immediate job creation effort and fight equally hard to protect key education and workforce programs. Achieving these goals likely will require both substantial new revenue and some entitlement reform over the long-term, meaning pitched battles with some conservatives on taxes and uncomfortable discussions with some traditional allies on entitlements. <br /><br />The second is immigration reform. While it's axiomatic that most of us will be calling for reform, there are at least three things we haven't always done that we need to do now. <br /><br />One is greater outreach to those not yet persuaded that reform is necessary or desirable. Enactment of a bill will require at least 30-35 Republican votes in the House and five-to-seven in the Senate. Only if we work on a bipartisan basis using all of our collective resources are we likely to achieve these goals. <br /><br />Two, we need to continue to hold the Administration's feet to the fire, including demanding expansion of deferred deportation to cover, at a minimum, the parents and siblings of U.S. citizen children. <br /><br />But three, and this is the hard part, at the appropriate time we'll need to be prepared to compromise when the time comes. <br /><br />As immediate developments require a focus on these and other short term policy priorities, it will be equally important to focus on some crucial long term interests. Arguably the most important of these is growing the Latino electorate. <br /><br />While we can and should celebrate the 11-12 million Hispanics who voted, out of slightly over 14 million registered, we cannot forget the 10 million Latino citizens of voting age who are not yet registered to vote, a group that will grow by over 500,000 per year. There are certain inherent challenges: this population is disproportionately young and low-income, has relatively low levels of educational attainment, and is highly mobile. In addition, voter ID laws and other artificial barriers are not likely to go away soon. <br /><br /><b>Charles Kamasaki</b><i> is Executive Vice President of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). He has worked for NCLR for the last 32 years; his first role with organization was at a South Texas-based program where he specialized in supporting affordable housing construction. He has since headed their Office of Research, Advocacy and Legislation and directed their Policy Analysis Center. Prior to working for the NCLR, he specialized in providing elected officials with technical assistance in housing and community development. He has held leadership positions with the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the National Immigration Law Center. Charles is the co-author, with Raul Yzaguirre, of the seminal paper, "Black-Hispanic Tensions: One Perspective," Journal of Intergroup Relations (Winter 1994-5) and is currently taking a one-year partial leave of absence to write a book on immigration policy and politics. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:ckamasaki@nclr.org">ckamasaki@nclr.org</a>. </i><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-30852783814635082752012-11-02T11:21:00.000-07:002012-11-02T11:21:58.014-07:00Will the Latino vote go unrewarded?
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Latino voters will probably help reelect President Obama, but what will they get in return?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
Adrian Perez, Associate Editor, Journal On Latino Americans</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The majority of Latino voters who will participate in this year’s
Presidential election will vote for President Barack Obama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most will not vote for him because he has
been good for Latinos, they will be voting for him because the Republicans have
almost totally alienated Latino voters.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Like
many other Latinos, I supported Obama’s election in 2008, not because he would
have been the first President of color, but because his speeches told us there
was a much brighter light if we elected him to lead the free world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As an independent voter, I studied his and
Senator John McCain’s messages to see which would better serve the Latino
community and hands down, Obama was a cut above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So what happened? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">President
Barack Obama has been a disappointment for Latinos in his policies and broken
promises that once stirred support and a drive for change in the 2008
Presidential election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The country has
never been more divided with partisan politics playing a key role in how
Latinos, documented or undocumented, are perceived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had the President stuck to his promises and demonstrated
true leadership by standing up to racist attitudes toward Latinos and address
the undocumented worker issue in a more prompt and humane level, support for
his reelection would have remained or exceeded what he experienced in 2008.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
was present at the 2008 National Council of La Raza annual convention in San
Diego, California, where Obama promised that immigration reform would be a
priority in his first year as President.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead, his immigration policies of the last 4 years have resulted in
the largest number of undocumented Latino deportations occurring, many without
due process, which split thousands of families.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
have argued that it hasn’t been the President’s fault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Department of Homeland Security is under his rule and he appointed
former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to establish and implement the most
cruel and inhumane approaches of deportation, where in many cases children had
to be placed in foster homes or left with a single parent to care for
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why did Obama wait to take
action until it was time to run for reelection?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
an olive-branch to the Latino community, Obama offered a policy this year, protecting
the millions of undocumented children who were brought here by their parents, an
opportunity not to be deported if they self-identified themselves as undocumented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem with that policy is the
Department of Homeland Security will know where these children are and if the
policy is not extended, they will be deported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Governor
Mitt Romney is no saint either, making it clear he would deport all
undocumented residents, including children, unless they entered the military.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, they are not his policies as
much as they are the Republican Party’s policies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unless
real Latino leadership in the U.S. stands up to the winner of this year’s
Presidential winner, we can expect more of the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-85596524506184116262012-10-23T14:57:00.000-07:002012-10-23T14:57:22.200-07:00Why pollsters missed the Latino Vote - 2012 edition<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: #efefef; border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; color: #0088cc; color: #0088cc; font-size: 1.6em; font-size: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 0px 0; margin: 0 0 5px 0; padding: 0; width: 100%;"><tbody>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1606518183888767302" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2012/10/23/why-pollsters-missed-the-latino-vote-2012-edition/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none!important; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Why Pollsters Missed the Latino Vote – 2012 edition</a></h2>
by <a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/?author=2" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; color: #888!important; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Latino Decisions</a>
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In 1998 Harry Pachon and Rudy de la Garza wrote a report for the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute titled "<a href="http://www.trpi.org/archive/#politics" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank" title="See report #6024">Why Pollsters Missed the Latino Vote - Again!</a>"
in which they argued that polls across California failed to accurately
account for Latino voters in their samples, and that pre-election polls
statewide were fraught with errors as a result. Pachon and de la Garza
argued that "mainstream" pollsters failed to account for Latinos for
three primary reasons: 1) their sample sizes of Latinos were far too
small; 2) their Latinos samples were not representative of the Latino
population within the state; and 3) they were not interviewing Latinos
in Spanish at the correct proportions. THIS WAS 14 YEARS AGO (yes I am screaming).</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
In 2010 Gary Segura and I wrote that not much had changed and <a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2010/11/04/how-the-national-exit-poll-badly-missed-the-latino-vote-in-2010/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">polls continued to mis-represent the Latino vote</a>. It is now well-known that <a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2010/11/15/proving-the-exit-polls-wrong-harry-reid-did-win-over-90-of-the-latino-vote/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">polls in Nevada had small, unrepresentative and biased samples of Latinos</a>, leading them to entirely miss Harry Reid's 5-point lead over Sharron Angle. Two weeks ago, <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/oct-13-arizona-and-the-spanish-speaking-vote/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Nate Silver wrote at 538 that some polls seem to be continuing the same mistakes</a> and under-counting and mis-counting Latino voters, which he had originally picked up, and <a href="http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/did-polls-underestimate-democrats-latino-vote/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">wrote about the day after the 2010 midterms</a>.
Around the same time some new polls started appearing in states like
Nevada and Florida with bizarre data for Latino voters - <a href="http://www.lvrj.com/news/obama-ahead-romney-gains-independents-in-nevada-poll-174535301.html" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Obama only had an 8 point lead among Nevada Latinos</a>, and <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/article1255882.ece" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Romney was actually ahead among Latinos in Florida</a>. Really?</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
No.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
And
now the worst offenders might be the newest batch of national polls are
attempting to estimate the national Obama-Romney horse race numbers.
Monday October 22, <a href="http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/84/159/2147483694/0e2e970e-a544-4f4d-8659-6233705b8ae7.pdf" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Monmouth University released a poll</a>
in which Romney leads Obama 48% to 45%. Among Latinos, they report
Obama leads by just 6 points - 48% to 42%. These numbers are such
extreme outliers that even Romney campaign surrogates would have a hard
time believing them. While Monmouth is the most recent, there have been
many national polls with equally faulty numbers among Latinos.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Keep
that 48 to 42 number in your head and let's compare across a variety of
recent polls of Latino voters. As a matter of self-interest, we'll
start with four recent impreMedia-Latino Decisions tracking polls in
October. The last four polls released by IM/LD have found the Latino
vote nationally at <a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/files/2613/5086/6300/Tracker_-_toplines_week_9.pdf" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">71-20; 67-23; 72-20; 73-21</a>. Don't like those? NBC/Telemundo have released two polls in October of Latinos, putting the race at <a href="http://nbclatino.com/2012/10/22/nbctelemundo-poll-obama-holds-strong-lead-with-latinos/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">70-25</a>, and <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/10/nbcwsjtelemundo-obama-up-among-latino-voters-137338.html" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">70-20</a> just before that. And then there was the <a href="http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/10/11/latino-voters-support-obama-by-3-1-ratio-but-are-less-certain-than-others-about-voting/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Pew Hispanic Center poll</a> 10 days ago which had Obama 69-21 over Romney, and just before that CNN did a poll of Latinos putting the national vote at <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/04/cnn-poll-latinos-show-big-support-for-obama-policy/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">70-25</a>.
Okay - that's eight national polls of Latino voters in the month of
October and the average across all eight is 70.3% for Obama to 21.9% for
Romney.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcSQHkY-LJqZYU00LEl5eSRCwlWJMa_nTsnryeRKFFTe6oisjq8CpE-nHG_6T22ChI1KM15e6U2sXH6QMuYlHvU3zTIvj9zZjPTJF51pEuIJLOlPbw0bXPx63AuxnygfycaZD7-RSrwQg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-10-23+at+2.52.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcSQHkY-LJqZYU00LEl5eSRCwlWJMa_nTsnryeRKFFTe6oisjq8CpE-nHG_6T22ChI1KM15e6U2sXH6QMuYlHvU3zTIvj9zZjPTJF51pEuIJLOlPbw0bXPx63AuxnygfycaZD7-RSrwQg/s400/Screen+shot+2012-10-23+at+2.52.14+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
The Monmouth poll is not the only one that is off, the Gallup tracking poll has also been heavily <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/20/1147573/-Gallup-Internals-Corrected-for-predicted-racial-turnout-Romney-at-49-3" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">criticized for mis-calculating the minority vote</a>. Noted Political Scientist <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-abramowitz/election-polls-gallup_b_1989865.html" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Alan Abramowitz has written recently</a>
that Gallup has too many Whites and too few Blacks and Latinos in their
sample, not keeping up with simple demographic changes in America. And
other polls are similarly off. A <a href="http://polltracker.talkingpointsmemo.com/polls/5085483eebcabf40450000e3" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Politico/GWU poll in mid-October had Latinos 53-44</a> for Obama, +9 nationally.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Let's
examine how these faulty Latino numbers create problems with the
overall national estimates. Afterall, Latinos are estimated to comprise
10% off all voters this year. If Latinos are only leaning to Obama
48-42, that +6 edge among 10% of the electorate only contributes a net
0.6 advantage to Obama (4.8 for Obama to 4.2 for Romney). However, if
instead Obama is leading 70.3 to 21.9 that +48.4 edge contributes a net
4.8 advantage to Obama (7.0 to 2.2), hence the national polls may be
missing as much as 4 full points in Obama's national numbers.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Let's break the numbers down a bit more to see if the math adds up, as Bill Clinton is so fond of saying...</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Looking
at the Monmouth Poll, overall they give Romney a +3 edge nationally, 48
to 45. According to their crosstabs by race and ethnicity (<a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/monmouth_crosstabs.pdf" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">posted here</a>),
the first tab below shows the data as collected and reported by the
Monmouth Poll, including their estimates of the share each racial group
will comprise of the electorate. If you take the vote percentages for
each candidate times the share of the electorate that Monmouth gives
each group, you can arrive at the contribution that each racial group
makes towards the overall support numbers for each candidate.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Assuming
the data as reported by Monmouth, Latinos would add 5.8 points to Obama
and 5.0 point to Romney, a net edge of 0.8 points towards Obama.
However, in tab 2, we plug in the 8-poll average among Latinos as
reported above, 70.3 to 21.9. Here, we see Latinos contribute 8.4
points to Obama and 2.6 to Romney, a net edge of 5.8 points towards
Obama. With this adjustment, that 5 point swing in the overall national
data towards Obama takes what was a +3 .6 advantage for Romney and
turns it into a +1.5 advantage for Obama, 47.6 to 46.1. This is the
exact story of the 2010 Nevada data in which poll after poll showed
Angle ahead of Reid, and Latinos only slightly breaking to Reid. On
Election Day Reid won by 5 points, an 8-point swing from the poll
average, and he carried Latinos 90-to-10.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51jLhc0Q3qtTSfXm4Ks8q2iFP67kU5iuIUkg5H5luqHQBYjw9LY50vtaTHLq-2OVR4LhIzRSSRR4wM8k2UdHKSPYrrD4g9I0HBvE2pcp24_fuLFD-DJDap2f_Q6nQkaQRIHeGdEEiO94/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-10-23+at+2.52.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51jLhc0Q3qtTSfXm4Ks8q2iFP67kU5iuIUkg5H5luqHQBYjw9LY50vtaTHLq-2OVR4LhIzRSSRR4wM8k2UdHKSPYrrD4g9I0HBvE2pcp24_fuLFD-DJDap2f_Q6nQkaQRIHeGdEEiO94/s400/Screen+shot+2012-10-23+at+2.52.32+PM.png" width="376" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
However,
we might also look at the Monmouth (or any of the national polls) data
among Blacks and expect they have underestimated the Black vote for
Obama. Rather than carrying 82% of the African American vote, a more
realistic prediction is that Obama will win 92% (or more) of the African
American vote. A recent <a href="http://newsone.com/2031967/romney-african-american-vote/" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed 94% of Blacks</a>
planning to vote for Obama and 0% for Romney. If we add 10 points to
the Black vote for Obama - an adjustment I doubt anyone would disagree
with - we find a full additional point in favor of Obama nationally,
48.7% to 46.1%.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Dozens
of polls this year are making these exact same errors that Harry Pachon
and Rudy de la Garza pointed out 14 years ago. And by the way, their
report title carried the phrase "Again!" because they pointed out that
polls in California in 1994 and 1996 had made similar mistakes in
underestimating the Latino vote.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
If
these mistakes are being made nationally where Latinos comprise an
estimated 10% of all voters, they are even worse in statewide polls in
Nevada, Florida, Colorado and Arizona where Latinos comprise an even
larger share of all voters. In Florida Latinos are estimated at 17% of
all voters. If you are badly mis-calculating the candidate preference
among 17% of the electorate (that's 1 out of every 6 voters), then the
entire statewide estimates are wrong. A <a href="http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/political/obama-romney-in-virtual-dead-heat-in-florida-wptv-scripps-poll-shows" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">PPP poll out yesterday</a>
in Florida had Romney leading 49 to 46 among Latinos in Florida, and
overall Romney was ahead 48 to 47. The PPP poll likely had around 130
Hispanic respondents, all interviewed via robotic IVR method, which has
notoriously low and problematic response rates among Latinos. A <a href="http://www.latinodecisions.com/files/9513/4937/8995/Florida_Toplines.pdf" style="color: #0088cc; color: #2585b2; text-decoration: none; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Latino Decisions October poll</a> showed Florida Latinos backing Obama 61 to 31.</div>
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0 0 1em 0;">
Understanding,
and accurately polling the Latino electorate is important not just for
the sake of getting a correct portrait of Latino voters, but because
they are such a large part of the overall electorate that "missing the
Latino vote" ultimately results in missing the true vote of the entire
electorate, whether in a swing state, or nationally.</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-91961469730969519772012-09-19T14:12:00.000-07:002012-09-19T14:12:05.117-07:00A Latino's perspective on Romney being Mexican<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'georgia';"><b>Romney better off as a Latino?</b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">By Ruben Navarrette</span><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0012r6_rdm5TAuPqWjOM-xgHCVaQaSnOBF8BeoY1dttpWD9gN1SK4mo4bF6wq4omn9C7uxun7KJWvgLRPXMphH657W5a8WX9CCFtTWwjbntPZn2dAOUhwe1PQ0Rloht1u6YkYeUbsn9BH04lvb7JBBHvHk7dl3NEWN6mBXpT08TwG7PaZCB3atAbXMsNp00hRpL" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue; font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">, CNN</span></a><span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">(CNN)
-- Sometimes a story comes along that is so utterly ridiculous that, as
a commentator, your first instinct is to deal with it tongue-in-cheek.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">And
so it is with Mitt Romney's videotaped remarks to a roomful of donors
at a fundraiser in May in Boca Raton, Florida. The GOP presidential
candidate appears to say that he wishes he were Latino because he thinks
it would be "helpful" to his quest and give him a "better shot" at the
presidency.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Referring to his father, George, Romney told the audience:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 30px;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">"My
dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the
head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico ... and had he been
born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this. But he
was unfortunately born to </span> <span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Americans
living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say
that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">I'm
tempted to respond with this: "Mitt Romney thinks it would be helpful
if he were Latino. Well, Mitt, I'm Latino. And I think it would be
helpful to me if I were worth $250 million. Wanna switch?"</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"> </span> </div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Or,
given President Barack Obama's heavy-handed immigration policies, with
this: "What Mitt Romney doesn't realize is that if he were Mexican,
there's a 94.6% chance that he would've already been deported by his
opponent."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Romney's
comments are clearly absurd, and so it's hard to take them seriously.
Did the rich white guy really claim to want to be Latino because he
thought it would help him win the presidency?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">That's strange. Being Latino didn't seem to help Bill Richardson.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">The
former New Mexico governor ran for president in 2008, and he didn't get
beyond the New Hampshire primary. Also, by Romney's logic, you would
think that we've had a whole slew of Latinos elected president; there
hasn't been a single one -- if you don't count Jimmy Smits playing
President-elect Matt Santos on the final season of "The West Wing."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Romney
should quit while he's ahead. Statistically, he has the golden ticket.
He's a rich white male, and they're overrepresented in the exclusive
club of the 44 individuals to ever serve as president. Barack Obama is
an exception, and even he satisfies two of three characteristics: rich
and male.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">But,
if Mitt really wants to get in touch with his inner Mexican, I think
he'll find that it's not all churros and chocolate or pinatas and pan
dulce. You see -- and you might find this hard to believe, Mitt -- but
there is still a lot of discrimination in this country against Latinos
as whites hunker down and try to hold on to what they have in the face
of changing demographics.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">For
instance, Romney has two Harvard degrees, and so do I. But I'll go out
on a limb here and guess that he never had anyone suggest that he was
only admitted to that prestigious university because of affirmative
action. Or that he is frequently told, as I am, to "go back to Mexico"
-- which is ironic, given that, since I'm the grandson of a Mexican
immigrant and Romney is the son of a Mexican immigrant, the GOP
presidential candidate is one generation closer to the motherland than I
am.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Yet, as difficult as it is, we must take Romney's comments seriously. There are three reasons that they're troubling.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">First,
judging from the videotape, when Romney suggested that his path to the
White House would have been covered in rose petals if only he had been
born Mexican, the crowd loved it. What are they thinking?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Are
these the kind of people who tell themselves that their sons and
daughters would have gotten into Yale or Princeton if some black kid
hadn't taken their spot? Do they really believe that racial and ethnic
minorities have it easy in this country? And if so, what country are
they living in?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Second,
if you look at the rest of Romney's remarks -- about the 47% of
Americans who pay no taxes and "who are dependent upon government, who
believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a
responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to
health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it" -- he makes a good
point. Many Americans do have an entitlement mentality, and it's a real
problem.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Where
Romney went wrong is that the sense of entitlement isn't limited to
those on government aid. It includes the kind of fat cat donors who were
in the audience. They get tax breaks and corporate subsidies. They
raise their kids to think they're entitled to not do the jobs that
immigrants wind up doing. Romney scolded those who think they're
entitled, and then he seemed to wink at the audience and tell them:
"present company excluded."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Lastly,
it's hard to come up with a better example of an American who sees
himself as a victim with a sense of entitlement than Mitt Romney. Think
about what he said. This was no joke.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Romney
sounds frustrated. By suggesting that he'd have a better chance at
winning this election if he were Latino, Romney is playing the victim.
Poor me, I had the misfortune to be born a white male. It's clear that
he thinks he was entitled to a much smoother path to the White House.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Is Romney able to fix what's broken with America? Or are people like Mitt Romney what's broken with America?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Ruben
Navarrette is a CNN contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist
with the Washington Post Writers Group. Follow him on Twitter:
@rubennavarrette</i></span></div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-87647431050817779382012-09-13T20:21:00.000-07:002012-09-13T20:21:19.391-07:00Perspective: GOP grooming Latinos, not Dems<br /><b>Opinion: Republicans are grooming Latino leaders, Dems are not </b><br /><a href="http://nbclatino.com/2012/09/07/opinion-republicans-are-grooming-latino-leaders-dems-are-not/">by Jaime Rojas Jr. for NBCLatino</a><br />
<br />We saw this week the Democratic National Convention and its sea of diversity among its delegates on the Convention floor, a very stark contrast to the <a href="http://nbclatino.com/2012/08/31/republican-convention-report-card-how-did-gop-do-with-latinos/">Republican National Convention</a> faces we saw on television the week before. But behind the scenes, I see a very different picture regarding the grooming of Latino leadership for the future of American politics. <br />
<br />The Democrats paint a party of the “people” who represents the last frontier to protect what’s left of the American middle class. At the DNC, they showcased their Latino leadership. We saw my mayor, Antonio Villariagosa, prominently displayed as the chairman of the Convention. Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, is billed as the rising Latino star in the Democratic Party. <br />
<br />The RNC, on the other hand, spotlighted their chosen ones too: Congressman Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, and Governor Susanna Martinez of New Mexico. So we ask: “Which political party is really grooming our future Latino leadership?” My short answer is….the Republican party. Here is why: The Democrats, with all their fanfare of diversity, really has no real infrastructure on a national or state level focused on grooming Latino leadership. Since Latinos just happen to make a large number in their party, really by default they have taken some leadership roles. And if you think about it, Democratic Latinos are not really in too many high level positions like governors or senior ranking congresspersons, considering the number of Latinos in the party. <br />
<br />The reason is simple. The Democratic Party has a “union” mentality when it comes to grooming its next leadership. You have to start practically at birth as a member of the Party and promote your way up the ladder, until it’s your time to eventually lead. Being from California, that process and mentality is obvious with the State Democrats and the union machine. So what real chance does a young Latino have of high level leadership in the Democratic Party, if they don’t follow this “promotional” leadership process…none. <br />
<br />The Republicans surprisingly enough, invested last year, on the national level into a fund specifically to identify and groom 100 top Latino leaders for the Party. Impressive? Well, the fund only started with less than 2 million dollars, which in today’s economy is not much, but it’s a start. For the first time we heard not just one but two Latinos, Congressman Marco Rubio and Governor Susanna Martinez on the short list for Vice President! We recently saw Congressman Ted Cruz come in and shock everyone with his win in Texas. He had some support (money) of the RNC too. <br />
<br />I believe the Republican party has the better chance of grooming and possibly delivering Latino political leaders that actually will not only look like us, but also represent us appropriately. Believe it or not, Latinos’ beliefs are very similar to those of the GOP: family, fiscal conservancy, small government, and support of entrepreneurship and business. Yes, I know, shocking but very true. With our potential voting power, Latinos can vote into office (or take out of office) the right candidate to represent and act on our legislative needs. What is good for Latinos is good for America…and what is good for America is good for Latinos! <br />
<br />The Latino community must continue investing in ourselves and believe that our time is here now. We must support leadership-training beginning with our youth, and support national organizations like the <a href="http://www.nhi-net.org/Pages/index.aspx">National Hispanic Institute</a>, based out of Texas, who go after our cream of the crop of Latino youth and train them to think like leaders and entrepreneurs. At the end of the day, it is our responsibility, no one else’s, to train, groom and support America’s future leadership! Let’s all take this call for action….it is really the American thing to do, no que no? <br /><a href="http://nbclatino.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/jr_headshot.jpg"><img src="http://nbclatino.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/jr_headshot.jpg?w=151&h=210" /></a> <br /> <br /><i>Jaime Rojas Jr. worked for The White House’s Office of Public Liaison and Latino outreach for President Bill Clinton, and for The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. He is also the former President and CEO of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) and he wrote his first book in 2011 titled, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Conservatives-Pocket-Constitution-Includes-Complete/dp/1935664069">“The Conservative’s Pocket Constitution.”</a> Follow Jaime on Twitter @Jaime_Rojas</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-71740688168159173512012-08-25T12:24:00.000-07:002012-08-25T12:24:18.121-07:00New York politics about to change in favor of Latinos<span style="font-family: 'georgia',' times new roman',' times',' serif'; font-size: 18pt;">
</span>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>The Ethical Fall </strong></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong>of Vito Lopez: </strong></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN"><strong>Implications for the Future of</strong></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN"><strong>Brooklyn Latino Politics</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt;">By Angelo Falcón (August 25, 2012)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="right" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 9pt;"> </span><span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><em>Ethics: Moral principles that govern a person's or group's behavior</em></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;">.</span></span></div>
<div align="right" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2.5in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">---Oxford Dictionary</span></div>
<div face="Georgia" size="2" style="font-size: 10pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div face="Georgia" size="2" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'georgia',' times new roman',' times',' serif';"><img align="right" alt="Angelo Falcon BW" border="0" height="150" name="1395eedf41345e46_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.258" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs057/1101040629095/img/258.jpg" style="text-align: right;" width="100" /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'georgia',' times new roman',' times',' serif';">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">The sudden
announcement of major ethical violations by Brooklyn power broker Vito
Lopez by the NYS Assembly of which he has been a member since 1984 took
everyone by surprise. It was widely known that he was being investigated
for funny business concerning his nonprofit, the Bushwick Ridgewood
Senior Citizens Council and its very very well-paid Director, his <span lang="EN">long-time girlfriend, Angela Battagli. B</span>ut, to be severely censured by the Assembly for the sexual harassment of his female staff? No one really saw that coming!</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">This
situation makes it obligatory to point out that, despite his surname, he
is an Italian-American and not a Latino (although I understand that he
claims he has a grandparent from Spain). However, depending on his
immediate political fortunes, and calls for his resignation will no
doubt emerge as the county's district leaders prepare to meet as you
read this, this could have a profound impact on the nature of Latino
politics and politics in general in Brooklyn. But ever since Lopez was
diagnosed with Leukemia in 1993 and treated for the recurrence of cancer
in 2010, the Brooklyn political class has, in many cases begrudgingly,
learned over the years not to count him out prematurely.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">His loss of
his chairmanship of the powerful Housing Committee, of his seniority and
eligibility to hold any leadership positions in the Assembly severely
undercut his influence in that body, and were made all that more
humiliating by his being barred from, get this, hiring any staff under
21 years of age or employing any interns. Besides his continued
viability as a state legislator, questions will no doubt quickly arise
as to his fitness to continue as Chair of the Kings County Democratic
Party (his predecessor in this position, by the way, was Clarence Norman
Jr., who is currently serving a prison sentence for three felony counts
of accepting illegal campaign contributions). </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">The recent
Democratic primary in Congressional district 7 largely covering northern
Brooklyn, where incumbent Nydia Velazquez readily beat back three
challengers, was generally viewed as a political battle between
Velazquez and surrogates for Vito Lopez (some even speculated that all
three of her challengers were put up by Lopez). The downfall of Lopez
would leave a political vacuum that favors a stronger local role for
politicians like Velazquez and the network of progressive reformers she
is associated with, whyich now includes term-limited Councilmember and
former Lopez chief of staff Diana Reyna. While it is difficult to
determine what will happen to the leadership of the county organization
at this point, the political demise of Lopez also means the at least
temporary weakening of the King County Democratic political machine.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">This would
have immediate repercussions for the Dilan political family. Two strong
allies of Lopez are State Senator Martin Dilan and his son Councilmember
Erik Martin Dilan (as well as the younger Dilan's former chair of staff
and now Assemblyman Rafael Espinal). Senator Dilan is currently being
challenged in next month's Democratic primary by reformer Jason Otaño,
who is backed by Velazquez. Councilmember Dilan is term-limited and his
seat will be open, and it looks like Make the Road staffer Jesus
Gonzalez (who recently lost in a squeaker to Espinal for the Assembly)
will be making a run at that open seat. Then there is scandal-ridden
Bronx Assembywoman Naomi Rivera's current boyfriend, Tommy Torres, who
was reportedly planning a run to replace Reyna in the City Council with
the backing of Lopez.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">There are
also the Latino politicos further south in the borough in the Sunset
Park area. These are Assemblyman Felix Ortiz and Councilmember Sara
Gonzalez. Ortiz is a politically shrewd character who will no doubt
maneuver his way well through whatever party leadership changes occur,
insulated in part by his relatively new role as head of the Assembly's
Puerto Rican/Hispanic Legislative Task Force and its Somos El Futuro
Conferences, and his role as <span lang="EN">President of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators</span>.
Councilmember Gonzalez is up for reelection next year in a redistricted
district and her main concern will be negotiating a relationship with
the area's growing Asian population and White gentrifiers.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">Will this
opening in the leadership of the Brooklyn Democratic machine create an
opportunity for a greater Latino role in running party politics in the
borough? Will Brooklyn White ethnic leaders like Borough President Marty
Markovitz and the Black leadership see this as a chance to more fully
partner with the county's growing Latino electorate? Will they see this,
as one witty boricua commentator told me, as an opportunity <span style="font-family: Georgia,Palatino;">to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,Palatino; font-size: 10pt;">finally replace Vito with a real Latino in place of a Latino "in last name only." </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,Palatino;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">The political
repercussions of Lopez' fall from grace will be many, but it will be
interesting to see how it affects that nature of Latino politics in the
Brooklyn. It is significant that these days potentially progressive
political change seems to emerge more from the rubble of exposed scandal
and corruption rather than wholesome and principled civic engagement.
And it is sad to say that even the possibility of something positive
coming from these political disasters is never even assured.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><b><i>Angelo Falcón</i></b><i>
is President of the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP), for
which he edits The NiLP Network on Latino Issues. He is co-editor of the
book, </i>Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City.<i>He can be reached at <a href="mailto:afalcon@latinopolicy.org" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">afalcon@latinopolicy.org</span></a>. </i></span></div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-23149122356374957962012-07-31T13:47:00.002-07:002012-07-31T13:47:27.442-07:00Possible 'Second Round' of foreclosures coming<a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-home-prices-jump-in-may-case-shiller-2012-07-31?link=MW_story_insert" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img src="http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/MWimages/MW-AN448_house__MC_20111020092211.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>With Latinos losing homes across the nation, and with the Obama Administration pushing for more help for troubled homeowners, the Federal Housing Finance Agency says too bad for those losing their homes. This is a clear case of Government for the Banks and by the Banks...call your legislators people!</i> - The Perez Factor.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>FHFA: Cuts to mortgage principal would not ‘meaningfully’ reduce foreclosures </b><br /><br /> By <a href="mailto:rorol@marketwatch.com">Ronald D. Orol</a>, MarketWatch <br /><br /> WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The regulator for government-seized housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said Tuesday he doesn’t want the firms to cut the amount underwater borrowers owe, drawing an immediate rebuke from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. <br /><br /> Ed DeMarco, the acting chief of the regulator for Fannie and Freddie, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said in a letter to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee that “after much study,” he has concluded that Fannie and Freddie’s participation in the Obama administration’s program to cut the amount owed by underwater borrowers would “not make a meaningful improvement in reducing foreclosures in a cost effective way for taxpayers.” <br /> <br /> Fannie and Freddie already have cost taxpayers over $188 billion, DeMarco said. <br /><br /> Geithner criticized the decision. <br /><br /> “I am concerned by your continued opposition to allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use targeted principal reduction in their loan modification programs,” Geithner wrote in a letter in response. <br /><br /> Roughly 56% of all U.S. mortgages are owned or guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie and about 11 million homeowners owe more than their properties are worth. Borrowers with negative equity are often referred to as “underwater” homeowners, because they owe more than their homes are worth. <br /><br /> Geithner, the White House and some Democratic lawmakers have been pushing DeMarco to cut the amount underwater borrowers owe for mortgages owned by the two firms, a process known as principal reduction. <br /><br /> Democrats contend that principal reduction would drive the economic recovery because it would give borrowers more money to spend and make it easier for those who have no home equity to sell their homes and move to another city to take a job. <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fannie-docs-cuts-to-mortgages-would-help-taxpayer-2012-05-01"> Read about internal Fannie documents showing how the firm concluded that cuts to mortgages would help taxpayers </a> <br /> Geithner criticizes decision <br /><br /> Geithner said in his letter that allowing Fannie and Freddie participation in the White House principal-reduction program could help up to half a million homeowners and result in savings to the two mortgage giants of $3.6 billion when compared to other loan-modification programs. Geithner added that the Treasury’s estimate is based on FHFA’s own analysis which was provided to the Treasury. <br /><br /> “In view of the clear benefits that the use of principal reduction by [Fannie and Freddie] would have for homeowners, the housing market and taxpayers, I urge you to reconsider this decision,” Geithner said. <br /><br /> In his letter to Congress, DeMarco said that a key concern with principal reduction is whether borrowers who are current on their loans and have the ability to pay will “claim a hardship or actually become delinquent” to capture the benefits of the program. <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/demarco-defends-not-cutting-fannie-mae-principal-2012-04-04"> Read about DeMarco defending not cutting Fannie, Freddie principal </a> <br /><br /> “Even when considering alternatives that might reduce the impact of strategic modifiers and simplify the operational issues, the general result was that the benefits would accrue to few homeowners and would not outweigh the significant costs and challenges to implement a program,” said DeMarco. <br /><br /> DeMarco added that FHFA analysis shows that if 3,000 to 19,000 borrowers who are current on their mortgages decide to default in search of principal reduction, the result would offset any taxpayer benefits seen in a best-case scenario envisioned by the agency. He added that weakening the reliability of the mortgage contract would have “long-term” negative implications to mortgage-credit pricing. <br /><br /> DeMarco added that there are other improvements that can be used to limit losses at Fannie and Freddie and improve the operation of the housing finance market. He said that regulators could further streamline refinance opportunities and expand the short-sale process. <br /><br /> The Treasury in January expanded a program, known as the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, that seeks to help borrowers on the verge of foreclosure by tripling incentive payments to investors who cut the amount owed by borrowers for mortgages not owned by Fannie and Freddie. <br /><br /> The Treasury also sought to encourage Fannie and Freddie to participate in the program by offering incentives to reduce principal for mortgages owned by the two giants. In response, FHFA conducted another analysis and came to the conclusion Tuesday that mortgage cuts would be costly. <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/white-house-expands-foreclosure-prevention-program-2012-01-27"> Read about the White House expanding foreclosure prevention program </a> <br /><br /> A CoreLogic report from July 12 noted that negative equity and near negative-equity mortgages accounted for 28.5% of all U.S. mortgages in the first quarter of 2012, down from 30% in the fourth quarter of 2011. <br /><br /> Response to the decision on Capitol Hill was mixed, as expected. <br /><br /> “We are five years into the housing crisis, and FHFA remains paralyzed by the fear that somehow homeowners innocently trapped in the worst economy since the Great Depression are going to weasel out of paying every penny on their mortgage that they could,” said Rep. Brad Miller, Democrat of North Carolina. <br /><br /> However, Rep. Scott Garrett, Republican of New Jersey, said he praised DeMarco for his decision to “protect” U.S. taxpayers. “This thoughtful and analytical decision-making process should be used as model for the rest of Washington’s bureaucrats before they make decisions without properly considering the costs and benefits to the taxpayer,” Garrett said. <br /> <br /><br /> Ronald D. Orol is a MarketWatch reporter, based in Washington.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-55949474638543457592012-07-30T23:08:00.000-07:002012-07-30T23:08:16.763-07:00Afgani-heim?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What ever happened to "Protect and to Serve?" It appears neither the Anaheim PD Chief nor the elected leaders have any control on their police force, who keep showing up like goon squads to confront women and children. I'd say this community needs counseling...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-67632129542567395312012-06-19T21:12:00.000-07:002012-06-19T21:12:09.597-07:00Latino Congressman shares perspective on Obama's immigration policy<b>THE HILL: Obama’s immigration act is a game-changer </b><br />
By Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) - <br /><br /> You should not underestimate the electricity that has gone through immigrant and Hispanic neighborhoods like those in my district in Chicago since President Obama and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that they would temporarily protect immigrant youths eligible for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act from deportation. In two month’s time, when the first group of DREAMers comes forward to affirmatively apply for protection from deportation, it will be similar in many ways to how some people felt when same-sex couples were granted marriage licenses or African-Americans were allowed to register to vote in the South. <br /><br /> As in those occurrences, DREAMers coming forward will mark a new chapter, but not the last chapter, in a long struggle for inclusion in society. What these young illegal immigrants are being offered is temporary and incomplete, but tremendously important to them. And while it does not represent protection for their parents or neighbors, who might also be assets to their communities, it serves as a dramatic symbol to the rest of the nation that times are changing. <br /><br /> In the short run, as many as 800,000 undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than five years and who arrived before they were 16 years old, and who have stayed out of trouble and pursued an education, will be able to live and work without immediate threat of deportation. They will be able to work, to drive and to conduct their lives in many ways like the U.S. citizens they grew up with and went to school with. <br /><br /> Those who will benefit from the new announcement are future American leaders who grew up with my children and your children and only want America to embrace them as much as they themselves have embraced America. This is not the country of their birth, but for almost all of them, this is and will be the only country they call home. The action the Obama administration is taking recognizes that reality and takes the first step toward saying to these young immigrants, “Welcome home.” <br /><br /> Experts inside and outside of government — from the staff at Homeland Security, former general counsels at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, legal scholars of all stripes, scores of senators, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and a range of others — have been telling the president he is within his legal authority to act in this manner. The president and his Cabinet are exercising powers previous administrations have used to protect our national interest with regard to the application of our immigration and deportation laws. <br /><br /> Republicans who have treated immigrants as political punching bags instead of people are now in a bind. Mitt Romney, when pressed repeatedly this past weekend to say whether or not he would revoke the president’s extension of temporary protections for those who would qualify for the DREAM Act, refused to answer. He has previously said he would veto the DREAM Act, that he sees laws like those passed in Arizona as a “model” for the country and that the hallmark of his immigration policy is that undocumented immigrants find things so miserable here that they deport themselves. <br /><br /> Obama’s leadership, and Romney’s insistence that immigrants are nothing more than pawns to be used as a political wedge issue, presents a clear choice for America. The president now welcomes the contributions of student achievers in America. Romney believes they should be deported. The president stands up against divisive and unfair laws like those passed in Arizona. Romney believes they are models for our future. The president looks at immigrants and sees people who want to build a better America. Romney looks at immigrants and sees an opportunity to pander to the extreme right wing of his party. <br /><br /> I believe this is a defining moment on a key national policy, and the difference between Republicans and Democrats could not be more stark. The Democratic vision, which has long represented a bipartisan, sensible middle ground on this issue, is to allow legal immigration through a controlled and orderly process and get those who are here already into a fair system where they are on the books, paying more taxes and playing by the rules. The Republican vision seems to be little more than anger, finger-pointing and partisan politics. I’m eager to have the American people choose. Extending temporary relief from deportation to DREAMers starts the process of reforming our immigration system, both because it envisions a future where mass deportation is not the centerpiece of our policy and because it will reshape the political landscape. I have little doubt that the millions of Hispanic citizens, many of whom have been frustrated by the slow pace of progress under Obama, will be reenergized by the president fighting for them. As a policy, this is a necessary, if modest, change. As a political moment in time, this is a game-changer.<br /><br /> Gutierrez was first elected to Congress from the 4th District of Illinois in 1992 and is the chairman of the Immigration Task Force of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-48067202424152987002012-06-04T12:19:00.002-07:002012-06-04T12:23:31.432-07:00Latino Veteran's group ask what happened to "Prosecutorial Discretion"<style>
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<i>Beside having the highest number of deportations than any other President, Barack Obama promised to exercise "Prosecutorial Discretion" to assess favorable reviews of undocumented persons, in particular for those who have served in the United States military. This promise was made in 2011 and now it appears the President has stalled this effort, which is of concern to the American GI Forum, whose goal is to protect all veterans who have served in the armed forces. The following is an open letter from the American GI Forum California's State Commander, Willie Galvan to Associate Director for the White House Office of Public Engagement Julie C. Rodriguez:</i></div>
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June 2, 2012</div>
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White House Office of Public Engagement</div>
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Attn:
Julie C. Rodriguez, Associate Director</div>
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c/o White House</div>
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1600 Pennsylvania Avenue</div>
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Washington, D.C.</div>
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RE: President’s
“Prosecutorial Discretion”</div>
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Deportation
of U.S. Military Veterans</div>
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Dear Ms. Rodriguez:</div>
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In mid-August, 2011, we received news that the
President would review over 300,000 cases then in deportation status, some
of which included persons and families involving United States military
veterans. Since then we have
understood that there would be two immediate consequences of the
President’s action.</div>
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First, we understood that once a particular
case was favorably “reviewed” the effected person would be entitled to
proceed with obtaining documentation to remain legally in the United
States.</div>
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Secondly, we understood that the President’s
administration would take reasonable steps to assure in advance that
similar persons, especially United States military veterans, would never
again be placed in jeopardy of deportation under such circumstances.</div>
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By this letter, I seek your attention to the
status of the President’s exercise of “Prosecutorial Discretion” as
announced. Of course, I would be
particularly interested in any report you might release to me about United
States military veterans in these circumstances. How many veterans received the promised
favorable “review”? What “steps” has
this administration taken to avoid jeopardy of deportation for United
States military veterans in such circumstances?</div>
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Also, please provide any public documents, or
references, directly responsive to my inquiry. Thank you in advance for your anticipated
prompt response.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Invitation;">Willie Galvan</span></i></div>
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Willie Galvan, State Commander</div>
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American GI Forum of California</div>
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805-714-6015</div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-43026653794494905922012-06-02T18:15:00.000-07:002012-06-02T18:15:38.694-07:00AZ Democrats no better for Latinos<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>Have Democrats shown their true color in Arizona campaign? </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">By Salomon Baldenegro</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Estimadas/os: The Arizona Democratic Party is waging a campaign against Democrat Wenona Benally Baldenegro—who is on track to make history by being the <b>first Native American woman (ever!!) to be elected to Congress and</b> <b>the first Native American, man or woman, from Arizona to be elected to Congress.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">This campaign against Wenona is rooted in an essay, “<span>All Politics is Local: The Democratic Party’s Abandonment of the Core,”</span> by Dr. Rudy Acuña, in which <span>Acuña </span>criticizes
the Arizona Democratic Party for not supporting candidates of color or
issues of import to the Mexican American community and mentions Wenona.
The Arizona Democratic Party Executive Director, Luis Heredia, retaliated against Acuña by going after Wenona Benally Baldenegro.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">[Acuña’s
essay and a follow-up essay, “An Illusion Becomes a Delusion…Maybe I am
Missing Something,” are Attached. Note that both essays are embedded in
a single document.<span style="color: #2a2a2a;"> </span>I urge you to read them to get the full flavor of the dynamics at play here.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Concomitant
to the campaign against Wenona by Heredia, Bill Roe, Arizona Democratic
Party Chairman, is sponsoring fundraisers for Wenona’s Democratic Party
opponent. So much for the stated—and obviously false—policy of the
Democratic Party that it will not takes sides in contested Primaries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>The behavior by the Arizona Democratic Party begs the question:</b>
Where is the logic in the Arizona Democratic Party’s going all out to
derail the historical candidacy of a highly qualified Native American
woman who has deep ties to the Mexican American community and to support
a candidate who supports racist legislation (SB 1070) and compares
Mexican immigrants to terrorists?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">And
especially in a presidential election year, when the Democrats are
bragging that Arizona will vote Democratic in November and are counting
on the Latino and Native American communities, two of its largest and
historically most loyal constituency groups, to be the deciding factors
in that election?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">I
daresay that in pursuing its anti-Mexican American-Native American
agenda, the Democratic Party ignores the reality that the Democratic
Party needs us more than we need the Democratic Party!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Full disclosure, but…</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Before I go on: Wenona Benally Baldenegro
is my daughter-in-law. So, there is a personal dimension in my posting.
But let’s be clear: I make absolutely no apologies for defending Wenona
against the racist attacks being visited upon her by the Arizona
Democratic Party and its sycophants and minions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">But,
my relationship to Wenona aside, over my 45-plus-year history of
activism in the civil-rights struggle I (and others) have raised the
issues I raise here. In fact, it was these very issues that got many of
us to take on the Democratic Party and to form La Raza Unida Party in
the 1970s. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Republicans attack us openly…Democrats do it behind closed doors</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Latinos are under attack in Arizona.
The Republicans leading that war on Latinos wear their hate of Mexicans
and other brown-skinned peoples as a badge. They campaign for office on
it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The
Democrats, on the other hand, and particularly the Arizona Democratic
Party, pretend to be our friends even as they enable and hold hands with
the Mexican haters and dispense the Party’s resources on the basis of
race and ethnicity—and as is detailed below, brown is the wrong color to
be if one wants access to the Arizona Democratic Party’s resources and
help. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">I do not say this lightly. Look at the <b>totality</b> of the evidence detailed herein:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>Arizona</b><b> Democratic Party Chair Enables Russell Pearce and SB 1070</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In
2010, when SB 1070—the most blatantly hate-inspired, racist piece of
legislation Mexican Americans have seen in decades—was passed and signed
into law, <b>Don Bivens</b>, <b>Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, set out to appease the Mexican Haters and enabled SB 1070.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Bivens established the Arizona Democratic Party’s policy that Democratic candidates could not<b>/</b>would
not speak out against SB 1070 nor involve themselves in any protests of
SB 1070, etc., so as not to alienate the Mexican Haters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">For
example, in 2010 Bivens and the Arizona Democratic Party hired a
political consultant to coach Democratic candidates. At the workshops he
held for actual and potential candidates, the consultant emphatically
and repeatedly told the candidates not to “…touch SB 1070 with a
ten-foot pole.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">As Stephen Lemons, analyzing the 2010 election results, reported in the Phoenix New Times (November 11, 2010):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">“In
fact, Democratic candidates and their flacks were encouraged to avoid
the dreaded term ‘SB 1070’ altogether, as if it invoked the Devil
himself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">“They
were advised by internal pollsters, focus group gurus, and party hacks
to talk ‘tough’ on the border or even…embrace it and ignore the stench
of nativism sticking to them.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In
practical terms, then, the Arizona Democratic Party, under Bivens’
leadership and direction, enabled Russell Pearce, Joe Arpaio, Jan
Brewer, Tom Horne, John Huppenthal, and the rest of that gang of Mexican
Haters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Not
surprisingly, Gov. Jan Brewer hired Snell and Wilmer, the law firm in
which Bivens is a partner, to defend SB 1070 against the U.S. Department
of Justice’s lawsuit.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">HB 2281—the vile first cousin to SB 1070</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In
the previous section I mention Tom Horne and John Huppenthal (previous
and current Arizona State Superintendent of Instruction, respectively),
the Mexican Haters behind <b>HB 2281</b>, which deems that Mexican American history is “un-American,” “un-patriotic” and illegal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">HB
2281 led to the dismantling of the highly successful Mexican American
Studies curriculum in the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD), the
firing of MAS teachers and Director, and the banning of books by Mexican
American and Native American authors in TUSD. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">SB 1070<b> </b>is
the vehicle Horne and Huppenthal used to set the stage for HB 2281 and
to determine that the history of Mexican Americans belongs in the
educational trash bin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Thus,
SB 1070 and HB 2281 are inextricably linked. To support SB
1070—directly or by appeasing its proponents—is to support HB 2281.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Here’s the present situation…</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In Arizona’s
Congressional District 1, two people are running in the Democratic
Primary. One is white—Ann Kirkpatrick—and supports SB 1070 and opposes
the Dream Act (she refused to vote for it the two times it came before
the U.S. House during her one-term tenure).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The other candidate is a highly-qualified Native American woman—Wenona Benally Baldenegro—who
has strong ties to the Mexican American community and who has been
actively involved in fighting SB 1070 and HB 2281 and has stood with the
DREAMers, the young people who, at great risk, have been promoting the
DREAM Act.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The
Democratic Party, as a matter of policy and practice, is not supposed
to get involved—i.e., support one candidate over another—in contested
Primaries…yet</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>* </span><span style="font-size: small;">The Arizona Democratic Party is supporting SB 1070 supporter, Ann Kirkpatrick.</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"> The Party’s Executive Director, Luis Heredia (appointed to his position by the aforementioned Don Bivens) is calling people who support Wenona Benally Baldenegro
and asking them to withdraw their support of Wenona. The plan is to
force Wenona out of the race so as to guarantee SB 1070 supporter
Kirkpatrick a victory.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Heredia’s
campaign against Wenona was meant to be a stealth, “whisper” campaign.
But Heredia made the mistake of calling a prominent Tucson Mexican
American activist, a strong Wenona supporter, who is heavily involved in
the fight against HB 2281—<b>as I and Wenona and my entire family are</b>…<b>and the Arizona Democratic Party isn’t</b>—to
“demand” that that person withdraw her support of Wenona. In reaction
to Heredia’s “demand,” a family member of that person sent Heredia a
scathing e-mail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">And that is how I, and others, became aware of Heredia’s and the Democratic Party’s campaign to derail Wenona Benally Baldenegro’s congressional campaign. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span><span> </span>*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"> Complementing Heredia’s campaign against Wenona, <b>the Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party, Bill Roe, is sponsoring fundraisers at his home for SB 1070 supporter Ann Kirkpatrick</b>—at
the end of this post is the Invitation to a September 14, 2011,
Kirkpatrick fundraiser sent out by Roe. [Kirkpatrick was NOT a
Congresswoman then, nor is she now, despite Roe’s description of her.]</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">So, the two top Arizona Democratic Party officials, Chairman Bill Roe and Executive Director Luis Heredia are working in tandem to (1) promote Kirkpatrick and (2) derail Wenona Baldenegro’s candidacy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">One
has to be abysmally stupid to believe that Roe and Heredia are acting
“rogue.” Roe and Heredia cannot separate their powerful, official
capacities from their personal personae when they call people to promote
or demonize particular candidates. They are doing what they’re doing on
behalf of the Arizona Democratic Party, protestations that they are
acting as individuals notwithstanding.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">And if you are a Democrat in Arizona, the Arizona Democratic Party is doing the above—as well as what is detailed below—in your name and on your behalf!</span></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The contrast between Wenona Benally Baldenegro and Kirkpatrick could not be clearer…</span></b></div>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">I do not say that Kirkpatrick supports SB 1070 lightly. Look at the record:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;">
Kirkpatrick served one term in Congress. As a Congresswoman,
Kirkpatrick stood with the Republicans and fought the U.S. Department of
Justice’s lawsuit against SB 1070, calling it a “sideshow” and insisted
that SB 1070 be allowed to stand. On KPCC Radio (July 28, 2010)
Kirkpatrick noted that she had asked the Obama administration to drop
the lawsuit against SB 1070. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">On
CBS News (July 7, 2010) Kirkpatrick again called the DOJ lawsuit
against SB 1070 a “sideshow” and argued the case that instead of
fighting SB 1070, the Obama administration should be “securing the
border.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">In
denouncing the Department of Justice lawsuit against SB 1070,
Kirkpatrick stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Russell Pearce, Jan Brewer,
and Joe Arpaio.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Defending SB 1070 at a candidate forum in 2010, <b>Kirkpatrick compared Mexican immigrants to terrorists</b>, saying that: “It is way too easy for terrorists to walk through the desert into the United States.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>There is not a single instance</b> of a terrorist coming into our country via the southern border or of a Mexican immigrant being involved in terrorism—not one! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">But
this is the line that Russell Pearce, Joe Arpaio, Paul Babeu, Jan
Brewer, and Ann Kirkpatrick use to scare Arizonans into jumping on the
Mexican-hating bandwagon.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>* </span></b><span><span style="font-size: small;">During Kirkpatrick’s one term in Congress, the DREAM Act came before the House twice. <b>Both times Kirkpatrick made it a point to be absent so as not to vote for the Dream Act.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b>In contrast to Kirkpatrick,</b> <b>Wenona Benally Baldenegro</b><b> has been very active in fighting SB 1070 and HB 2281</b>, and <b>she stood with the DREAM students</b> who courageously and at great risk sat in in Senator John McCain’s Tucson office last summer in support of the Dream Act.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Indeed, the contrast between Wenona Benally Baldenegro,
whom the Arizona Democratic Party is demonizing, and Ann Kirkpatrick,
whom the Arizona Democratic Party is supporting, could not be clearer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">The racial aspects of Heredia’s and the Democratic Party’s actions are unmistakable.</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Obviously, to the Arizona Democratic Party, <b>anyone,
even a loser who supports racist legislation and compares Mexicans to
terrorists, is preferable to a highly qualified Native American woman!</b>
[The term “loser” is meant literally: because Kirkpatrick turned her
back on her base—Latinos, Native Americans, unions, environmentalists,
etc.—she lost her re-election bid.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Heredia,
Roe, and the Arizona Democratic Party are determined to assure that
Native Americans will not be represented in Congress—at least, not
during their watch!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Heredia and the Arizona Democratic Party have Mexican Criteria and White Criteria…</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The Democratic Party’s campaign against Wenona Benally Baldenegro is not an anomaly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Consider the following examples:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>* </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Justifying his campaign to derail Wenona’s candidacy, Heredia told Rudy Acuña
in an e-mail last week: “I take great concern when people like Wenona
want to fast track political trust” (“…people like Wenona”? Heredia may
as well have said, “Those people…”)… </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">BUT…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Witness the situation regarding <b>Rodney Glassman</b>,
who was elected to the Tucson City Council but did not bother to finish
his single term. In Sarah Palin style, Glassman resigned his City
Council seat in mid-term to “fast track” to the U.S. Senate. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The
entire Democratic Establishment, including Heredia, supported Rodney
Glassman in that “fast track” Senate race over Chicano union organizer Randy Parraz, who led the historic Recall Pearce movement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Obviously,
the Democratic Party’s “fast track” criterion applies only to Mexican
American and Native American candidates. If you’re white, you can “fast
track” to your heart’s content!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Likewise regarding access to Party resources:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>* </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Just
last week (May, 2012) Heredia and the Arizona Democratic Party denied a
Mexican American Congressional candidate access to Party resources
(e.g., voter registration lists) on the basis that the candidate was
“not Democrat enough,” that is, that he changed his registration from
Republican to Democrat three (3) years ago. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>* </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Yet
Heredia and the Arizona Democratic Party openly and strongly supported
and made available all its resources to U.S. Senate candidate Rodney
Glassman, who had only recently changed his voter registration from
Republican to Democrat when he ran for U.S. Senate.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>*</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">And Ann Kirkpatrick, whom Luis Heredia,
Bill Roe, and the Arizona Democratic Party are supporting, is a
Republican who changed her registration to Democrat so as to run for
Congress.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Heredia
and the Arizona Democratic Party also denied another Mexican American
candidate access to Party resources because, in Heredia’s words (on the
talk radio program “The Lou Show,” May 20, 2012), that candidate has
Republicans supporting her, which, according to Heredia, calls into
question the candidate’s Democratic bona fides.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">But
white Democratic candidates routinely tout as a POSITIVE aspect of
their candidacies that they enjoy Republican support and even have
“Republicans For [Name of Candidate]” committees. Heredia and the
Arizona Democratic Party make available to these candidates the full
gamut of Arizona Democratic Party support and resources. [As we speak,
there’s one such campaign going on, in which the Arizona Democratic
Party is fully engaged.]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">And,
of course, Rodney Glassman, whom Heredia and the Arizona Democratic
Party supported fully and enthusiastically, received support from his
Republican family and their friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Clearly,
Heredia’s and the Arizona Democratic Party’s policy and practice
regarding who can “fast track” and who is “Democrat enough” to be able
to access Democratic Party resources are based on race and ethnicity.
How else can the above actions be explained?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">[For
the record: I do not know either of the Mexican American candidates I
reference above—I met one of them for all of about 90 seconds a few
weeks ago—and am not involved in either of their campaigns. My comments
above serve only to illustrate the Arizona Democratic Party’s practice
of applying policies differentially, based on race and ethnicity.] </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">And it’s not just Wenona and the race-based policies and practices…</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span lang="EN">I
have focused on the Arizona Democratic Party’s betrayal of Democratic
principles by their support for SB 1070-supporter Kirkpatrick and the
race-based policies and practices described above, but </span>Kirkpatrick’s betrayal of Democratic principles goes beyond her support for SB 1070 and opposition to the Dream Act, viz.:.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span lang="EN">During her single term in Congress, Kirpatrick: </span></b><span lang="EN"></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>* </span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN">Refused to co-sponsor</span></b><span lang="EN">, and stood with the Republicans regarding <b>the <span>Employee Free Choice Act</span></b><span>. The EFCA speaks to the issue of </span>the
rights of workers to unionize. Specifically, it would allow employees
to form unions by signing cards authorizing union representation, and
establish harsher penalties for employers who violate employee rights
when workers seek to form a union.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN">Supported the union-busting Rio Tinto corporation</span></b><span lang="EN">
that is proposing to set up a non-union mine operation in the Oak Flats
area, northeast of Superior, AZ, and which will entail the destruction
of sacred Apache land. Native American tribes appealed to Kirkpatrick
not to support the destruction of their sacred grounds, but her loyalty
to Rio Tinto prevailed, a betrayal of her commitment to the Apache Tribe
during her campaign.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN">Turned her back on her environmentalist support base (The Sierra Club and others) by supporting the Rio Tinto mine, </span></b><span lang="EN">which, in addition to destroying Apache sacred sites, will do immense environmental damage.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span> </span>*</span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span lang="EN">Joined with Republicans to support the tax cuts for the wealthy passed under President Bush</span></b><span lang="EN">, betraying her promise during her campaign to vote to repeal the tax cuts for the wealthy.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Kirkpatrick’s
consistent betrayal of Democratic principles and her habit of voting
more often with Republicans than Democrats prompted the <b>White Mountain Democrats</b> to <b>unanimously</b> pass (on July 8, 2009) a Resolution to:</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">“Call
on the Sierra Club, Emily’s List, the Hon. Chris Van Hollen, chairman
of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; the Arizona
Democratic Party and the party’s major donors, to withhold further
funding of Ann Kirkpatrick’s campaign until it is determined that she
supports Democratic principles.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">And</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">“Call
on the Hon. James E. Clyburn, (House) Majority Whip, and Phil Schiliro,
director of legislative affairs for the White House, to explain to Rep.
Kirkpatrick the importance of keeping faith with her constituents.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">And
this is the person whom the Arizona Democratic Party is supporting over
a viable, well-qualified Native American woman who is on the cusp of
making history and who stands on the right side of the issues the
Democratic Party purports to stand for? Incredible!!</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">But mark my words: as they have been doing since time immemorial, Don Bivens’, Bill Roe’s and Luis Heredia’s
Democratic Party will come around this political season asking for our
financial support, asking us to sacrifice family time to volunteer for
their party and candidates (e.g., Ann Kirkpatrick), etc.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">And because the Democratic Party believes it owns us and our support, they take that support for granted.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Al fin y al cabo, the Democratic Party, en cuanto La Raza, es como
el azadón—jala pa’ un lado nomás. In the final analysis, the Democratic
Party, with regard to Latinos, is like the hoe—it works only in one
direction. </span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Salomon</span></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-50641061666026261882012-05-25T09:48:00.000-07:002012-05-25T09:48:05.350-07:00Hispanic majority not a surprise<span style="font-size: small;"><span><span style="font-family: 'Georgia',' Times New Roman',' Times',' serif';">
</span></span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>The Point of No Return:</strong></span><span style="color: black;"><strong> A Majority Minority Future</strong></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">By Hector Cordero-Guzman (May 25, 2012)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><img align="right" alt="Hector Cordero Guzman" border="0" height="172" hspace="5" name="137844fbe4f99a33_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.998" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs057/1101040629095/img/998.jpg" vspace="5" width="122" />As
the U.S. Census Bureau released estimates suggesting that, as of July
1, 2011, 50.4 percent of the US population younger than age 1 were
"minorities," discussions about what the numbers mean and the
implications quickly spread. My main surprise when the report came out
was that anyone was surprised at all. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The
Census had already revealed that in April 1, 2010, 49.5 of the US
population younger than age 1 were "minorities" (defined as anyone who
is not single-race white non-Hispanic) so this is not a new trend. But,
the fact that the 50% threshold (majority-minority) was crossed for the
first time in 2011 suggested to many that a demographic point of no
return had been reached. And, this trend will continue. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The
report also found that the population younger than age 5 was 49.7
percent minority in 2011, up from 49.0 percent in 2010. This means that
in the next year or so, a majority of the US population younger than 5
years of age will be "minority" children. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">There
were 114 million "minorities" in 2011, or 36.6 percent of the U.S.
population. Hispanics\Latinos are the most populous and fastest growing
minority group in the US with 52 million persons in 2011. The Latino
population grew by 3.1 percent since 2010. This increased the
Hispanic\Latino share of the total population in the US from 16.3
percent in 2010 to 16.7 percent in 2011. African-Americans were the
second largest minority group in the United States, at 43.9 million in
2011 (up 1.6 percent from 2010). </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The growth of "minorities" in the US is mainly driven by increases in the Latino population. </span><span style="color: black;">But, what drives Latino population growth?</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">First,
Hispanics\Latinos have a younger population and age distribution when
compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Close to 36% of non-Hispanic White
women (or 36.3 million) were in the reproductive ages between 15 and 44
years old, while a much higher 47% of Latinas (or 11.8 million women)
were in the 15 to 44 age group. Close to 6% of non-Hispanic White women
were between the ages of 15-19 years old compared to 9% of total Latinas
in that age group. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">Second,
Latinas are more likely to have children at younger ages and, third,
they tend to have more children than non-Hispanic White women. The
age-specific fertility rates for non-Hispanic Whites and Latinas are
23.5 for non-Hispanic Whites and 55.7 for Latinas ages 15-19; 74.9 for
non-Hispanic Whites and 126.2 for Latinas ages 20-24; 105.8 for
non-Hispanic Whites and 125.5 for Latinas ages 25-29; and 99.9 for
non-Hispanic Whites and 96.7 for Latinas ages 30-34. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The
highest reproductive ages for Latinas are between 20 to 24 years of age
while for non-Hispanic Whites it is the 25 to 29 age group.
Non-Hispanic White women ages 30 to 34 have a slightly higher fertility
rate than Latinas (the only age group where Non-Hispanic Whites have a
higher rate than Latinas). The end result of different age-specific
fertility rates is that the total fertility rate for non-Hispanic White
women was 58.7 while it was 80.3 for Latinas (and 66.6 for Non-Hispanic
Blacks) and there are close to one million Latino births every year. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">A
younger age distribution, a higher proportion of women in reproductive
ages, a tendency to have children at a younger age, and a higher
fertility rate all mean that Hispanic population growth will continue at
an accelerated pace independent of what happens with immigration. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">In
the last decade, for example, the Latino population grew by about 16.3
million persons with close to 9 million births and 7.3 million
immigrants. In the current decade, the Latino population is expected to
grow by 19 million persons with 11.3 million births and 7.7 million
immigrants. By the decade around 2040s, the Latino population is
expected to grow by 29.6 million persons or 19.3 million births and 10.3
million immigrants. In other words, even if we assume that immigration
remains constant over the next 30 years, there will be close to 2
million Latinos added to the US population every year through births
alone. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">While
Latino population growth is now driven mostly by births, immigration
trends will have some impact on the future growth rate of the Latino
population. Depending on the type of immigration assumptions made, the
Latino population in the US by 2050 -- the year where a majority of the
entire US population is anticipated to be "minority" -- is expected to
be as much as 100 million, if we assume very little migration, close to
128 million under mid-level immigration assumptions, and as high as 159
million under high immigration assumptions. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The
reality of a growing Latino population and of the fact that Latinos are
an increasing proportion of the US population, should mean that more
attention is paid to the population, possibly there will be some focus
on issues that particularly impact Latinos, there may be a reduced sense
of invisibility and, perhaps, an increased sense of power and
relevance. But the fact that over time a majority of the US population
will be made up of "minority groups" will not lead to positive changes
in the lives of "minority communities" unless there is concerted action
and a desire to change existing institutions. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The
reality of a "majority-minority" world is already present in the lives
of many urban youth and residents in many parts of the US. In fact,
there were six majority-minority states or territories in 2011: Puerto
Rico, Hawaii (77.1 percent minority), the District of Columbia (64.7
percent), California (60.3 percent), New Mexico (59.8 percent) and Texas
(55.2 percent). No other state had a minority population greater than
46.4 percent of the total. And, over 11 percent (348) of the nation's
3,143 counties were majority-minority as of July 1, 2011. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">In
many of these majority-minority areas the economic and social problems
of the Latino community not only continue but, in most cases, have
existed for generations. The public school system in New York City, for
example, is over 80% minority but the very existence of young men of
color in the City is seen as a threat to "public safety" and
questionable stop-and-frisk policies are justified as vital "crime
prevention" strategies. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">When
we look at the leadership in Congress, other elected and appointed
offices, the judiciary branch, universities, businesses, and the
non-profit sector we do not see the demographic realities of the country
well reflected and represented. Being a numeric minority creates
significant challenges but becoming a numeric majority does not
automatically solve them either. We need a concerted focus on education,
access to training, improving employment opportunities, increasing
wages, and building strong communities. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">I
hope the new population estimates released by the US Census Bureau can
help bring increasing attention and a sense of urgency to the needs and
challenges faced by the Latino community -- but, without policy change
and concerted action, increases in numbers alone are not likely to lead
to real, lasting, and positive social change. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;">The
point of no return has been reached. There is no turning back.
Demography is destiny. But the destiny has to be constructed and
assembled. We can either build together and invest in an inclusive
society or continue to head towards a more separated, segregated,
unequal, and divided society where a minority continues to isolate
itself from a growing majority of "minorities." </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black;"><i><strong>Héctor R. Cordero-Guzmán</strong>
received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Sociology from The University of
Chicago and is a Professor at the School of Public Affairs at Baruch
College of the City University of New York. He is also a Professor in
the Ph.D. Programs in Sociology and in Urban Education at the City
University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School and University Center.
Prior to joining The School of Public Affairs at CUNY, Dr.
Cordero-Guzman was a Program Officer in the Economic Development and the
Quality Employment Units of the Asset Building and Community
Development Program at The Ford Foundation. He can be contacted at <a href="mailto:hcordero@aol.com" shape="rect" target="_blank">hcordero@aol.com</a>.</i></span></div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-64051569532067989552012-05-25T09:30:00.000-07:002012-05-25T09:30:13.244-07:00Are Latinos still minorities?<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';"><b>Is it time for a term to replace 'minorities?'</b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">By Leslie Berestein Rojas</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001fRKAJsUPZWbhh4JrehHDadkgyuTxMr8X9Zx72JOpdTZ7Y3e8zRAjVyRLda4rwTkwT8esIyG9rNbVjlXOgypIRdSYGpa5ujygsWBE33XlYME6Qs9QpYo0gGjit5VeEZL8is59lmUkbSRil4wzWBBUgw15HVoH9J3Oeo4YdzOq3dbBJpLkesUNnZjtD-KvYPVjJkF4iP--24w=" shape="rect" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Georgia';" target="_blank">KPCC 89.3</a><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';"> (Southern California Public Radio) (May 22, 2012)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">Sometime
in July 2010, non-Latino white babies in the United States ceased to be
the majority of new births, with children born to black, Latino, Asian
and other parents of color accounting for more than 50 percent of
children younger than one last year.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">And it begs the question: Do we keep calling these kids, and the racial and ethnic groups they belong to, "minorities?"</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">It's
a conversation that's been brewing online since news of the historic
demographic shift broke last week. One reader sent this tweet to me and
another reporter who covered the story:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">"As minority babies become majority, we can stop calling them 'minority babies.' Yes?"</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">Long
before the latest census news, there's been back-and-forth over whether
"minority" is still even relevant as groups considered minorities have
grows in size and influence. In a follow-up last week, Rinku Sen of the
social advocacy magazine ColorLines, who arrived in the U.S. as a child
from India, wrote about the term "people of color" as a better, more
empowering fit:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">Nearly
30 years ago, I learned to think of myself as a person of color, and
that shift changed my view of myself and my relationship to the people
around me.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">It is time for the entire nation, and our media in particular, to make the same move.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">In a more obscure post on a Latino marketing website, Hugo Balta, who described himself as Peruvian American, wrote:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">....when is the media, the government, the country going to stop using the word "minority" when speaking about Latinos?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">There
are more than 50+ million Latinos in the United States. Many of them
(so large in numbers) are the majority in several cities/neighborhoods
in this country.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">True,
but it's complicated. Latinos do comprise the majority population in
several U.S. cities, including large ones like Miami, Florida and El
Paso, Texas. And their children, combined with the children of other
racial and ethnic groups, are a part of what is now a broad,
multicultural majority that will one day constitute the working-age
population of the United States.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">But
on their own, these different groups don't have majority status, let
alone majority representation. In both government and the workplace, for
example, all of these groups - black, Latino, Asian, and others -
remain minorities.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">Last
week, Georgetown University linguistics professor Deborah Tannen spoke
to KPCC's Madeleine Brand about how and why "minorities" is still used:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">It's
important to realize, first off, that words are never used according to
their dictionary definition. They are used according to how other
people use them. So I think the word "minority" has been used without
any specific reference to numbers. It's almost a euphemism for groups of
any identity - it could be ethnic, it could be something else, for
example women. People sometimes would refer to (women) as a minority
before they realized, wait a minute, women are a majority.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';">So
the word "minority" really did never function with reference to
specific numbers. So I think you might hear it being used even after the
dictionary would say it no longer applies.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';"><b><i>About Multi-American</i></b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';"><i>In
Southern California, generations of immigrants are creating a new
fusion of cultures, expanding and evolving the definition of "American."
Multi-American is your source for news, conversation and insight on
this emerging regional and national identity. The site's curator is
KPCC's Leslie Berestein Rojas, an award-winning journalist with several
years' experience reporting on immigration issues.</i></span></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-71238476628543543012012-05-04T14:14:00.000-07:002012-05-04T14:14:06.204-07:00Latino candidates being sacrificed by Democrats<br />
<b>How Democrats have abandoned their core</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="156" src="http://4.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/rudy-acuna-300x234.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rodolfo F. Acuña</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By <a href="http://www.laprogressive.com/author/rodolfo-f-acuna/">Rodolfo F. Acuña</a>, May 4, 2012<br /><br />The fitness exercise pilates, from my limited understanding of the exercise method, works on the principle of developing “a strong core or center (tones abdominals while strengthening the back), and improving coordination and balance.” The principle fascinates me because it can be applied to almost any endeavor.<br /><br />For example, when San Jose State Chicano professors approached me in 1969 with a plan to start a Mexican American Studies program at the Master of Arts level, I responded that I did not believe that a MAS graduate program could grow without a solid undergraduate degree. My thinking was that “a strong core or center” had to be developed to allow for the coordination and balance of a large program.<br /><br />The core’s abdominal muscles are the masses of students. The only programs that are subsidized in the higher education are those blessed by the institution. Logical persuasion would not develop a discipline or method to educate neglected sectors of society. You needed bodies to build the core.<br /><br />I have applied this principle to politics. Unless you have bundles of money such as the case of Republicans and you can buy elections, Mexican Americans and Latinos are not going to bring about changes in the political arena. A strong core is essential for coordination and balance to leverage this outcome.<br /><br />The building of the political core does not depend as much on individual political activism as it does on the core, which is not built by electing Latino elected officials. You can have progressive representatives such as Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva but his power, although concentrated at the core, can easily be isolated by the system.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="138" src="http://4.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/rep-raul-grijalva.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rep. Raul Grijalva, AZ</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br />In many ways Grijalva is an aberration, elected in an island of Mexican American and white liberal constituents. Even so he has problems raising political capital and he has organized successful re-election campaigns despite the Democratic National Committee, whose main purpose is keeping control of the White House.<br /><br />I learned this lesson in 1996. Two years before the presidential election, we organized a highly successful anti-187, the anti-immigrant proposition, march. This was the first time that over a hundred thousand Latinos took the streets of Los Angeles. It gave us a feeling of power and many activists wanted to replicate it in 1996 in opposition to Proposition 227, the anti-affirmative action ballot measure.<br /><br />Word came down that what was important was to get Bill Clinton re-elected to the White House. The California Democratic Party then proceeded to dry up funds for the march, badly dividing community activists and Latino politicos.<br /><br />We never recovered and it carried over to 1998 in the fight against 227, the proposition to eliminate bilingual education. The gigantic marches were not revived until the second half of the next decade when the core was re-energized by youth and immigrants who had been politicized by 187 and by sporadic school walkouts throughout the L.A. basin. Youth could not be channeled like community organizations and labor that looked to Latino politicos for leadership and funds.<br /><br />Thus, the core never developed muscle or balance and it remained dependent of the political establishment and the media.<br /><br />Based on my experience, I have found the core in Arizona worse off than California. The state has been kidnapped by the Republican Party, with the Democratic Party leaders concentrating on keeping the White House. The rationale is “things could really get bad if Romney gets in the White House,” which is true unless you figure that things are already bad and the White House is not doing anything about it.<br /><br />The Arizona experience is a valuable case study. It explains why in Mississippi — where the black population numbers over a million and makes up 37 percent of the state — has only one black congressman out of four.<br /><br />If the Democratic National Committee would have channeled funds into Mississippi and other Southern state with sizeable black populations undoubtedly the core would be stronger.<br /><br />In Arizona where almost a third of the state is Latino, only two of eight congressmen are Mexican American. The Tucson Unified School District is upwards of 60 percent Latino but has two of five board members (really one) who are Latino.<br /><br />You would think that there would be concern on the part National Democratic Party and that it would spearhead a restructuring of the Arizona Democratic Party to reflect its presumed progressive agenda versus that of Tea Party Republicans.<br /><br />But it ain’t so. The strategy of the DNC has been to support Blue Dog Democrats who have sold out on the issues of the economy, immigration, and the struggle to save Mexican American Studies in Tucson. In the process, racism has become constitutional in Arizona.<br /><br />The wrongheaded strategy of the past is repeated. Everything is justified if Barack Obama is re-elected. It doesn’t matter that he has been mute on the Minutemen assassination of nine-year-old Bresenia Flores and that his Justice Department has been mute about enforcing the U.S. Constitution vis-à-vis enforcement of desegregation orders. This, according to the DNC strategy, will be rectified by making the Arizona Democratic Party more conservative and even vote with Republicans.<br /><br />According to this wrongheaded strategy, it will make Obama look more palatable to right wingers.<br /><br />Consequently, the Democratic Party core in Arizona is so flabby that it stands for nothing. The failure to develop the political core of the Arizona Mexican American is glaring.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="http://4.laprogressive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/wenona.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="133" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wenona Baldenegro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />Presently, a well-qualified and intelligent candidate is running for Arizona’s First Congressional District. Wenona Baldenegro is a Harvard-trained attorney. A Navajo with strong ties to the Native American and Mexican American communities, she represents the best in those groups. Instead of supporting Wenona, the national party is supporting a reactionary Blue Dog Democrat with Tea Party ties and is actively working to sabotage her candidacy by pressuring donors not to fund her campaign.<br /><br />Another example of the weakening of the core is the federal courts appointment of special master Willis D. Hawley to oversee the controversy over HB 2281 and the elimination of the highly successful Mexican American Studies Program. Without a core Mexican Americans have been unable to check the coopting of Hawley who knows absolutely nothing about the education of Mexican American children.<br /><br />I make this criticism only after of months of patient waiting. I did not want my biases toward multi-culturists to in anyway affect the outcome. Blame my Catholic school training and its belief in redemption.<br /><br />However, my fifty years in academe have hardened my opinion toward multiculturalists who range from friendly touchy feely people to arrogant academics.<br /><br />Some are good scholars. They want a better society. But, many think that they know more about what is good for minorities than minorities themselves.<br /><br />I have had to fight them in committees because they failed to see the necessity for Chicanos to determine their own pedagogies. Consequently, they have undermined Chicana/o and African American Studies programs because they see no need for them to build their cores.<br /><br />If you want a Chicano, African American, or an Asian American center, their solution is, let’s save money and throw you all into a multi-cultural center.<br /><br />Self-determination is not a nationalist demand; it is the aspiration of every living person. Communities should determine their futures and the role of political parties is not to manipulate them but to strengthen them.<br /><br />Perhaps if our political cores were stronger, the Democratic Party would not sell us out as in Arizona and other states.<br /><br />With this said, like in the days of the Romans, we don’t have to worry. Our cores will get fat and flabby as we get free bread and circuses during Cinco de Mayo. People will celebrate it without knowing its historical message which was that Mexico was not open to foreign colonialism and that the separation of church and state was the law of the land.<br /><br />B[p/dc]ut, this is too much exercise. Too much to think about. Let’s bring on the beer; enjoy the jarabe tapatio; and let the mariachis blare. Enjoy the smiling politicos and the Obamas talk about how Americans are exceptional.<br /><br /><i>Rodolfo F. Acuña</i><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-7183973961744226662012-04-06T14:44:00.000-07:002012-04-06T14:44:24.978-07:00Latino journalist responds to criticism about Trayvon and his comments<div>
<b>Race matters, that is harsh reality </b><br /><br />By Geraldo Rivera <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001mfdH0bL470XjW5ALuUNplfWdKRCgI1dkKMjLZisy_9KxDtt7ntkylEcuEvCmSw-UmksAWI6uHbDJAC6hQ4Uz0Zf_t7kaskBJ5DZs9uELkk6QZRHoqQxR81Mz0xLC1VhwZHL6Tx64hHVebx-8F1uC9y3Z5nTGLtyuqmTEStxK9BPXTk0VVHi-qK_UCY6V_uTgTb2cBs6tBtNVrmVhCarygCRIcs532w6G-Cz9t0mRlJYaDgzqSxcJ2YTqLIzcF1bl">Fox News Latino</a> (April 6, 2012) <br /><br />Because George Zimmerman has not been arrested, the Trayvon Martin case continues to generate enormous attention and outrage. Half the nation, generally younger and more minority, believes a grave injustice has been done. The other half, generally older and whiter, believes that a mob led by professional agitators is trying to railroad Zimmerman for their own political purposes. The case has fractured the country along the undeniable racial fault line that is always there, but is most apparent in charged cases like this and Rodney King, Amadou Diallo, Ramarley Graham, Sean Bell and a hundred others. <br /><br />What almost everyone agrees on, is that had the roles in the Trayvon case been reversed, and had the shooter been the black kid and the dead victim the white guy, there would have been an arrest for manslaughter or even murder on the spot. That dichotomy is as deplorable as it is undeniable. Given the evidence and the outrage, Zimmerman will inevitably, if not imminently, be arrested and charged. <br /><br />I also continue to believe, despite furious condemnation, that Trayvon was the latest in a long, sad string of black and brown kids killed because of mistaken identity. They were innocents thought by their killers, in George Zimmerman's words, to be "up to no good." <br /><br />For all his aggressive zeal, deadly weapon and tragic misjudgment, Zimmerman was protecting his home. To his untrained eye, Trayvon looked more or less identical to the suspects in the seven house burglaries since July 2011 that had occurred in the gated complex of modest, connected condominium apartments grandiosely called, "The Retreat at Twin Lakes." Zimmerman didn't recognize him, so he reflexively associated him with bad news. <br /><br />You can call that racial profiling. You can also complain that it is similar to the profiling or stereotyping that underlies New York City's Stop and Frisk policy, and it is definitely what happens countless times when a pedestrian, white, brown or black crosses the street or moves to the other side of the subway car to avoid a dark-skinned kid whose face is shrouded in a hoodie coming their way. I know there are white kids wearing hoodies too, and students and everyone from grandmas to super models to infants. But context is everything. And in the words of Professor Cornel West, "Race Matters." We all wish it were different, but that is harsh reality. <br /><br />However obnoxious, stereotypes exist because they reflect human experience and exaggerated fears. Muslims wearing religious garb at airports make some of their fellow passengers nervous. Is that fair or justified by the 9/11 attacks? Of course not. Is it fair to feel creepy about dark-skinned kids in hoodies just because a thousand crime shows are replete with videotaped convenience store stickups by perps wearing the same garb? Of course not. But it is what it is. And not withstanding all the well-intentioned efforts like the Million Hoodie March and the Miami Heat basketball team wearing hoodies and all the demonstrations on all the nation's college campuses, in the context of the urban street, a minority kid under fairly common circumstances can be perceived as a threat. <br /><br />That is the reason that like millions of other minority dads, I have had "the talk" with my sons about how they look when they go out at night. That is the reason we tell our kids not to provoke the cops or give any reason to look like they are "up to no good." And that is the reason I took the position I took on hoodies, to save kid's lives. <br /><br />I know it was raining in Sanford Florida. The rain is a link in the tragic and infuriating chain that led to the homicide. I apologized to Trayvon Martin's parents on live television because I felt awful about adding to their misery. I apologized because the controversy my remarks stirred obscured the main point, which is that an unarmed kid was killed by an armed civilian who had no business behaving like super cop. I did not nor do I take back my essential point. Sometimes clothes unmake a man. <br /><br />Now to the reason I am writing about Trayvon Martin again in this space. <br /><br />My friend Angelo Falcon at his National Institute for Latino Policy has forwarded <a href="http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=hlnfsnbab&v=001euir7dY8GMXfWIClhJgHly6g0zMV0YZA4a89qSIfSXV4xR0jY4kGKDN3Jd_37XZSzpdY4bdzj1uOcjK6W4OQ6kyaSY6iyAS_fFLT6SqRzZQrJAx3l1sw0w%3D%3D">a letter written by some community activists</a> condemning my involvement in this case. The reason I choose not to respond to their letter initially was their snotty hard left tone. I've been in the news business for 42 years, and have done more than my share to enhance understanding of Puerto Rican and Latino culture and won't list my charitable, legal, literary or journalistic contributions. I advise the authors to look it up. You are not more street than me. <br /><br />The letter also suggests that since George Zimmerman is Latino, by raising the hoodie issue, I have somehow "divided the Black and Latino communities." <br /><br />That provable falsehood cannot be tolerated. <br /><br />While tension has existed for years in various neighborhoods across the country, like South L.A., is there one example of an alleged divide of the Black and Latino communities attributable to the Trayvon Martin case or the discussion of hoodies? Other than in the political ideology of the authors, can any point to a single incident anywhere in this country where the Black and Brown communities are at odds over Trayvon? If anything, isn't the reaction to the tragedy bringing the communities together to express shared outrage? <br /><br />Other than the gracious way in which Trayvon's parents have accepted my apology, what has heartened me most are the urban parents who have stopped me on the street or called my radio show to thank me for saying what had to be said. Mothers from Bushwick to the South Bronx agree with me. So will their kids and mine, eventually. <br /><br /> <div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<em>Geraldo Rivera is Senior Columnist for Fox New Latino.</em> </div>
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-9234614832163868482012-03-26T09:09:00.000-07:002012-03-26T09:09:12.660-07:00Rubio could be GOP running mate<b>Latino looks likely as Romney considers running mate </b><br /><br />By Carl M. Cannon, <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109611799853&s=13954&e=001IUWEqQNJ0tntIZI3Mx2lmmxnsJwVwnNu87gz_56U_x0MsZp0Y3LXU4tOTYwYG6jk2GIk0pvCT-2GUuTMJT3hj7SBlaUn3pVlQnjW9Qk9SyNLf-RAGu7CYQ1ZvRZjkLH3SPrYan8tt1ytSvXZAYh4EH8ti-oMiOfpKY5vRzxZXOxHUmxG11DbRDRUKioeo0C3v18JLPsddkfQv1TrnjviOMtO55cM7hWk">UT San Diego</a> (March 24, 2012) <br /><br />The obsession with Etch-a-Sketch on the part of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich - courtesy of an inelegant comment made by one of Mitt Romney's aides - only underscored the obvious: Romney is going to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012. <br /><br />Much is left to unsort, including Gingrich's openly stated assertion that he's trying to force a brokered GOP convention in Tampa as well as suspicions voiced by establishment Republicans to the effect that Santorum is actually sabotaging his party's inevitable standard-bearer in order to set himself up for a run in 2016. <br /><br />In the real world, however, the thoughts of Republican party professionals now turn to the identity of Romney's running mate. Numerous factors come into play in this choice, the first truly important decision a presidential nominee makes every four years. <br /><br />Historically, nominees of both parties sought to "balance" a ticket. This exercise in complementing the top of the ticket can be geographical (Massachusetts Democrats John F. Kennedy and Michael Dukakis both picked Texas senators), ideological (Dwight Eisenhower, perceived as a moderate, chose the more conservative Richard Nixon, while conservative Ronald Reagan picked the more moderate George H.W. Bush), or generational (see Quayle, Dan and Palin, Sarah). <br /><br />The Palin pick was interesting for another reason. Like Walter Mondale in 1984, John McCain sought to offer gender balance to his party's ticket - and with equally futile results. These balancing acts make the nominee feel better and satisfy the cravings of the media for a story line with conflict in it, but the truth of the matter is that Americans don't really vote for the number two person on the ticket. <br /><br />Nor do they particularly care what the losing candidates in the primary fight have to say. Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom's minor gaffe about resetting in the general election campaign like "an Etch-a-Sketch" notwithstanding, that's what general elections are usually about. <br /><br />This year may be an exception, however, as some Republicans are whispering in Romney's ear. The Democrats' supposed "Republican war on women" is mostly hype, but there is a constituency that the GOP primary season has given short shrift to - and that constituency is Latinos. <br /><br />Although it's axiomatic that Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic group in this country, there is, of course, no bloc Latino vote, anymore than Hispanics themselves are monolithic. But loose talk about building fences (stocked with alligators, no less) along the nation's southern border, enforcing laws designed for ethnic profiling, and "self-deportation" - this last, inane, formulation is Romney's own - has created both a crying need for the Republican presidential nominee to send a signal to 40 million Americans that they are not going to be marginalized by the Party of Lincoln. <br /><br />But this crying need is also an opportunity for Mitt Romney: He can be the first nominee of a major political party to choose a Hispanic running mate. <br /><br />So then the question becomes: Who should it be? <br /><br />Four qualified candidates are apparently under some kind of consideration - or, if not, they should be. They are three governors and a U.S. senator: Govs. Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico; Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Susana Martinez of New Mexico. The senator is Marco Rubio of Florida. <br /><br />If one plays the ticket-balancing game, none of them are perfect on paper. Fortuño is governor of state that, not to put too fine a point on it, is not a state yet. And he's, obviously, Puerto Rican, not Mexican-American, which would help Romney more. That's an issue with Rubio, too - his parents came from Cuba - as is Rubio's opposition to the DREAM Act, which is enormously popular among rank-and-file Latino voters. <br /><br />Brian Sandoval is very popular in Nevada, but he's pro-choice on abortion, which would be a problem for any vice presidential nominee in the modern Republican Party, but most especially for Romney, whose own late-in-life conversion on that issue is a source of suspicion among social conservatives. <br /><br />Gov. Martinez' problems stem less from anything in her makeup or résumé than with a certain movie debuting this spring on HBO - about another Republican governor from a western state who was tapped as a vice-presidential nominee after having been governor for about an hour. But the lesson of Sarah Palin cuts two ways: Her choice thrilled the Republican base, energized the nominee, enlivened the 2008 GOP convention - and provided a boost in the polls. <br /><br />So who fits that bill this time? Probably, the man from Miami. He's a conservative elected with ardent tea party support, with both charisma and experience in Tallahassee as the speaker in the lower house of the state legislature, and a man with passion and precision about his party's need to make Latinos feel welcome in the party formed to end slavery. <br /><br />Viva Marco Rubio. <br /><br /> <span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>Cannon is Washington editor of RealClearPolitics.</i></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Immigration Isn't Everything:</strong></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><strong> The Latino Vote</strong></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><strong> Will Not Be Blindly Cast</strong></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">By Sylvia Puente (March 18, 2012)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><img align="right" alt="Sylvia Puente" border="0" height="115" hspace="5" name="13626550dea22c56_ACCOUNT.IMAGE.613" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs057/1101040629095/img/613.jpg" vspace="5" width="83" /><b>CHICAGO, ILL</b>
- As Latinos are projected to make up nearly nine percent of the
electorate in November-a 26 percent increase over the 2008 figure,
according to NALEO-the buzz around the power of the Latino vote is
warranted. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">There
is the notion that the Latino vote will boil down to a
lesser-of-two-evils choice between an incumbent who supposedly hasn't
kept his immigration-related campaign promises or a candidate
representing a party whose talk of electric fences and self-deportation
has alienated many voters. This isn't just simplistic, it's insulting! </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The
Latino ballot will not be blindly cast. Latinos represent a complex,
maturing political force, a community that is red and blue and every
shade in between, as diverse in their political ideologies as the
various nations that they represent. And in Illinois, where my
organization, the Latino Policy Forum, operates, the maturation of
Latino politics is represented by the various contentious
Latino-versus-Latino state-level contests that will appear on next
week's primary ballots, as well as the November ticket. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">Sweet
talk on immigration or the creation of a majority-Latino district,
won't woo these voters. Locally or nationally, candidates wishing to win
Latino support will be wise to engage this bloc in dialog on the bevy
of other issues - education, healthcare, and the economy, among others -
that are important to all voters. In fact, when our organization asks
local Latinos about the issues that matter most to them and their
families, education almost always trumps immigration. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">That's
not to say that immigration policy won't play a key role in the
election this November. While 70-plus percent of Latinos are either
US-born or naturalized citizens, many have family members who are caught
up in the quagmire that is our current immigration system. And the
mean-spirited, anti-immigrant legislation that has recently come out of
Arizona, Alabama, Georgia and other states has only served to inspire
political passion in Latino voters. This is especially so with our
youth, the generation of "Dreamers," a bloc that will be casting their
first vote in 2012. Our analysis shows that at least 37,000 Illinois
Latinos will turn 18 this year. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">Just
as equating the Latino vote with immigration issues underestimates the
complexity of the community, the notion that true-blue Illinois' vote
will automatically go to President Obama discounts the importance of
local Latino ballots on both March 20th primary and November 6<sup>th</sup>
general elections. The outcomes of Illinois' Latino-versus-Latino races
will be decided largely by Latinos, who must carefully cast their
ballot for the leader who will best represent them and their interests
in our state's capital of Springfield. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The
results of state-level contests will also have significant implications
for how Illinois' worsening budget crisis will affect Latino
communities. The state's $8 billion in unpaid bills will translate into
significant cuts to the social services, from childcare to healthcare,
that are critical for Latino families. But voters will essentially
assemble the team that will make those cuts, perhaps determining how
deep they will go. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The
potential for Latinos to swing - if not to decide - the vote is nothing
new. Our analysis shows that the number of registered Latino voters in
Illinois grew by more than 47 percent between 2000 and 2009, and NALEO's
2012 projections point to a 38 percent increase in Latino voters over
2008 numbers. However, less than 50 percent of Illinois' eligible Latino
voters actually turned out for the last presidential election, compared
to 62 and 65 percent of their African-American and White peers,
respectively. And these numbers are traditionally much lower for midterm
and primary races. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">The
Latino community's youth, sheer numbers, and political passion have
them poised for a strong turnout in 2012. Latinos must act now - by
voting in the primaries, registering to vote in November, getting
educated on the issues, and encouraging friends and family to do the
same. This must be done to ensure that our potential pans out into
reality on November 6th. Just as Latino voters can't allow candidates to
sell them short on the issues, they can't sell themselves short by
staying home on Election Day.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><i><strong>Sylvia Puente</strong>
is Executive Director of the Latino Policy Forum, the only public
policy and advocacy organization in the Chicago metropolitan area
building the public policy influence and leadership of the Latino
community. She is the convener of the Illinois Latino Agenda, where her
collaboration and consensus-building skills are highly valued. Ms.
Puente is the author of </i>Bordering the Mainstream: A Needs Assessment of Latinos in Berwyn and Cicero, Illinois<i>, and </i>Forging the Tools for Unity: A report on Metro Chicago's Mayors Roundtables on Latino Integration</span><i><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">.
She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, and has Master's degrees from the Harvard Kennedy
School of Government and the Harris School of Public Policy at the
University of Chicago. She can be contacted at </span><a href="mailto:spuente@latinopolicyforum.org" shape="rect" style="color: blue; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">spuente@latinopolicyforum.org</a><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;">.</span></i></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia';"><b>Remember the Alamo (Heights)</b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"><b><i>How an inflammatory chant at a high school game is deeper than basketball.</i></b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">by David J. Leonard and C. Richard King</span><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109514718205&s=13954&e=001XRPGz_7-RcpTM2_EMH7kU6qfHsI510E4Qw45kfBcrsgZFP6xMgie9VVh-8GCGccmxli33wOe70cr8pFYGt5S9ylP4iQLhLUE2PiwjBP4kRh3XYGtA4m6g-O-hfIL_wwczShO1UnGus_9aEkdENGPHtnIsbpED9FpiTDyiOfs3hZP_MoXgjdcuiQ5vuzcIuBJKy7HimH8wsGdsgRvhCkazvKdlWk-9hWW" shape="rect" style="color: blue; font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank"> SLAM</a><span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"> (March 12, 2012)</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"><b>SAN ANTONIO, TX</b> -- The
Texas Region IV-4A high school boys basketball championships that
pitted San Antonio Edison High School against Alamo Heights High School
ended with a handshake and a celebration. It also ended with a racial
and nationalist taunt from several fans from Alamo Heights, who chanted
"USA, USA, USA" to celebrate its primarily white team and the school's
victory over the mostly Latino squad. While the Alamo coaches tried to
quiet the crowd, the damage was done.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
"Our kids try real hard and work extra
hard to get to the regional tournament, and then we have to worry about
them being subjected to this kind of insensitivity," noted Edison coach
Gil Garza. "To be attacked about your ethnicity and being made to feel
that you don't belong in this country is terrible. Why can't people just
applaud our kids? It just gets old and I'm sick of it. Once again,
we're on pins and needles wondering what's going to happen."</div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">This
incident was not the first anti-immigrant outburst on the floor in San
Antonio. In 2011, Cedar Park High School, a predominantly white school
with an equally white basketball squad, battled Lanier, a high school
with an all-Latino squad. During the course of the game, Cedar Park fans
chanted a myriad of anti-Latino chants, including "USA, USA." They also
cheered "Arizona, Arizona," a clear reference to SB 1070, legislation
that institutionalized anti-Latino racism. And, fans yelled "this is not
soccer, this is not soccer" clearly linking their teams success (and
ultimate victory) to their whiteness over and against a group of
foreigners, marked as such because of their project affinity for and
ability at an un-American game. Stereotypes about Latino and soccer
reduced the basketball court to nothing more than a competition for
racial superiority, another opportunity to police the border through the
assertion of white nationalism.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">The
chant represents a brief, local reiteration of the long-standing
equation where USA equals White within the national imagination. It
reflects and is a consequence of the vitriol and the anti-immigrant
sentiment that dominated the national landscape in recent years. The
chant should not be surprise in a moment when presidential candidates
"joke" about immigrant deaths or wish they would just deport themselves,
when state legislatures make culture and skin color probable cause, and
when public officials declare ethnic studies illegal. The chant
reflects the same sentiments as those articulated by Rush Limbaugh, who
has described America's immigration in the following way: "[S]ome people
would say we're already under attack by aliens-not space aliens, but
illegal aliens." It is an outgrowth of a historic sentiment that
imagines Latinos irrespective of citizenship as foreigners and
undesirable. It reflects an increasingly ferocious anti-Latino sentiment
that both represents and treat Latinos as "illegal aliens" neither
welcome nor deserving of the legal protections of the United States. It
should come us no surprise given this larger history and the ramped up
anti-immigrant sentiment in recent years. It embodies as Tanya Golash
Boza, assistant professor of sociology at University of Kansas, told one
of us: "In the white American mindset, the only group that gets an
unhyphenated American identity is white." It should come us no surprise
given this larger history and the ramped up anti-immigrant sentiment in
recent years.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">According
to Alexandro José Gradilla, an Associate Professor in the Department of
Chicana and Chicano Studies at Cal State Fullerton, the chant embodies
"a new political climate of 'papers please'" where all Latinos are
presumed to be outsiders, threats to the national success of the United
States. The racial hostility and the nationalist celebration at these
high school basketball games, notes Gradilla, "signal a new racializing
paradigm of conflating Mexican Americans with Mexican Immigrants-hence
the chants of USA USA were appropriate to use against these possibly
'illegal' and 'alien' people." Given the history of sports, so often a
place to authenticate national superiority, play out racial tensions,
and exhibit masculine prowess, the efforts to nationalize the
basketball, to use the victory as evidence of national/racial
superiority, is reflective of the political orientation of sports.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">The
staging of anti-immigrant sentiments at a basketball game and the ease
with which chanting for a predominantly White team slides into rooting
for America is not surprising. The outrage and the ultimate apology from
the school district ("Unfortunately, after the game, we had a handful
of students who made a bad decision and we're very sorry it happened.
They made a mistake and we're going to use this as a learning
experience...") has prompted conservative commentators to argue
political correctness run amuck and to otherwise deny any racial animus.
According to The Blaze: "Joe 'Pags' Pagliarulo-a nationally syndicated
radio host based in San Antonio and frequent fill-in for Glenn Beck-on
Wednesday blasted the local media coverage of the controversy, saying
reporters demonized the 'U-S-A!' chant, rather than presenting the story
as students misusing it as a taunt." Similarly, Fox's Eric Bolling
defended the players and questioned any need to apologize: "The
political correctness of what they are doing... They are apologizing for
chanting USA, within the USA, playing another team from the USA, who
likely has legal American citizens on their basketball team!"</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Equally
predictable has been the apology that essentially said this is not who
we are: we are not racist. Others have gone as far as to accuse students
Edison of chanting "Alamo-all white," almost force the students from
Alamo to respond unkindly. Absent from the initial reports and without
video corroboration, this suggestion reads as a post facto allegation
meant to get the Alamo Heights people off the hook-"they are racist too
and perhaps were racist before we were racist."</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">At
the same time, others have identified this situation as a teachable
moment. The efforts to deny any malice, to label as a joke, to deflect,
deny and minimize represents a dual move. At one level, the deployment
of the race denial card and the focus on jokes endeavor to exculpate
individual students as well as the school. At the same time, depicting
the chant as an aberration ("kids made a bad decision"), as
out-of-character for the students, school, and country, the chant
becomes an instance where education and discipline has the potential to
right any wrongs. It can be corrected, thereby erasing the structural
inequalities evident in anti-immigrant legislation and the larger
history that both scapegoats Latinos and imagines people of color as
never true citizens.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Words
matter. The chant uttered at this high school game isn't just a phrase
but one saturated with meaning, history, and violence. In his brilliant
piece on language, H. Sammy Alim reminds readers about the consequences
of words and language. Writing about efforts to rid public discourse of
the term "illegal," Alim, a professor at Stanford University, argues:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">Pejorative,
discriminatory language can have real life consequences. In this case,
activists worry about the coincidence of the rise in the use of the term
"illegals" and the spike in hate crimes against all Latinos. As
difficult as it might be to prove causation here, the National Institute
for Latino Policy reports that the F.B.I.'s annual Hate Crime
Statistics show that Latinos comprised two thirds of the victims of
ethnically motivated hate crimes in 2010. When someone is repeatedly
described as something, language has quietly paved the way for violent
action.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;">When
Latinos are continually labeled as foreigners, as "aliens," as
un-American and as otherwise not part of the national fabric, it is no
wonder that Latinos are subjected to both racist taunts on the
basketball court and "papers please" profiling throughout the country.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>David
J. Leonard is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical
Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University,
Pullman. He is the author of "Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary
African American Cinema" and the forthcoming "After Artest: Race and the
War on Hoop" (SUNY Press). Leonard is a regular contributor to
NewBlackMan and blogger at No Tsuris.</i></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Georgia'; font-size: 10pt;"><i>C.
Richard King is the Chair of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington
State University at Pullman and the author/editor of several books,
including "Team Spirits: The Native American Mascot Controversy" and
"Postcolonial America."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>I argue in the end for the real possibility of corrective reform from within.</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
Otis Graham<a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1109404351295&s=13954&e=0014cHGg3rwW6WFvffk7kQzc0ydGRl-H52uK-El4_1ZRrlXqL_IqyrJwWOedEwEP2aganRCqYkxTckPRVmqhfmE3qpMtew7Tfahqgqv0O-J1Dqaa4-SZxFU-CLYBy1V0mc9TyOWWS7vqkoSujd3K4pTWz8vbr4RBQ_8iVRdEMk-0NiBw5H4azi9EQ=="><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">, Center for
Immigration Studies</span></a> (February 26, 2012)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everybody I talk to is in a foul mood about the
condition and performance of American politics and government. And my topic in
this blog does start out as another of the many discouraging malfunctions that
would earn our politics a formal downgrade if political systems had to face the
equivalent of a Standard and Poor's review. But read on. I argue in the end for
the real possibility of corrective reform from within.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That our immigration policy is
"broken" has no dissenter, and this is no marginal matter. As Ronald
Reagan said, if your immigration law is unenforced you can wind up losing your
country - and he had not seen what a few illegal residents could do in New York
with one jet airplane.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But unenforced it increasingly was -
before, during, and after Reagan. Predictably, some might say. After all, most
developed countries' immigration law and policy are built to generate trouble,
for they bring into the country people with strong loyalties to the nation of
birth and to the relatives left behind. We are familiar with the American
story, where many immigrants urge their kin to join them in the new country. A
few ideologues pressure the host nation to weaken all immigration limits or
(think Cuba) terminate them entirely. Ethnicity entrepreneurs claiming to speak
for all immigrants of their nationality lobby to weaken or abandon immigration
law's core effort to limit and select in the national interest. They meddle in
the adopted country's foreign and domestic policies, sometimes with unwanted
strategic effect.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometimes. Which is too often, and it
is happening now. Recall that the U.S. beginning in the early 1980s has devoted
substantial national effort in a three decade-long reform effort to repair the
gaping holes and vulnerabilities found in our immigration system by
presidential or national commissions in the terms of Jimmy Carter, Ronald
Reagan, and Bill Clinton - holes and vulnerabilities also found and exploited
by terrorists planning 9/11. This reform effort, despite supportive public
opinion, remains frustrated and unfulfilled and adds to the growing record of
U. S. governmental incompetence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The forces responsible for this
immigration policy paralysis are well known: employers avid for cheaper labor,
white-guilt liberals in universities, media, and religious bodies, and ethnic
lobbyists claiming to speak for ethnic "blocs" hostile to limits - of
which the Hispanic bloc is the most frequently invoked. And least scrutinized.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A Rip Van Winkle falling asleep in
the 1920s and awakening today would be astonished at this configuration of
immigration politics. He would expect the growing number of Latino lobbyists to
testify in Washington for firm border patrols to curb illegal immigration from
Mexico, recalling that was the stance of Mexican American lobbyists for much of
the first half of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1920s the new League of
United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) told congressional committees that
unchecked Mexican immigration would intensify discrimination against U.S.
citizens of Mexican descent and impede their economic and social advancement.
In the 1960s one of these Americans of Mexican descent, Cesar Chavez, began to
organize the United Farm Workers (UFW) along the southwestern border and became
this nation's most revered Hispanic leader. His fledgling union battled growers
who fought UFW strikes with what Chavez called "scabs" from Mexico.
These "hated illegal newcomers" became a career-long, unsolved
problem for him, in the words of one of his biographers, Richard Etulain.
Chavez "turned his head on occasion when his supporters used violence
against illegal workers" and, acknowledging that attitudes in the
Mexican-American community were "deeply divided", said in a 1979
speech at the National Press Club in Washington that if his mother was an
illegal strikebreaker, he would ask that the law be enforced and that she be
removed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Chavez is gone now, though he never
changed his mind on the harm done to American citizens of Mexican descent by
large flows of illegal Mexican labor. Historians of Mexicans in the U.S.
generally agree on the centrality of the theme of labor competition within that
ethnic community. "The endless flow of labor from across the border undermined
the farm labor and civil rights movements, created enormous strains in the
Mexican American community, and increased animosity toward Mexican Americans in
general," wrote University of North Carolina historian Zaragosa Vargas, in
his Labor Rights Are Civil Rights: Mexican American Workers in
Twentieth-Century America.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hispanic lobbyists today dislike
being reminded of what might be called the Chavez heritage of Mexican American
resentment of economic and social competition from illegal Mexican and Central
American workers. They uniformly claim that now there is a reliable
"Hispanic vote" ready to punish any politician proposing to resist
illegal entry into the U. S. This alleged Latino voting and marching majority
will flood to the candidates and party taking the softest immigration policy
position, i.e. amnesty for illegals, expanded visas for guest-workers and
others - essentially an open border.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">*
* *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Though nobody has said as much on the public
record seen by me, this oft-repeated claim that there exists a "Hispanic
immigration voting bloc" dedicated to open borders could be seen as deeply
insulting to Latinos. On this issue the rest of us are invited to conclude that
Hispanic voters care more for the expansion of the numbers of their ethnic
cohort (a misleading concept, as most Spanish-speaking people in America
identify with nation of origin and not with "Hispanic" or
"Latino") than other social and economic issues. And that their
history of opposition to the influx of illegals has somehow evaporated. And
that they give no weight in their voting calculations to the national interest
in secure borders and the rule of law. We could also conclude that Hispanics in
the voting booths passively vote as their open-borderish handlers dictate.
Unflattering.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fortunately, much evidence points
away from such unpleasant conclusions about Latinos as voters, an important
dimension of citizenship. University of Texas political science professor
Rudolfo de la Garza has written that, during the 1950s and 1960s, "Mexican
American leaders were among the most vociferous of the opponents to continued
Mexican immigration." A l983 the Urban Institute reported that 54 percent
of Latinos in southern California believed that illegal immigrants were having
an "unfavorable impact." Journalist Ruben Navarrette wrote in 1994
that pollsters invariably find Latinos "more eager than the rest of the
population to control the nation's borders." The Ford Foundation-sponsored
Latino National Political Survey in 1992 reported that, while there was no
"Latino" or "Hispanic" bloc in any sense of those words,
taking data from Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans now citizens of the U.S.,
the LNPS survey found that more than 65 percent of each group believed that
there were currently "too many immigrants coming to the U.S."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When California's Proposition 187
went on the ballot in 1994, proposing to deny public services to illegal
aliens, early polls showed a majority of Hispanic voters in favor. Only a
sustained and well-financed campaign by ethnic activists, Catholic clergy, and
the liberal media brought the Hispanic vote for Prop 187 down to 31 percent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the 21st century Hispanic
attitudes and voting behavior continued to ignore the predictions of ethnic
"leaders." On the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama a coalition
of Latino organizations met in Washington to set out the priorities they
expected the new president to adopt in gratitude for "the Hispanic
vote". An amnesty for illegals was #1 on their list, confirming the
accuracy of writer Linda Chavez's observation in her memoir, Out of the Barrio,
where she observed that the "so-called self-appointed Hispanic
leadership" was badly out of step with grassroots Hispanic opinion. The
Pew Hispanic Center as Obama took office released a poll that asked Latinos
what issues they considered "extremely important". The economy,
education, health care, national security and the environment ranked ahead of
immigration, though it was not clear what respondents wished done about the latter.
A year later a Zogby poll found 56 percent of Hispanics agreeing that
immigration was "too high".</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">*
* *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To learn from this poll evidence that Latino
voters are not a bloc in a white heat to dictate an open border opens up
remarkable possibilities for radical change in the politics of immigration.
There seems to be almost no intra-Latino debate on immigration issues, at least
not in public. It is time for Hispanic leadership from outside the ranks of the
paid lobbyists at La Raza and MALDEF to articulate a modern version of the
Chavez conception of an immigration policy and stance that is beneficial to
Latinos legally in the country and takes as a starting point the control and
limitation of human flows across our borders.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fragmentary starts on the
articulation of this vision have been made in the essays of Richard Estrada,
Linda Chavez, and Luis Acle. In 1998 Hispanic journalist Roberto Suro gave the
intellectual underpinning of Chavez' opposition to illegals a larger statement
and more polished expression in his book Strangers Among Us. "Latinos will
always be handicapped," he wrote, "so long as a large proportion of
the Latino population is made up of people who have no legal standing in the
U.S." He urged "punitive measures" against illegals by governments,
backed by resident citizen Latinos "who must accept the fact that a
large-scale illegal influx is harmful to their long-term interests." He
urged "Ten years of consistent enforcement" of five- to 10-year bans
on legal entry for violators of immigration law and even sponsoring kin who
harbor them. The foundation of all this must be a computer-based registry
system. "The wild card of illegal immigration has to be taken out of
play," Suro closes his argument, and "until Latinos themselves reject
illegal immigration they can never conclude the essential transaction that will
win them acceptance" in America.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">*
* *</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Building the intellectual foundations of a
modern Cesar Chavez Intellectual must be followed by political leadership,
which may be coming forward in the rising careers of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
and New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, prominent among those Latino politicians
who seem to be searching to rediscover a rule-of-law-compatible immigration
language and policy with which minorities could move more smoothly into the
mainstream.</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-35938062556638297412012-02-01T13:52:00.000-08:002012-02-01T13:52:12.330-08:00Keystone Pipeline being revived by Congress<strong>February 1, 2012</strong> - On Monday,
<a href="http://e2ma.net/go/7443497351/208819824/230828880/22498/goto:http://hoeven.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=e950df98-30f9-48e1-aaac-ec36c78d771b" target="_blank">Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.)</a>, along with 44 co-sponsors, introduced a bill (
<a href="http://e2ma.net/go/7443497351/208819824/230828881/22498/goto:http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112-s-2041/1030927/total-contributions" target="_blank">S 2041</a>)
that would grant Congress the authority to approve the Keystone
pipeline. President Obama has already said no to granting approval for
the construction project, an outcome accelerated by language in the
pay-roll tax law that required Obama to make a decision by late
February. Construction of the pipeline that would span from Alberta,
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico is supported by the American Petroleum
Institute, the Association of Oil Pipe Lines, the Consumer Energy
Alliance, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the
Industrial Energy Consumers of America, and the National Petrochemical
& Refiners Association.<br />
Below is an analysis conducted by MapLight of campaign contributions
to senators from individuals and organizations connected to the Oil
& Gas industry, made between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2011.<br />
<ul>
<li>Out of the 36 senators who have the
<a href="http://e2ma.net/go/7443497351/208819824/230828882/22498/goto:http://maplight.org/us-congress/interest#industry=Oil%20&%20Gas" target="_blank">Oil & Gas Industry</a> amongst their top 10 contributing industry groups, only five senators did not co-sponsor the bill. </li>
<li>Nineteen of the top 20 recipients of campaign contributions
connected to the Oil & Gas industry co-sponsored the bill, the lone
exception being Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who received a total of $424,700
from Oil & Gas interests.</li>
</ul>
<table border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="3">
<tbody>
<tr align="left">
<th width="293">Rank of Oil & Gas Industry <br />
as a Contributor to Lawmaker</th>
<th width="300">Lawmaker</th>
<th width="119">Bill Co-sponsor <br />
</th>
<th width="227">Total <br />
(7/1/2005 – 6/30/2011)</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>1</td>
<td>Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$472,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. John Hoeven [R, ND]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$251,789</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>2</td>
<td>Sen. John Cornyn [R, TX]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$1,000,725</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. David Vitter [R, LA]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$536,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Roger Wicker [R, MS]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$362,500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. John Barrasso [R, WY]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$347,650</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Kay Hutchison [R, TX]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$336,386</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Thomas Coburn [R, OK]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$184,650</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. James Risch [R, ID]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$83,550</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>3</td>
<td>Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>$424,700</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R, AK]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$314,526</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>4</td>
<td>Sen. Mark Begich [D, AK]</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>$145,405</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Michael Enzi [R, WY]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$125,300</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>5</td>
<td>Sen. Pat Roberts [R, KS]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$229,200</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. John Boozman [R, AR]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$117,602</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D, NM]</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>$98,920</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>6</td>
<td>Sen. Roy Blunt [R, MO]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$529,850</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Jerry Moran [R, KS]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$215,051</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$156,050</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Daniel Coats [R, IN]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$147,183</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>7</td>
<td>Sen. Kelly Ayotte [R, NH]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$127,783</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Joe Manchin [D, WV]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$122,700</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Thad Cochran [R, MS]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$81,550</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Mike Lee [R, UT]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$45,050</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>8</td>
<td>Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$263,516</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Mark Pryor [D, AR]</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>$144,650</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>9</td>
<td>Sen. Mitch McConnell [R, KY]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$528,500</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Jeff Sessions [R, AL]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$104,700</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Rand Paul [R, KY]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$102,940</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>10</td>
<td>Sen. Bob Corker [R, TN]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$339,250</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$295,758</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$224,600</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Marco Rubio [R, FL]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$200,750</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE]</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>$193,550</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. John Thune [R, SD]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$176,990</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>Sen. Jim DeMint [R, SC]</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>$134,073</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Click
<a href="http://e2ma.net/go/7443497351/208819824/230828883/22498/goto:http://maplight.org/files/Top10_Oil-and-Gas_and_Environment_with-Keystone-Pipeline-Cosponsors_0.xls" target="_blank">here to download</a>
a spreadsheet with contributions from Oil & Gas to all current
members of the Senate (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2011) and the House of
Representatives (July 1, 2009 - June 30, 2011). The spreadsheet also
includes contributions connected to Environmental protection interest
groups.<br />
<em><strong>METHODOLOGY: </strong>MapLight analysis of campaign
contributions to current members of the U.S. Senate from organizations
and individuals connected to the Oil & Gas industry, July 1, 2005 -
June 30, 2011. Campaign contributions data source:
<a href="http://e2ma.net/go/7443497351/208819824/230828884/22498/goto:http://opensecrets.org/" target="_blank">OpenSecrets.org</a></em><br />
A link to this data release can be found
<a href="http://e2ma.net/go/7443497351/208819824/230828885/22498/goto:http://maplight.org/content/72927" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
MapLight is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics.<br />
<br />
Connect with MapLight on
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Latino TV shows struggle to get beyond tired, worn
stereotypes</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">By Guillermo I. Martinez,
Columnist</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1109105835220&s=13954&e=001VwukA2y4QK4YKwkhyW1EIAH4UNY06cBDLTkdX_TgNWE_a6KOQOBODvmASUPgN0ZwZQibSQloK8RaAT4u5YyAM_pqfdwY5ahnK1PIPEgWuoY_0rnv5Ix8jHBZkQF1SJUChIYcsMc0O7Rc-5SJPlRU0kV_jI4eC0bFu654Q6flupSJUI_Co1xKe9R7OtATCtn2SzGoElH8qirCKKZ69nFRgPH2yluf-JJB"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Sun-Sentinel</span></a> (January
19, 2012)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Once again, television
networks are attempting to integrate Latinos into their prime time television
lineup; and once again they are failing miserably. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Instead of incorporating
Latinos into the story line in a legitimate manner, the attempts so far this
season are more of the same tried and failed programs that are full of casting
and plot stereotypes that may be funny to some, but are offensive to many. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The first one to go on and
off the air this year was ABC's show "Work It," in which Amaury
Nolasco, weighing his employment opportunities, said: "I'm Puerto Rican.
I'm really good at selling drugs." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"Work It" became
a damaged brand as was quickly taken off the air. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Last week, it was CBS that
tried its hand at bridging the culture gap with Latinos on English language
television. Its new show "Rob" was described by About.com - TV
Comedies as "yet another lazy obvious CBS sitcom, an outdated
culture-clash premise and one-dimensional characters." </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In the show, the lead
character played by Rob Schneider marries a much younger Mexican woman, named
Maggie, played by Claudia Bassols, and encounters Maggie's very large extended
family. That is the first of many stereotypes. Jokes about guacamole follow as
do comments about what Hispanics, in this case Mexicans, do while they are
having a siesta. Maggie's family is the a stereotypical Latino family and Rob's
insensitive comments about Mexicans are supposed to be funny. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">What Josh Bell, a comedy
reviewer for the Las Vegas Weekly, posted in About.com - TV Comedies could not
have been more on the mark. He said: "It's heartening to see a network
sitcom with an almost entirely Latino cast, and this show is in a unique
position to explore a perspective that is rarely seen on network TV (and hasn't
fueled a sitcom since George López was canceled). Unfortunately, it squanders
that opportunity in favor of obvious, stereotypical jokes and tired retreads of
themes from other shows."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It's a pity. But
mainstream television networks insist on portraying Latinos in stereotypical
fashion. Recently a police detective show on one of the networks had a
throw-away line about the dangers of the Cuban mafia. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Of course, there are
exceptions. Sofia Vergara, the Colombian star, is marvelous in the show
"Desperate Housewives." These successes, however, are few and far
between. For the most part, TV studios don't seem to know what to do with
Latinos. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Why can't Hollywood find
its groove with Latinos? I remember "The Jeffersons" with George
Jefferson playing a funny rich owner of several dry cleaners, and his family.
The show was funny, real funny, as was the Bill Cosby show.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Three decades ago, PBS in
South Florida did a series of episodes of the hopes and fears of three
generations of Cubans adapting to life in America. The show was sensational
and, in fact, it still is in re-runs in many stations throughout the country. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The difference between
that show and the recent attempts at incorporating Latinos into the prime-time
television scene is that "¿Que Pasa USA?" was the trials and
tribulations of a family adapting to file in a new country. It was bi-lingual
and truly funny. It showed how grandparents born in Cuba and spoke only
Spanish, tried and failed to understand the life of the two grandchildren, who
spoke English predominantly and couldn't understand the restrictions their
grandparents and parents tried to impose on them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">It was a comedy about the
successes and challenges of a Latino family fitting into this country -
something that has happened to many families. It was funny to watch, not
because the show made fun of them, but because the situations they put
themselves in were funny in any language and in any community. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Rob Schneider is in
real-life married to a Mexican woman with a large extended family. One can only
wonder why his presumably real life experiences couldn't be translated into a
television show that went beyond the shallow stereotypes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Guillermo I. Martínez on Twitter at @g_martinez123,
or email him at <a href="mailto:Guimar123@gmail.com"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Guimar123@gmail.com</span></a>.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-49540782912845223022012-01-17T16:23:00.000-08:002012-01-17T16:23:00.225-08:00Ban of books false say school officials<style>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Reports of TUSD book ban completely false and
misleading </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Tucson Unified School
District (January 17, 2012)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Tucson, AZ</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> - Tucson Unified School District has not banned
any books as has been widely and incorrectly reported.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Seven
books that were used as supporting materials for curriculum in Mexcian American
Studies classes have been moved to the district storage facility because the
classes have been suspended as per the ruling by Arizona Superintendent for
Public Instruction John Huppenthal. Superintendent Huppenthal upheld an Office
of Administration Hearings' ruling that the classes were in violation of state
law ARS 15-112.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The books are: </span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Critical Race Theory by
Richard Delgado</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">500 Years of Chicano
History in Pictures edited by Elizabeth Martinez</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Message to AZTLAN by
Rodolfo Corky Gonzales</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Chicano! The History of
the Mexican Civil Rights Movement by Arturo Rosales</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Occupied America: A
History of Chicanos by Rodolfo Acuna</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Pedagogy of the Oppressed
by Paulo Freire</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Rethinking Columbus: The
Next 500 Years by Bill Bigelow</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">NONE
of the above books have been banned by TUSD. Each book has been boxed and
stored as part of the process of suspending the classes. The books listed above
were cited in the ruling that found the classes out of compliance with state
law. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Every
one of the books listed above is still available to students through several school
libraries. Many of the schools where Mexican American Studies classes were
taught have the books available in their libraries. Also, all students
throughout the district may reserve the books through the library system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Other
books have also been falsely reported as being banned by TUSD. It has been
incorrectly reported that William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" is not
allowed for instruction. Teachers may continue to use materials in their
classrooms as appropriate for the course curriculum. "The Tempest"
and other books approved for curriculum are still viable options for
instructors.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
suspended Mexican American Studies classes were converted last week to standard
grade-level courses with a general curriculum featuring multiple perspectives,
as per the directive by the state superintendent. Students remained in classes
with their teachers, who are now teaching general curriculum. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">As
the district has taken action to comply with the order from the state, the goal
of the district has continued to be to prevent disruption to student learning.
Books used as instructional materials in the former Mexican American Studies
classes were collected only from classrooms in schools where the courses were
taught. Again, all the books are still available to students through the TUSD
library system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In
one instance, at Tucson High Magnet School, materials were collected from a
filing cabinet while students were in class though teaching did not stop during
the process.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Tucson
High Magnet School Principal Dr. Abel Morado acknowledges that the gathering of
materials could have been accomplished outside of class time in all instances.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"We
had a directive to be in compliance with the law and acted quickly to meet that
need," says Morado. "Part of that directive is communicating with
teachers, students and parents, and collecting materials. We regret that in one
instance materials were collected during class time."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">For further information:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Cara Rene</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Director of Communications</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Tucson Unified School
District</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="mailto:Cara.Rene@tusd1.org"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Cara.Rene@tusd1.org</span></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href=""><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">(520) 225-6101</span></a></span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-82297887999370631542012-01-17T10:13:00.000-08:002012-01-17T10:14:38.020-08:00Tucson schools short of burning books<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Tucson schools bans books</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> by Chicano and Native
American authors</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">by Brenda Norrell</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1109094061719&s=13954&e=0018NjRmch7wYbcnilgAA-xhNqlGRrj2VseBmQBMdczh47fvYol_jLwRtyOcF5xO43stPYyu_gL563mp9TSrCOPLDn5cW93WlBRHH2vSaoamovBhyeoTdkPx99a7UVm88AQfYFFB5XIqLvk8BjepSmAKrx21tWZg2Rq2Q1j-YnpoGf5ANggM0QlT4GT2wfDnoPQ2mfe5kPH0EtbQxSZ9BJqtfeUrPlCGyaqvcr_5LYJrogYOe221h7JQRQNfRTdBsvK48y4ROJMNv0="><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">, The
Narcosphere</span></a> (January 14, 2012)</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b>TUCSON</b>
-- <span style="font-size: large;"><b>O</b></span>utrage was the response to the news that Tucson schools has banned books,
including "Rethinking Columbus," with an essay by award-winning
Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, who lives in Tucson, and works by Buffy
Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier and Rigoberta Menchu.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
decision to ban Chicano and Native American books follows the 4 to 1 vote on
Tuesday by the Tucson Unified School District board to succumb to the State of
Arizona, and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the state
decision.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Students
said the banned books were seized from their classrooms and out of their hands,
after Tucson schools banned Mexican American Studies, including a book of
photos of Mexico. Crying, students said it was like Nazi Germany, and they were
unable to sleep since it happened.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
banned book, "Rethinking Columbus," includes work by many Native
Americans, as Debbie Reese reports, the book includes:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Suzan Shown Harjo's
"We Have No Reason to Celebrate"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Buffy Sainte-Marie's
"My Country, 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Joseph Bruchac's "A
Friend of the Indians"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Cornel Pewewardy's "A
Barbie-Doll Pocahontas"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">N. Scott Momaday's
"The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Michael Dorris's "Why
I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Leslie Marmon's
"Ceremony"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Wendy Rose's "Three
Thousand Dollar Death Song"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Winona LaDuke's "To
the Women of the World: Our Future, Our Responsibility"</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
now banned reading list of the Tucson schools' Mexican American Studies
includes two books by Native American author Sherman Alexie and a book of
poetry by O'odham poet Ofelia Zepeda.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Jeff Biggers <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1109094061719&s=13954&e=0018NjRmch7wYaunRtgqoZb28U9f-R3DKoxIj_kJ09C9SRjQ8obwuaLTWbZmAEvrIQs-DDC6arM7pq4osgHE6j_w73bIwtHfN-ibk1Cg50axAPEcz1qhTjb5CzxhvrDZ9L9a0d1OsQHsaIMnWZA-ZtfOv2xILxdbgnmGE8iqsB2RBApzXbFF_ylchLkGCOVrYL3"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">writes in Salon</span></a>:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The list of removed books
includes the 20-year-old textbook "Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500
Years," which features an essay by Tucson author Leslie Silko. Recipient
of a Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award and a
MacArthur Foundation genius grant, Silko has been an outspoken supporter of the
ethnic studies program.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Biggers
said Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," was also banned during the meeting
this week. Administrators told Mexican-American studies teachers to stay away
from any class units where "race, ethnicity and oppression are central
themes."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Other banned books include
"Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by famed Brazilian educator Paulo Freire
and "Occupied America: A History of Chicanos" by Rodolfo Acuña, two
books often singled out by Arizona state superintendent of public instruction
John Huppenthal, who campaigned in 2010 on the promise to "stop la
raza." Huppenthal, who once lectured state educators that he based his own
school principles for children on corporate management schemes of the Fortune
500, compared Mexican-American studies to Hitler Jugend indoctrination last
fall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Bill Bigelow, co-author of
Rethinking Columbus, <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1109094061719&s=13954&e=0018NjRmch7wYYZzXqrqG3v_Mv0kmNJCz3tlYzCKUSZmnd-vnaKXGEiJ2D94IdGrdBfLyg2l98yVHsI7yhzia-tvOMcq6yd1-r4IjesA6lNkh1sMdix3oNDqJilHj5qxlDM1UJ9SIMzf5Z_M2T6htzRv1Wk47MJct8vxbumYkJwoCin6ww2gWLfYqa8lnOpws4-V4W5SxxabtLXYOpvyfTeyg=="><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">writes</span></a>:</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Imagine our surprise.
Rethinking Schools learned today that for the first time in its
more-than-20-year history, our book Rethinking Columbus was banned by a school
district: Tucson, Arizona ...</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">As
I mentioned to Biggers when we spoke, the last time a book of mine was outlawed
was during the state of emergency in apartheid South Africa in 1986, when the
regime there banned the curriculum I'd written, Strangers in Their Own Country,
likely because it included excerpts from a speech by then-imprisoned Nelson
Mandela. Confronting massive opposition at home and abroad, the white minority
government feared for its life in 1986. It's worth asking what the school
authorities in Arizona fear today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Roberto
Rodriguez, professor at University of Arizona, is also among the nation's top
Chicano and Latino authors on the Mexican American Studies reading list.
Rodriguez' <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1109094061719&s=13954&e=0018NjRmch7wYYkUZm-dP_qiLabvoS3pmelSdauDr9X2bo3ysxNm5sBeUOJ1gci9oQab8FsN5K0JS-Wywr9s-lVQpR5cRmb0rLR4KxzGtpy8yimpX05rh4DVkhS_mihFU6a"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">column about
this week's school board decision,</span></a> posted at Censored News, is
titled: "Tucson school officials caught on tape 'urinating' on Mexican
students." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Rodriguez
responded to Narco News about the ban on Sunday. "The attacks in Arizona
are mind-boggling. To ban the teaching of a discipline is draconian in and of
itself. However, there is also now a banned books list that accompanies the
ban. I believe 2 of my books are on the list, which includes: Justice: A
Question of Race and The X in La Raza. Two others may also be on the
list," Rodriguez said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">"That
in itself is jarring, but we need to remember the proper context. This is not
simply a book-banning; according to Tom Horne, the former state schools'
superintendent who designed HB 2281, this is part of a civilizational war. He
determined that Mexican American Studies is not based on Greco-Roman knowledge
and thus, lies outside of Western Civilization.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In
a sense, he is correct. The philosophical foundation for MAS is a maiz-based
philosophy that is both, thousands of years old and Indigenous to this
continent. What has just happened is akin to an Auto de Fe -- akin to the 1562
book-burning of Maya books in 1562 at Mani, Yucatan. At TUSD, the list of
banned books will total perhaps 50 books, including artwork and posters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">For
us here in Tucson, this is not over. If anything, the banning of books will let
the world know precisely what kind of mindset is operating here; in that
previous era, this would be referred to as a reduccion (cultural genocide) of
all things Indigenous. In this era, it can too also be seen as a reduccion."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
reading list includes world acclaimed Chicano and Latino authors, along with
Native American authors. The list includes books by Corky Gonzales, along with
Sandra Cisneros' "The House on Mango Street;" Jimmy Santiago Baca's
"Black Mesa Poems," and L.A. Urreas' "The Devil's Highway."
The authors include Henry David Thoreau and the popular book "Like Water
for Chocolate."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">On
the reading list are Native American author Sherman Alexie's books, "Ten
Little Indians," and "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in
Heaven." O'odham poet and professor Ofelia Zepeda's "Ocean Power,
Poems from the Desert" is also on the list.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">DA
Morales <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1109094061719&s=13954&e=0018NjRmch7wYb-rG8fFe4otzziWDLpSfXEooEOr5_ISUCnQnuOLvfW4SH3MRihtF5mMwMGtzWyVRqe0awKfpvajZHs_mZ-BgThQE9ZhPy9TP3qD62R8FLEkP1tklXRKB85lM4HvPRzFZP9-wGkKU1d6CZy-bdwmPO0uGX9ILvvs8ulX1tvWipLWelWzosgJD2KCRefrpmMBnJYKh5uV98Gf3YfhCFcQQwovz7p6aFCIRB4JyRCtF93jJXxwy2u8CRh"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">writes in "Three Sonorans</span></a>," at Tucson Citizen, about the role of state
schools chief John Huppenthal. "Big Brother Huppenthal has taken his TEA
Party vows to take back Arizona . . . take it back a few centuries with
official book bans that include Shakespeare!" </span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><!-- smartlook includes -->
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<!-- end smartlook includes --></div>POP-9 Communicationshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705482727231750613noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1606518183888767302.post-43210351751589912592011-09-29T15:30:00.000-07:002011-09-29T15:37:30.371-07:00Veteran Latino Watcher says "Don't trust D.C. Organizations<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><b>Hispanic Link founder says many are owned by Walmart, Comcast and AT&T</b><br /><br />By Hilda Garcia<br /><a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=hlnfsnbab&et=1107892689758&s=13954&e=001KSQPPEQTXpNC64z4iKZLWK0fDWU8TR2Q399YdcQ1f9nWfjd7dM-6CBQNessx5E1DVJf0dfjVRKwyhHDP9wj5Mi4F_paTeYIaTMbT5rRqB5j67cEyUInOp9nte2nJNbhKmrasMdezlySKTZ3vOie_Fy1SnxXgSo4zY4pOzrKcMPHFukbM2KubFA==">Maynard Institute</a>, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,Palatino;"><b>Richard Prince's Journal-isms</b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br />If you're looking for an honest assessment of Hispanic opinion, "don't rely on Washington Hispanic organizations. So many of them are owned by Walmart, Comcast and AT&T," according to Charlie Ericksen, who founded the Hispanic Link News Service 31 years ago and still serves as its managing editor. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />Ericksen, 81, whose Washington-based creation has trained more than 1,000 Hispanic journalists, was part of a panel Wednesday assembled by LatinoWire, "a Business Wire service that provides comprehensive distribution of press releases and multimedia to leading Spanish-language news outlets . . . ." </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />He told the National Press Club audience in Washington to "go to community organizations if you want a legitimate answer." At one recent event, he said, one had to sit through greetings from five sponsors before hearing President Obama, he said. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />Not surprisingly, representatives of some of those organizations, sitting in the audience, took exception. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />Kathy Mimberg, senior media relations specialist at the National Council of La Raza, recalled later, "I said NCLR is a non-profit and non-partisan organization and that we do our work with funding from government, corporations and foundations. I objected to Charlie being negative about our corporate sponsors who spoke before President Obama's speech at our Annual Conference luncheon because I said that these were positive, general statements from organizations that want to interact and engage with the Latino community." </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />Scott Gunderson Rosa, communications director of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, told Journal-isms, "My point in speaking in response to Charlie was simply to clarify that we did not have four or five sponsors speak before the president at our gala on September 14 and that our mission to develop the next generation of Latino leaders is made possible by the financial support we receive from our corporate partners. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />"His comments would not apply to CHCI as we do not take positions on policy issues nor do we comment on them. We are a non-partisan organization with all sides represented on our board, from corporations and unions, to non-profit and community leaders. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />"Charlie is actually a great friend to CHCI and we have worked together for a long time." </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />Most of the 85 who attended came for the promise of learning how to reach the fast-growing Hispanic audience through the media they consume. Julio Aliago, news director of Telemundo's Washington affiliate, and Erica Gonzalez, executive editor of El Diario/La Prensa in New York, emphasized that their outlets were geared toward helping immigrants navigate life in the United States. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br />They urged that news releases be sent in English and Spanish and that no one person ever be portrayed as speaking for the entire Hispanic community. "Get at least two," Aliago said. </span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><br /><br /><i>Hilda Garcia is vice president of multiplatform news and information for ImpreMedia, noted for ImpreMedia's multimedia packages on the Web, including its report on Latino involvement in the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and a state-by-state report on Latinos, based on 2010 census data. </i></span> <br />
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