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From: Carla Rosado <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Subject:
To: Olga Bautista <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Caty Bautista <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[image: BBC NEWS]
US Latinos mull over their vote
By Paul Moss
BBC News, Chicago
*It is not much fun interviewing Carlos Tortolero. He shouts so loudly that
you find yourself continually backing away, to avoid having your ear-drums
split by his angry invective against the US political system. *
And he has a self-consciously cynical view of politics and the world.
"Politics is all about power, and how to get it!" he yells at me, as I cower
on the other side of his vast desk.
"The African-American community, women, Jews - they are ahead in how to
assert power.
"We Latinos have to learn how to work the system."
Mr Tortolero is director of Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art, an
impressive building in the heart of Pilsen, the city's Latino district.
It was built to emphasise the positive contribution that Mexican-Americans
have made to the US, and to the world.
But in terms of politics, that contribution remains more limited.
*Immigration *
Latinos have a traditionally low turnout come voting day. More importantly,
many will tell you that their wishes are ignored by the political system.
*You don't hear about the positive work Latinos have done *
Mirna Alvarez
Children's group supervisor
"The candidates don't want to speak about immigration," says Mirna Alvarez,
a children's group supervisor.
Like many Mexican-Americans I have met, she says this is the most important
issue in deciding how will she vote. Ms Alvarez wants to see more Latinos
allowed to come to the US.
"The candidates are afraid to make a commitment on this because they are
afraid that other groups will turn against them," she says.
"You don't hear about the positive work Latinos have done. You just hear
about the raids on factories and the illegals they have found."
Ms Alvarez is speaking in a year when the votes of minorities have had more
attention than previously, and for one obvious reason - that the Democratic
Party candidate for the presidency comes himself from a minority background.
But opinion seems split on whether this should be a source of inspiration to
Latinos.
*'Just amazing' *
Asking people on the street in Pilsen, I heard a few shamelessly racist
comments about black people, with some suggesting resentfully that the "only
reason" some people would vote for Obama was because of his colour.
But others were delighted to see an African-American get this far.
"He's actually standing for all the minorities that are here in the US,"
one second-generation Mexican-American told me. "I'm just proud."
Another woman gushed also about Sarah Palin's place on the Republican Party
ticket.
"We're going to have our first black American president, or our first female
vice-president. For me, personally, that means I could make it to be
president of the United States. It's just amazing."
But the fact remains that this is a community in which many are alienated
from the political system.
Very few people I stopped on the street had anything to say about the
forthcoming election, and more than half could not speak English at all.
*Individuals *
It was noticeable, too, that some people who were very enthusiastic about
the election were people who refused to define themselves by their
ethnicity.
*Why take part in a process that does not do anything for my
community? *
Carlos Tortolero
Director, National Museum of Mexican Art
"I don't look at the election as a Latino voter," a young businessman named
Javier told me, as he ate lunch in The Jumping Bean, a rather trendy local
cafe.
"I look at the economy, foreign policy. My parents migrated to America, I'm
the first to go to college. Are we Latinos? Yes. Do we want to be grouped
with everybody else? For me, personally, no."
But that will not stop the candidates trying to tap the Latino vote,
whatever that might mean.
John McCain made a much-publicised trip to Mexico earlier this year.
Barack Obama talked about amnesties for illegal immigrants, though he has
moved away from this position since winning the nomination.
But neither of them can hope for a vote from Mr Tortolero, at the National
Museum of Mexican Art.
"Why take part in a process that does not do anything for my community?" he
asks. Not waiting for an answer to this question, he goes on quickly to
underline his point.
"Politics is about what's in it for me. And our community has always been
left out."
*The radio version of Paul Moss's report will run on BBC Radio 4's **World
Tonight * <http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/worldtonight/>*programme, on
Wednesday 17 September. *
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/7620644.stm
Published: 2008/09/17 11:05:49 GMT
(c) BBC MMVIII
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