And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 12:28:54 EDT >Subject: Re: From Minority to Mainstream, Latinos Find Their Voice >CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >X-Confirm-Reading-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >X-pmrqc: 1 >Priority: normal >X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.53/R1) > >The Washington Post > >From Minority to Mainstream, Latinos Find Their Voice >By Gregory Rodriguez > >Sunday, January 24, 1999; Page B01 > >LOS ANGELES�Latino Americans have never fit neatly into the civil rights >mold. To begin with, the wildly heterogeneous population of Mexicans, >Cubans, Puerto Ricans and other Central and South Americans does not >have a shared history or common American experience to draw on. For three >decades, Latino advocacy groups and first-generation politicians tried >in vain to squeeze this burgeoning population into the guise of a single >racial-interest group. The Chicano movement of the 1960s sought to >imitate the successful strategies of black leaders. And, as recently as >1996, Latino activists organized a march on Washington that was >deliberately reminiscent of the civil rights era. > >But their attempts have always appeared little more than derivative. >Their political style wasn't forged from the Latino experience, which >was never as starkly defined as that of African Americans'. But now that a >growing electorate has given them greater clout, Latino >politicians--foremost among them local politicians in states with large >Latino populations such as California and Texas--are developing their >own style and agenda. While in the past, their adherence to minority-style >politics brought them into direct competition with other minorities over >set asides or federal "minority dollars," more and more Latino officials >are choosing to highlight broader concerns, many of which they share >with mainstream America. > >Last December, the most influential Latino official here in California >declared that it was time to move beyond 1960s-style confrontational >politics. During his swearing-in for his second term as speaker of the >California State Assembly, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, who was once a >militant campus activist, went out of his way to reject what he called >"the politics of protest." He quoted his late mother's admonition that >it is "not enough to always be against. When you grow up, you must also be >for something." > >Within the past few years, Latinos have indeed made historic strides in >California. In addition to Villaraigosa, the lieutenant governor, the >assembly minority leader and the senate majority leader are Latinos. The >number of Latinos in both Houses of the state legislature--24 and >growing--has changed the nature of Latino politics. No longer content to >vie for special attention, Latino officials are assuming responsibility >and leadership for the entire state. And while the demographic shifts >that have led to this political transformation are local, there are now >signs of this new, more confident Latino leadership all the way across >the country in Washington. > >This shift in Latino politics is a sign of maturation. The new Latino >leaders represent the second generation in elected offices. It's hard to >believe when you look at the 17-member Hispanic Congressional Caucus >that it was just over 20 years ago, in 1977, that Edward Roybal, California's >first Latino congressman, approached House Speaker Tip O'Neill with the >idea of forming a caucus. "Where are you going to hold the meetings," >the speaker teased Roybal, "in a telephone booth?" The bipartisan caucus >began that year with only five voting members--four Democrats and one >Republican. > >But the path of those Democratic members is instructive. The changes in >Latino politics are clearly symbolized by the generational shift from >Henry B. Gonzalez, an irascible Texas liberal, who retired this year >after 37 years in the House, to his son and successor, former judge >Charles Gonzalez. The younger Gonzalez calls himself more of a consensus >builder than his father. "The era that my father grew up in, in which >his principles and values were formed, was totally different than my own," >says Charles Gonzalez, who represents San Antonio. "He was a product of >a time when discrimination was open and obvious. We are products of a >different process." > >Another House member from the 1970s made the transition out of old-style >minority politics within his own lifetime--by switching parties. Last >year, New York Puerto Rican member Herman Badillo, who served in the >House from 1971 to 1977, declared that he was joining Republican Party >because, he argued, the Democrats have taken minority groups for granted >and held them to a lower standard of excellence. > >Likewise, E "Kika" de la Garza, who represented Texas's Lower Rio Grande >Valley from 1964 to 1996, has been succeeded by Ruben Hinojosa, a fellow >Democrat but a stridently pro-business candidate who also happens to be >one of the wealthiest members of the House. > >So perhaps it is no surprise to find that this year, Roybal's daughter >Lucille Roybal-Allard, who is taking the helm of the Hispanic >Congressional Caucus, is hoping to redefine its image and to convince >Washington that "Latino issues and American issues are one and the >same." For instance, in the past, when the Caucus weighed in on education >issues, they focused almost exclusively on the preservation of bilingual >education. This year, however, the caucus will put new school >construction and class-size reduction near the top of its agenda. In the >words of the Los Angeles Democrat, who is now in her fourth House term, >"We're going to deal with broader issues and not be so narrow." > >That's a sentiment that can be heard more and more among Latino >officials. "Part of the old agenda--bilingual education, affirmative >action or equal opportunity--are still issues, but less high-profile," >says Armando Gutierrez, a political consultant to the Democratic >National Committee. What you see now, he explains, is a new "generation looking >for new cutting-edge issues. We are at the stage of trying to figure out >where we are." And that means putting aside some of the old agenda. >For the past few years, immigration has been at the core of the caucus's >agenda. Not by choice, but as a reaction to the anti-immigrant sentiment >on Capitol Hill. The immediate past chair of the caucus, Rep. Xavier >Becerra (D-Calif.), did an admirable job of calling attention to >immigrant issues and defending Latino rights and benefits in the >Republican-controlled House. Yet while gaining greater visibility for >the caucus, Becerra and caucus immigration chair Luis V. Gutierrez, the >Puerto Rican representative from Chicago, ended up pigeonholing >themselves as ethnic activists--and thus undermining the caucus's >credibility among other House members on immigration issues. According >to one Washington-based immigrant advocate, "The caucus was building a >reputation--fair or not--as a bunch of lefties who want to open the >border." > >Becerra further weakened the caucus by provoking the departure of its >only two Republican members with his ill-timed trip to Cuba and then >refusing to make a public call for free and democratic elections on the >island. Now that the caucus has a new chair, the two Cuban-American >members, Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, >are considering rejoining the fold. > >In fact, for Latino politicians, balancing ethnic and mainstream >concerns has often been the key to success. A case in point is Rep. Bob >Menendez (D-N.J.), a Cuban American who has refused to be typecast by politics >or ethnicity, and who was recently elected as vice chair of the Democratic >Caucus. Indeed, the greatest irony of Latinos playing civil-rights-style >politics for so long was that it never seemed to get them very far. Groups such >as the National Council of La Raza, a Washington-based Latino advocacy >group, seemed bent on pushing Latino politicians to compete with African >Americans for the status of most-discriminated-against minority. And >they succeeded largely in including Latinos in the perverse federal game of >showcasing their dysfunctions--with the spoils going to the loser. > >It seems clear that Washington has not yet gotten over the skewed image >of Latinos that this sort of minority politics perpetrated, and >therefore has been slower than some local communities to recognize the true >diversity of the group that will soon become the nation's largest >minority. Roybal-Allard says that she intends to broaden the image of >Latinos beyond victims. She hasn't succeeded yet. "In Washington, the >image of Latinos is based a lot on stereotypes," says Georgina Verdugo, >former regional council at the Mexican-American Legal Defense and >Educational Fund. "Washington is so removed from Latinos themselves that >everything becomes an ideological argument here." > >That may be so, but Latino politicians are becoming increasingly >uncomfortable with old-style minority politics, particularly those who >come from regions in which Latinos are the emergent majority. With so >many Latino assemblymen, judges and local mayors in places such as San >Antonio and Los Angeles County, it is increasingly difficult for Latinos >in those regions to continue to see themselves as members of a >marginalized group. In short, these recent political successes have >altered the way Latino officials see themselves and their >constituencies. > >Ironically, the Latinization of these areas has helped to undermine the >strictly race-based approach to social ills. "We're beginning to see >that Hispanic issues are more class issues than ethnic issues," says >political consultant Armando Gutierrez. Many of these districts suffer from >significant poverty and other social problems, but the presence of a >viable Latino middle class and a political infrastructure suggests that >the answers to problems do not lie in a civil rights approach. > >Of course, as the numbers of Latino officials at the national level >increases, so does their diversity. In 1996, an overwhelmingly Latino >congressional district in El Paso County, Texas, shocked political >observers by electing Silvestre Reyes, a former ranking official of the >U.S. Border Patrol and architect of Operation Hold the Line, the INS >strategy to prevent illegal immigration along the southwest border. The >new generation of Latino officials comes from a wider variety of >backgrounds than the old. They are also better trained and more able to >hold their own in Washington--even though they are still very much in a >minority there. > >But the transition of Latino politics is not quite complete. The new >generation seems to know that they must move beyond the old approaches, >but they still cannot fully articulate a new agenda. They may agree that >they would like the caucus to become more mainstream. But not one of >them is willing to admit the possibility that the diverse group of 30 million >Americans from a variety of national origins may not share any given >agenda. "I'd like to think that we as Latinos are just as interested in >health care, retirement security and our place in the world as any other >American," says Menendez, the first Latino to win an elected >congressional leadership position. "We should be going beyond the issues >we're forced to deal with by necessity, and into other issues where we >can make a difference. We are coming into our own." > >As national Latino officials gain greater comfort with the diversity of >their political voices, they could very well help reshape America's >stale politics of race. > >Gregory Rodriguez, an associate editor at Pacific News Service, is a >fellow at the New America Foundation and the Pepperdine Institute of >Public Policy. > >� Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company > > http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-01/24/060l-012499-idx > &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
