Hispanics will help build future of U.S.

The Kansas City Star ^ | April 28, 2004 | Luis W. Giugud

[primeval patriot]

One clear message surfaced during last week's three-day Latino Civil Rights Summit 2004: This country mustn't ignore or suppress the needs or economic and political potential of Hispanics.

Jose Angel Gutierrez, a Dallas lawyer and author, said it best as Friday's luncheon speaker: “We are the future of America. Unlike any prior generation, we now have a critical mass. We're going to Latinize this country.”

People who were white, black, Asian American and Native American also attended the “Crossing the Bridge” summit to learn how the growing Hispanic population will affect the nation.

Gutierrez said people from Mexico, Central and South America are not immigrating to the United States. They are simply migrating because this land had been theirs. Spain had held it, and before that it had belonged to the indigenous people. Hispanics should never put up with others telling them to go back where they came from. “You don't have to apologize to anybody,” Gutierrez said. But he urged Hispanics to develop a plan.

“We're talking about crossing the bridge, but is it to get across or is it to come back?” Gutierrez asked. “Is it a one-way bridge or a two-way bridge? You've got to have a plan.”

On Saturday at the action planning session, Gutierrez pointed to Hispanic businesses on Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kan., as examples of America's future. “The potential is tremendous,” he said.

“What we have at the moment is labor power and consumer power,” he said. “We work and we buy. Political power will come later.”

That's because half of the Hispanics in the United States are younger than 21. “We're spectators at the basketball game,” Gutierrez said.

However, that also means that for every one Latino who dies, five white people will die because they are older. But that leaves five empty houses and five vacant businesses, Gutierrez said.

“The vacuum has got to be filled by somebody; otherwise all our economy and neighborhoods will collapse,” he said. More people of color and minority businesses must fill the void for America to remain vibrant.

The third Latino Civil Rights Summit left Hispanics with a greater sense of empowerment than the previous ones. The numbers are in their favor.

In 2000, the nation had 35.6 million Hispanics, representing 12.6 percent of the U.S. population. Census projections show the Latino population will rise to 102.6 million people by 2050, amounting to 24.4 percent of the country's 419.9 million people.

In 2000, African-Americans made up 12.7 percent of the population. By 2050 that will increase to 14.6 percent. Audiences at the summit were told Hispanics and blacks must form more alliances to increase their economic and political strength.

Each must leverage the numbers to their advantage, Rogelio Lasso, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor, said at a forum on collaboration. “We are thinking ‘Who is No. 1?' instead of thinking ‘If we are 30 percent together, how are we going to get 30 percent of the pie?' ” he said.

The summit included sessions on education and how the No Child Left Behind Act will negatively affect students of color. Resegregation also is occurring, stranding black and Hispanic children in poor schools, said Ruben Garza, an Austin, Texas, educator.

Patriot Acts I and II keep making life more difficult for immigrants. That's occurring as the nation is enjoying a record 33.5 million foreign-born residents. They are 11.7 percent of the population, Steve Camarota, director of research with the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, said in a telephone interview.

The foreign born represented a record 14.8 percent of the U.S. population in 1890 and 14.7 percent in 1910. “It's very possible by the end of the decade we'll pass the all-time high,” Camarota said.

But Lasso voiced concern about the rise in anti-immigration feelings since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“It feels like it's acceptable in this country to be anti-immigrant,” he said. “I fear if we have another terrorist attack it will affect the immigrants first.”

But our intertwined fates may be our salvation.

“The state of the Latino community cannot be separated from the state of America,” said Elias L. Garcia, executive director of the Kansas Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs. “Our destinies are inextricably tied.”

I hope more people develop an appreciation for that.

Lewis W. Diuguid is a member of The Star's Editorial Board. To reach him, call (816) 234-4723 or send e-mail to Ldiuguid@kcstar.com.
 

[primeval patriot]

Thanks for that link.

"We have got to eliminate the gringo, and what I mean by that is if the worst comes to the worst, we have got to kill him."

[JamesA]

Speak Spanish yet? you will!

[abc77]

I did not read anything about melting or assimilating. They do not want to blend, but transplant something they had before, had somewhere else. They want to stay hyphenated Americans. If truly being American matters to them at all.
What is the measure of being an American?

Take a look at the list of fallen soldiers in Iraq. You'll find quite a few Latinos on that list.

Are they American enough for you?

[primeval patriot]

It's an editorial. I failed to check the "editorial" box
in the posting dialogue.

[freeangel]

They said something like that about the tower of babel too.

[FITZ]

Take a look at the list of fallen soldiers in Iraq. You'll find quite a few Latinos on that list.

In most cases those are Americans of Spanish-Indian descent --- not all that many are immigrants which is what is being talked about. Also don't believe that the Spanish-Indian-Americans of the SW are thrilled with the Mexicanization of the USA --- and you didn't see Mexico sending any troops or supporting us in any way ---- it's actually shameful --- for all the demands the hispanic countries make on us --- only one is supporting us in the Middle East and that one is El Salvador.

[primeval patriot]

They're already under way: LAUSD seizing commercial property, homes

Thanks for the link.

[FITZ]

Get used to the idea of ejidos. Land ownership in hispanic cultures does not exist as we know it.

[VOA]

Hispanics will help build future of U.S.

Demographically, they are about the only hope we have of holding Islamic
immigrants in check.

I'd rather have an immigration moritorium during WOT, but I'll take Hispanic
Catholics/Protestants/Whatever to full-bore Islmaics.

[VOA]

Does this mean we are going to take naps in the middle of the day?

Just my personal preference...but I think the siesta concept beats the British tea-time.
(I visited a British university research lab...that 3:30PM tea time was
observed like religion!)

[VOA]

Does this mean we are going to take naps in the middle of the day?

Just my personal preference...but I think the siesta concept beats the British tea-time.
(I visited a British university research lab...that 3:30PM tea time was
observed like religion!)

[ought-six]

"Does this mean we are going to take naps in the middle of the day?"

And sell our sisters to tourists? And shave our heads? And drive low-riders? And leave our childrens' soiled diapers all over the sidewalks and parks? Sorry, but that's most of what I've seen from that group. They are an "in-your-face" and extremely militant bunch, who do not want to assimilate. For countless generations they have contributed absolutely nothing to the betterment of mankind. They are takers and users, contributing nothing.

[primeval patriot]

Get used to the idea of ejidos.

That's some sort of community properties?

[ought-six]

"That is what scares me about illegal immigration and the hispanics. It is less immigration and more of a slow conquest... like a bacterial infection. I did not read anything about melting or assimilating. They do not want to blend, but transplant something they had before, had somewhere else. They want to stay hyphenated Americans. If truly being American matters to them at all."

They were primitive savages when Columbus dropped anchor, and they haven't progressed all that much from that point. They live in squalor, contribute nothing to society, are inherently criminal (even their governments are corrupt machines, many of which are narco-juntas), and they hate our guts. It will be interesting to watch as the mohammedan nazis and the la raza, militant latinos clash, as that will be inevitable.

[primeval patriot]

I'll take Hispanic Catholics/Protestants/Whatever to full-bore Islmaics.

Go bankrupt or get blown up until we submit to Allah and then go bankrupt.

Not much of a choice.

[FITZ]

Yes it's communal ownership of land. Mexicans keep going back to that form --- they'll drift away but it seems to be their natural inclination to live in ejidos. It seems every revolution they have takes them back to that way of life --- never toward what the gringos prefer which is private ownership.

[jsraggmann]

Wrong! The aging White folks that I know are quietly adding to our "arsenals", buying ammo and getting ready for the "reconquista". This bunch of "lowrider pilots" has quite a welcoming committee waiting for them if they choose to provoke us. They will open up a can of Whoop-Ass they can't even begin to fathom.

[moehoward]

Gutierrez said people from Mexico, Central and South America are not immigrating to the United States.

That's right, 1 million have "not immigrated" since the first of the year! Guard on the border NOW!! While the fence is put up.

[jsraggmann]

It's called Life, Liberty and PROPERTY, not what we "prefer".

[dennisw]

Hispanics will help build future of U.S.
____________________

If the above is true how come nearly every Latino country is a failed nation basket case? Even Argentina is terrible these days. How come Spaniards cave into terrorist Islamics?