It was exactly a year ago this month when the Dallas City Council found itself in hot water after not honoring a poll allowing residents to vote on what to rename Industrial Boulevard, as part of the city's redevelopment of the Trinity River Corridor.

The name that garnered 52 percent of the vote was Cesar Chavez. While most Dallas Latinos didn't see anything wrong with that choice, there were more than a few members on the Dallas City Council, and non-Latino city residents, who were less than enthusiastic about it.

One of the main arguments against using Chavez's name was that he didn't have a personal tie to Dallas. Such an argument implies that as long as a person has a history with the city, renaming a street or a building in their honor should be an easy task.

Unfortunately, that's not the case.

According to The Dallas Morning News, it seems some Dallas Independent School Trustees are strongly objecting to naming a new Pleasant Grove school after Adelfa Callejo, a Dallas lawyer and trailblazer for Latino civil rights in Dallas.

Why?

Because she spoke her mind during the presidential election and predicted Obama's skin color would prevent him from winning votes.

Needless to say, Callejo's remarks angered not just blacks and whites but she triggered a substantial backlash from the local Latino community as well. She was roundly criticized for holding on to past grudges when strong tensions did exist between Latinos and blacks. She was accused by the younger Latino generation of being out of touch with today's realities.

These observations, in my opinion, are all the more reason that a school should be named after Callejo because it proves she does have a history with the city.

If it wasn't for Adelfa Callejo, the Latino voice would not have been heard as loudly as it was during an era when people of color were supposed to be invisible. Because she was here in Dallas, Callejo and others challenged the system of at-large elections in electing Dallas City Council members -- a system that diluted minority voting power.

Because she was here in Dallas, after lobbying six Dallas district superintendents, there was finally a dropout prevention program implemented in DISD.

Because she was here, Callejo became a symbol that Latinos, especially Latinas, are smart, educated and willing to give of their time as she accepted appointments to serve on numerous boards and commissions.

Because she was here, more women and minority-owned businesses now have a fair chance to win a concessions contract at DFW International Airport.

Being a political and social activist since earning her law degree in 1961 from SMU has not made Adelfa Callejo popular or well-liked, even among all Dallas Latinos. But it has garnered her undeniable respect for standing up and making herself a public target for unpopular issues when the easier thing to do would have been to play it safe by keeping quiet.

To deny her the honor of naming a school after her is not only intolerant of her political views but seeks to diminish the role she has played in the history of this city when it comes to civil rights for Latinos.

Adelfa Callejo will be forever linked to the progress Latinos made in Dallas. It would be a gross injustice to pretend she never existed.

Filed 25 de Junio, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

In several recent high-profile hate crime cases, the perpetrators' punishments didn't fit the crimes. Now, new legislation in Washington attempts to balance the scales of justice for hate crime victims even as critics declare there's no need for it.

This week's news that the punishment of two Pennsylvania teenagers, who were found guilty earlier this year of simple assault in the murder of undocumented immigrant Luis Ramirez, would only involve six month prison sentences has unleashed a new wave of outrage.

It follows the outrage of the May 30 Arizona murders of 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father during a home invasion robbery by a woman who lead a group called Minuteman American Defense. The woman, along with two accomplices, was looking for money to finance the group's campaign to keep undocumented immigrants out of the country.

The outrage over the senseless death of an innocent little girl hasn't even had time to make the rounds of mainstream media when news also broke this week of the sentencing of an 18-year-old central Ohio teenager who had put a noose around the neck of another teen named Robert Cantu in 2008 and dragged him from a sidewalk to a parking lot while shouting racial slurs.

The 18-year-old who lead the attack received 10 days in jail. Cantu's family plans to sue the city.

Outrage over people who would direct their personal hate to intentionally hurt-to-injure other people was acutely felt recently when the nation witnessed the senseless murder of the Holocaust Musuem guard at the hands of a known racist.

There's no denying that these scenarios are hate crimes. According to federal statistics, violent acts targeting victims because of ethnicity, religion, and sexual preference are on the rise.

So it makes sense to enact new hate crime laws with tougher enforcement. Yet, there are some critics who think the current laws on the books are just fine.

Continue reading "Current hate crime laws reflect an imbalance of justice for victims" »

Filed 25 de Junio, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

In 2000, a group of Hispanic farmers banded together to file a lawsuit against the USDA for discrimination. Nine years later the courts have failed to resolve the issue and farmers claim the discrimination continues.

Farming has always been known to be a hard life. These days, throw in global warming and a poor economy and the likelihood of a farmer's life teetering on financial ruin is a 50 percent proposition.

Regardless, these conditions haven't deterred an increase in Hispanic farmers. Since 2002, there has been a 14 percent growth among Hispanic-operated farms and ranches according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture. In 2007, the number of Hispanic ranchers and farmers stood at 82,462.

However, a number of Hispanic farmers and ranchers have been losing their livelihoods. Not due to the economy or Mother Nature but to simple discrimination by Uncle Sam.

In the farming industry, there are special federal farm credit and non-credit farm benefit programs to help farmers either get off the ground or stay in business. Unfortunately, some Latino farmers have found that these programs aren't for everyone.

In 2000, a group of Hispanic farmers filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for discriminating against Hispanic farmers and ranchers in how the USDA administers these farm credit and non-credit farm benefit programs. Garcia v. Vilsack is currently pending in the district court for the District of Columbia.

The farmers say the discrimination, at the hands of the USDA, has existed for over 25 years. They cite USDA officials with not honoring lease/purchase agreements with some Hispanic farmers and creating an intimidating environment for those farmers involved with the lawsuit.

On top of that, the courts, claim the farmers, are requiring them to provide more documentation than their peers with virtually identical lawsuits.

Throughout, these Hispanic farmers wait for financial relief. Since these loan programs have historically been used to purchase inventory, produce a product to sell and, in turn, repay the loans, these farmers are deprived of vital funding that keeps them in business.

For some the wait is too long. Some have already been forced out of business, lost their farms to foreclosure or simply gave up.

Continue reading "Hispanic farmers accuse the USDA of blatant discrimination" »

Filed 12 de Junio, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

While the rise in the Latino population is shifting the demographics of the country, a new U.S. Census report reveals it’s Multiracial Americans who are impacting the growth of all communities of color.

When the Pew Hispanic Center unveiled their recent report documenting how 52 percent of all U.S.-born Latino children were the offspring of at least one immigrant parent, the reaction from some conservative corners was predictable.

It wasn’t long before the airwaves, cyberspace and Twitter feeds were filled with comments that hinged on the tired conspiracy theory of the country being on the verge of takeover by Latinos.

Of course, it doesn’t help to dispel this myth either when the U.S. Census keeps a running tab each year on how many counties in the nation join the ranks of majority-Hispanic — the current number is 48.

The paranoia that this kind of Latino-focused data unleashes would be funny if it didn’t serve as the basis for state and national legislative bills that attempt to turn the clock back on the advances made with civil rights and affirmative action policies.

Continue reading "New US Census report show there’s nothing to fear in the country’s changing demographics " »

Filed 3 de Junio, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

A new report about Latina teen pregnancy doesn’t just examine the issue but, for the first time, breaks down the differences found among Latino families and how they contribute to Latina teens having the highest rates of teen pregnancies and births.

Last week, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a report entitled “Latino Teens and Parents Speak Out About Teen Pregnancy.” I have to confess that news of this report didn’t excite me very much. I mean, what else new could possibly be added to the sad fact that Latina teens have the highest rate of teen pregnancy and births among their peers?

But after looking it over, I found that finally there is a report addressing something new. It’s something that the Latino community has known all along but has treated like the proverbial “elephant in the living room.”

It’s standard practice by most of us to remind the media, politicians, national organizations — all those that lump Latinos into one convenient group — that not all Latinos are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc.

Yet, what’s never pointed out often enough is that even within each of these subgroups are further differences — those who are native born and those who are not; those who speak only Spanish, those who speak English only and those who are bilingual.

What’s been silently acknowledged all this time, and what this new report statistically reveals through its survey questions, is that these differences among Latinos contribute to how education is valued, how parents and children relate to one another, and how traditional cultural attitudes regarding gender play a role in Latino life.

Continue reading "New Latina teen pregnancy survey highlights the differences among Latinos" »

Filed 27 de Mayo, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

The Explorers (scout) program wants its members to get real-life experience in training for careers. Yet, scouts participating in the law enforcement program aren’t just being exposed to the life-and-death scenarios that face law officials today, they’re being subjected to a training that teaches them to react first, think later to situations that demand there not be knee-jerk reactions.

The New York Times’ picture of the group of babyface Latino teens clutching guns, sporting flak jackets, dark blue uniforms and wearing serious expressions looked like an illustration for an expose on child soldiers. If it hadn’t been for the headline, a reader wouldn’t have known until three paragraphs into the accompanying story that these boys were all-American Explorer scouts, a kind of cousin to the Boy Scout program.

These scouts (14-20-years-old), girls included, are participating in a program that focuses on prepping them for “learning for life” careers and skills. In this case, it’s supposed to prepare them for a future career in law enforcement — a future that is counting on the continuance of terrorism, illegal immigration and border violence thriving in American society.

These scouts are being put through regular drills simulating situations that feature how to confront suicide bombers, chase down undocumented immigrants and how to “take out” active shooters.

Continue reading "Explorer scout training to fight terrorism and border violence borders on overkill" »

Filed 15 de Mayo, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

Since news of the continuing spread of the H1N1 influenza virus, the blame game has run rampant among those targeting undocumented Mexican immigrants as spreading the virus. Yet, the evidence proves otherwise.

It’s hard to believe that as of May 1, 2009, the world has been in the grips of the H1N1 influenza virus for only a little over a week. The constant media barrage makes it seem a whole lot longer. Not to mention, the 24/7 media coverage from ground zero of the virus plays nicely into the antics of conservative wingnuts whose favorite sport is making up reasons to turn the tide of public opinion against undocumented Latino immigrants.

It’s not hard to guess who these wingnuts are blaming for the spread of the virus. Yet, when it comes to playing the virus blame game, while it may have started in Mexico it’s clear everyone has had a part in spreading it.

The recent calls for closing the U.S.-Mexico border exemplify the knee-jerk assumption that has made its way across the country and into the halls of Congress.

Otherwise, it would be realized that most of the carriers of the virus into the United States didn’t enter the country swimming across the Rio Grande or trekking through the desert. The likelier carriers of the virus were either hang-gliding over the Pacific Ocean off the Mexican coast, hiking up the Aztec pyramids, window-shopping in the Polanco district of Mexico City or sitting in conference meetings. The usual things tourists, honeymooners and business professionals do when away from home and in Mexico.

In fact, the first large cluster of infections reported outside Mexico was attributed to a group of Canadians who had traveled to Mexico. Since then, stories have emerged of other U.S. victims — students at a New York private prep academy, a Marine at Twentynine Palms military base, a World Bank employee who had gone to Mexico on business and returned sick infecting his family, a third-year Harvard dental student, and a member of the presidential advance security team, who had gone to Mexico City to support the U.S. delegation that accompanied the President on his recent trip. The list keeps growing.

Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that there is evidence that the country’s earliest flu victims in California had “no apparent link to either Mexico or pigs.” The newspaper is reporting that the California victims may have even been sick before the first Mexicans contracted the virus since the California illness was reported at the end of March.

It’s reported by the Centers for Disease Control that among the earliest victims in California a different strain of the flu was the culprit rather than what is being seen in Mexico.

Yet, none of these facts are resonating as loudly or getting much airtime as pointing the finger and shoveling the blame onto undocumented Mexican immigrants. The blame game will only get worse as cases rise and the potential for that to happen is getting better every day.

Continue reading "Blaming undocumented immigrants for spread of swine flu is nothing but hogwash" »

Filed 3 de Mayo, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

Compared to three years ago when the first immigration marches were held, the Latino community has evolved into a more political savvy and networked group that finds itself on the cusp of making history all over again.

May 1, or “May Day,” is a day the rest of the world celebrates as International Worker’s Day or Labour Day. In this country, it’s evolved to signify a day when people take to the streets to wave flags, carry banners, shout chants and show unified support for the rights of undocumented immigrants.

Remember May 1, 2006 when the throngs of immigrant rights supporters first clogged downtown streets of cities large and small?

At the time, people wondered if the same momentum would ever be replicated. It wasn’t but this year promises to be different for a variety of reasons.

And because of that, it has some Latino community leaders debating the wisdom of tapping into this reenergized momentum.

According to these community leaders, they’re afraid that a show of force could damage potential support for the immigration reform bill when it’s introduced in Congress. They’re also afraid of triggering the same kind of political backlash that materialized after the 2006 marches, which served as the impetus to polarizing the country over the immigration issue.

Yet, what these community leaders don’t recognize is that along with the political backlash of 2006, there were lessons learned — not the least of which is that the Latino community is more political savvy than three years ago.

Continue reading "This year’s immigration marches promise a bigger turnout than 2006" »

Filed 27 de Abril, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

The U.S. Census is getting the nation ready for the 2010 Census. Yet, some Hispanic immigrant organizations are telling undocumented immigrants not to participate in the census. It’s bad advice that in the long run does more harm than good.

These days, the quickest way to polarize a conversation is to bring up immigration reform. It’s an issue that creates its own wall between opposing sides. The ironic thing is that it’s also an issue that has done more, than any other issue in recent memory, to unify the greater Latino community.

It’s an issue that mobilized Latino voters of all ages to go to the polls like never before. It has served as the rallying cry to draw millions of marchers to the streets. In fact, just about anything done in the name of immigration reform will draw a willing audience to help advance awareness of the issue.

So far, events organized around immigration reform have all been positive actions to show Washington that the whole Latino community is serious about wanting congressional action — until now.

Recently, the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders released a statement urging undocumented immigrants not to fill out the upcoming Census forms to be used in the 2010 Census unless Congress passes “genuine immigration reform.”

The rationale behind the call-to-inaction is that if everyone fills out the forms then the documented upswing in the Latino population will be used against local communities. They fear without an approved immigration reform measure in place, census results will lead to an increase in raids and taking people into deportation proceedings.

It’s a misguided rationale that only serves as being counterproductive to the gains accomplished thus far in this ongoing battle. At the same time, it’s planting an unnecessary fear in the minds of undocumented immigrants and their families.

Continue reading "The future strength of the Latino community depends on ALL Latinos participating in the 2010 Census" »

Filed 17 de Abril, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

Though the DREAM Act is currently making the rounds of congressional committees, two recent state versions failed to pass. Legislators who opposed granting in-state tuition to undocumented students cite arguments, that upon closer examination, get failing grades.

It’s only been a couple of weeks since Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois reintroduced the DREAM Act in Congress. In the process, he’s placed himself in a delicate political situation as the congressional champion for the thousands of undocumented students whose futures lie in a state of limbo.

If Senator Durbin wins in getting his colleagues to pass the DREAM Act, these students will have a chance at becoming U.S. citizens as they either study their way to degrees and employable professions or enlist in the military to protect the country.

If he loses, over 60,000 young people will have lost the right to dream, not just that they can be anything they want, but that they can be anything at all.

For these young people who have never broken the law voluntarily, it would be an unjust price to pay to appease critics who somehow think preserving American sovereignty means depriving U.S.-raised children of a chance to make a living for themselves.

In recent days, both Arkansas and Colorado state legislatures have voted down their state versions of the DREAM Act.

Their actions illustrate how toxic the immigration issue remains with lawmakers and underscore three important points:

1. The DREAM Act is misunderstood.
2. Undocumented students remain unknown to opponents of the bill.
3. The denial of higher education to undocumented students has less to do with safeguarding the rights of citizens and everything to do with punishing the children for the sins of their parents.

Continue reading "Legislators need a crash course on the DREAM Act " »

Filed 15 de Abril, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

Pope Benedict created a global outrage with his recent remarks regarding the effectiveness of condoms against the spread of AIDS. In the United States, his remarks have the potential to impact this nation’s Hispanic population who have not only emerged as an at-risk population to the virus but who are also responsible for fueling the growth of the U.S. Catholic Church.

Last year when the Vatican issued the announcement that Rome, after 400 years, was finally admitting that the astronomer Galileo wasn’t a heretic for saying the earth wasn’t the center of the universe, the declaration was globally met with snickers.

In making that public confession, the Church committed a huge PR mistake of making itself look irrelevant to generations who were schooled on Galileo’s accomplishments and contributions to the field of astronomy. Luckily, all was forgiven because while everybody knew the truth, the Church’s sudden reversal didn’t affect anybody’s lives or changed their beliefs.

The same can’t be said of Pope Benedict’s latest remarks about condom usage while on his recent visit to Africa. While talking to reporters on his plane in route to Cameroon, the Pope said that AIDS is “a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem.”

Since uttering those words, the Church has come under a barrage of criticism. From AIDS activists and organizations to health ministers of various countries to even the World Health Organization, all have condemned the remarks as being irresponsible and unfactual.

In fact, the President of the World Health Assembly, Guyana Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, characterized the Pope’s view as “absolutely and unequivocally wrong” and “inconsistent with science.” He accused the pontiff of “sowing confusion” and trying to set back the progress made on proven strategies against the spread of AIDS.

Since then, the Church has not apologized for the Pope’s remarks but has defended them as being consistent with Catholic teachings that believe using condoms promotes risky sexual behavior.

And while the Pope’s words may be consistent with how the Church feels about promiscuous or homosexual sex, this time around, the image of an irrelevant institution out of touch with the realities of today’s society is far more dire than holding onto a 400-year-old grudge.

Continue reading "The power of the Pope’s words means the difference between life and death for those at-risk for AIDS" »

Filed 25 de Marzo, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)

Abstinence-only has ruled sex education curriculum in public schools for the last several years. However, teenage pregnancy rates among certain communities have escalated to frightening heights. Finally, there is a push in state legislatures across the country to pass bills implementing comprehensive sex education in schools. The real test is if legislators have the political will to do what is needed to turn the statistics around.

It’s rare that a picture of an exhausted new mother, plopped against the pillows of her metal-frame hospital bed, and proudly cradling her angelic newborn doesn’t illicit sympathetic smiles. But that was exactly the case back in January for a Dallas 15-year-old when she was featured in local media for having the first newborn of 2009.

In fact, the picture of the teen mom stirred a range of emotions — the worst bordering on disgust when it was discovered that the 15-year-old eighth grader lived at home with not only her mother, but the 20-year-old father of her new baby.

Regardless of what side of the fence a person sits when it comes to contraceptive usage, the idea of a child having a child goes against what we as a society want and expect from our children — no matter how much family support exists.

Because this eighth grader was educated in public schools, her knowledge of sex and how to prevent a pregnancy probably didn’t include any lessons on “safe sex” practices. No, the message she, and her peers, have been getting for the last several years is “Just say no.”

Well, we’ve long known that message just doesn’t work for every teenager.

So far, the fight to not teach medically accurate sex education to our nation’s children has been spearheaded by social conservatives who somehow believe that teens can rise above the influences of raging hormones and peer pressure to not have sex prematurely.

Unfortunately, these critics of comprehensive sex education aren’t bothering to read the Youth Risk Behavior Survey that shows that almost 40 percent of all high school students are sexually active.

Continue reading "It’s about time state legislatures gear up for the “sex talk” " »

Filed 13 de Marzo, 2009 | Permalink | View Blog Reactions | Comments (0)