Latinos must join, shape the future
by
Professor Jose Angel Gutierrez
Former Chairman of La Raza Unida Party
August 29, 2003
Early in 1967 during the Chicano movement in Texas, we utilized a forum called La Raza Unida Issues Summit as an organizing tool.
Under the Mexican American Youth Organization, or MAYO, I was involved with organizing four of these issues conferences: El Paso, Kingsville, Laredo and San Antonio.
Our concern then, as now, was with organizational leadership renewal — no strategic planning, poor visioning, little advocacy and even less direct action aimed at solving the problems of the community of Mexican ancestry in the state.
Results from those issues conferences were the formation of Chicano studies programs; scores of public school protests (including student walkouts); many public marches and demonstrations (for example, the Economy Furniture strike, State Capitol takeover on school finance, La Casita farm workers strike, protests against brutality by Texas Rangers and other police, Del Rio Palm Sunday march); the Raza Unida Party; and greater impetus for the Chicano movement.
Recently, more than 200 people met once again to reorganize a social protest movement, redirect our energies, recommit to la causa and reclaim our right to a quality life.
Over the next months, we will hold such meetings across Texas. In early fall, we will call the first statewide conference to begin direct action against those who would deny us our destiny and right to self-determination.
The national and Texas populations continue to grow at impressive rates. The community of Mexican ancestry is responsible for this growth and is the engine for economic development. We are the future.
Yet public leaders, Hispanics included, not only divert social investment away from the Mexican community but also postpone real solutions that promote economic growth and societal well-being.
The growing reduction of public service expenditures, increasing national and local debt, boundless corporate greed and denial of the eroding infrastructure indicate to those of us proud to be of Mexican ancestry that current public policy does not factor us into a future.
Our leaders do not care what will happen to us. Our leaders are only taking care of themselves for right now.
When we reach majority status over a greater geographic spread by 2030, the national, state and local governments certainly will be heavily indebted and nearly bankrupt, knee-deep in racial turmoil based on meager allocations for the public good.
Globally, our commitments will be overextended, therefore weak and exposed.
Without Mexicans, the United States economy would collapse. Without Mexicans, the local public schools would be mostly empty.
Without Mexicans, other major institutions such as organized religion would have nearly empty temples. Service and leisure industries would close for lack of laborers.
Judicial and law enforcement officials would have to find others to hunt and overpolice. Detention facilities would lay off personnel.
Public hospitals would close emergency rooms. Food producers and retail food vendors would be hard pressed to make payroll.
Governments would raise taxes to keep present budget levels. The media would lack sensational stories and scapegoats.
Political parties would run out of candidates and new voters.
Without Mexicans, the wealthy actually would have to grow their own food, care for their own children, mow their own yards, cook their own meals or eat out three times as much, relearn how to do their own repairs and building construction, wash their own cars, pay for more security and iron their own clothes.
The middle class would become the new poor, working class.
Every time a Hispanic person dies, five whites also die. The white population is elderly and in serious decline.
The days when Anglos unilaterally could make public decisions for all of us are over. They now must pick and find partners among Mexicans, other Latinos and African Americans to obtain political power.
Blacks are growing slightly in numbers but not as a percentage of the population. Historically, Jews and blacks have been the favored minorities.
Asians are growing significantly, but their numbers are still small at this time. They will continue to be ignored by present-day leaders, as Mexicans have been historically.
In almost all major U.S. cities Latinos are approximately one-third of the total population, a new power bloc and potential partner to either blacks or whites.
In decades past we have been mostly spectators and occasional bench warmers; we now are the replacements.
We are the future home buyers. We are the ones starting new businesses.
And we must prepare to make the transition from being the governed to being the governors. We are the foundation for the future.
Knowing that white America has not and does not recognize our welfare or destiny as intertwined, we must forge ahead with our own strategic plan, vision and timetable. We will not become an underclass to whites or blacks or Asians. We will seek and find our own public partners to meet destiny.
Jose Angel Gutierrez, Ph.D., J.D., is an associate professor of political science at the University of Texas-Arlington and a licensed attorney in Dallas. He is the author of several books, the latest of which is "The Chicano Manual on How to Handle Gringos" (Houston: Arte Publico Press).
Related La Voz de Aztlan Articles:
La Raza and Jews on Collision Course in Alta California
Latinos and Spanish-speaking Gringos
Hasta la vista, baby!
