VivirLatino

VL Opinion: Just because we both eat mofongo doesn't mean I'm voting for You

20:00 H | Topics: New York City - Politics

With Latino Antonio Villaraigosa recently becoming the mayor of Los Angeles, there is lots of Latino pride and Latino desire to see one of our own kind in public offices from sea to shining sea.

In the case of the NYC mayoral election less than a month away, talk abounds about voting for anyone but incumbent mayor/billionaire Michael Bloomberg. The "anyone" most people mean is Bronx Rican Freddy Ferrer. Many Dems have Freddy's back including Jesse Jackson and both Bill and Hillary Clinton. His Latino endorsements include the Latino Officer's Association, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez and 1199 SEIU led by Dennis Rivera. Many people feel Ferrer isn't the best man for the job but he's the best we got, or the lesser of two evils.

So as a progressive Latina NYC chica my hand should be itching to pull the lever for fellow Boricua Freddy right? Or as Marisa Treviño asks today in her blog Latina Lista, When is Being the Right Gender or Ethnicity Enough? In a word and in my humble opinion, never.

Marisa wonders:

Soon, our numbers will rival the Anglo population. Yet, will we be able to put aside our desires to elect Latinos/as and vote colorblind based only on qualifications/experience?
In essence, would we be willing to vote to live with apartheidism in this country?

That frames the issue way too simply. It implies that there aren't experienced Latinos in government. Alberto Gonzalez sure has many years of experience. Problem is that most of that experience has been fine tuning ways to ignore the Geneva Conventions. Freddy Ferrer has a long record of political work in NYC. The bulk of it as Bronx Borough President , under whose watchful eye Anthony Baez, Anthony Rosario, and Hilton Vega were brutally killed by the police.

In New York City there are many young Latino politicians who are getting a break. For example two newly elected City Council people, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Rosie Mendez, aren't just Latino , they are women too! They proved themselves by having a long history of working within the communities of New York City. So yes we have to give our hermanos and hermanas a chance. That doesn't mean however that a woman should be voted for just because she's a woman or a Latino voted for because they are a Latino.

The bottom line is access. How can Latinos gain access to positive and meaningful experiences that will lead to positions of real power on all levels of government when there are still huge disparities in access to basics like education and healthcare? So while we are rising in numbers, we are not rising in power.

There are two approaches to answer this problem. One is Latinos making a commitment to working their way up the system from the grassroots community. The other is changing the system.

Puedes sentar en mi mesa, that doesn't mean you have my best interest in mind.

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