Posts Tagged ‘race’
Latino or Hispanic ad nauseum
3:15 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Culture|race · 8 Comments
3 Mar 2006
It’s the most commonly discussed question on Latino blogs: is the correct term “Latino” or “Hispanic”? And why do we still care?
For whatever reason, this topic continues to ignite debate throughout the Latino (can you tell which one I’m partial to?) community. And what exactly does “Hispanic” mean?
The Latin Americanist asks:
What is a Hispanic? Or a Latino? Which is a race, which is a cultural distinction? Where do Brazilians fit into all of this??? What if your parents are from Europe but you were born in Argentina and your only language is Spanish??? What if your parents are from Mexico but you were born in the US and your only language is English??? What if we were allowed to check up to five different boxes for race/ethnicity on the census?
Undocumented futbolistas and sports “racism”
2:17 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Immigration|race|Spain|Sports · 1 Comment
24 Feb 2006
I was talking to a journalist this morning who was bringing me up to speed on a story that’s been buzzing about New York media in the last few weeks: that Mets coach Omar Minaya is being called a racist for saying that he feels more at home with Latino players. And apparently Minaya is a racist just for the mere fact that he has brought so many Latin American players to the club. I know nothing about baseball, but if they are playing well, who cares? And what’s wrong with “helping a brutha out”? People do it all the time. It’s called cultural affinity and it’s sometimes the only thing that keeps immigrant populations united in places where they should feel isolated.
Sports and immigration aren’t really topics that tend to cross much, but my eyebrows raised at a headline in today’s 20 Minutos newspaper from Spain: Futbolistas “sin papeles” debutan en la División Regional Preferente de Melilla
When your name is Juan and not Dick
12:29 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Justice|Politics|race|Texas · Comments Off
16 Feb 2006
You don’t just get off after accidentally shooting someone in a “hunting accident” if you are Juan. Juan gets raked over the coals:
An undocumented Mexican immigrant was shot and killed Sunday evening in an apparent hunting accident on a Webb County ranch owned by the family of former U.S. diplomat John G. Hurd.
“The illegals were crouching out in the brush. They said they mistook this guy for a hog,” said Webb County Sheriff Juan Garza….
Juan Garza Mendoza, 34, an employee of the ranch, was charged Monday with manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison….
Mi muñeca es como yo
4:13 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · children|Marketing|race|Shopping · Comments Off
20 Jan 2006
In Toyland, before there was just blonde, “perfect” Barbie. In the 70s, black dolls became more and more common. Lately, there are also quite a few Latino dolls to be had. Now, a new online store plans to make dolls of all ethnicities available to children, as well bi-racial and multi-racial dolls. This in response to the notable lack of variety in toys for children of color:
The poll of 2,230 African American parents, 470 Latino parents, and 20 Asian parents found that 82% of the African American parents, 74% of the Latino parents, and 50% of the Asian parents felt It is important for children of color to have dolls that look like them. Of those parents, an overwhelming 94% of the African American parents and 90% of the Latino parents agreed that the selection of dolls and puppets of color in local super and toy stores was, as one parent put it, abysmal.
The line of dolls (some “anatomically correct” — none of that weird blank space between the legs), called “Dolls like Me” start at $11.95 and can be ordered online at dollslikeme.com.
Had these existed when I was a kid I may have turned out a little less messed up.
Via / BlackNews.com
Latino segregation in Denver?
12:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · children|Education|race · Comments Off
20 Jan 2006
It appears that in 2006, school segregation is back in style in Denver. Or that desegregation of schools effectively ended when the government stopped forcing the busing issue:
The study says white students re-segregated rapidly after the desegregation order was lifted, reports the Denver Post.
The study done for Denver’s Piton Foundation says individual schools no longer represent the city’s demographics. Denver’s student population is 57 percent Latino, 20 percent white and 19 percent black, reports the Denver Post.
“You have white students who are concentrated in schools with other white students,” said the study’s researcher Chungmei Lee. “Latino students are especially isolated.”
I guess we have to be forced to live among each other, robbing our children the gift of being surrounded by people of different backgrounds, enriching their learning process. Incredible that we still can’t do it on our own.
Via / UPI
Different Diplomas for Latinos in NYC?
2:07 pm By Maegan La Mala · Education|New York City · Comments Off
30 Nov 2005
Yesterday’s NYC Council meeting got heated with accusations that there is a two tiered education system in place. The accusation stems from statistics revealing that one in 10 African-American and Hispanic students earn the harder to get Regents high school diploma, with most of those students earning what has been called a “watered down” local diploma.
While some may fall back on the all too easy response that maybe those students are not made for the test based Regents diploma, many high school students of color are tracked in non-Regents classes with parents not even knowing.
Via / WNBC
Freddy’s Not Rockin’ So Steady Among Latinos
7:02 pm By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Politics · Comments Off
26 Oct 2005
It seems I’m not the only Latina in NYC not jumping on NYC mayoral hopeful Freddy Ferrer’s bandwagon. The latest Quinnipiac University poll has Ferrer leading current NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg among Latinos polled by a measly five points, 48 percent to 43 percent. 61 percent of likely voters overall support Bloomberg, while Ferrer hangs on to 30 percent.
I haven’t seen that much outreach to the Latino community specifically by Ferrer. Whereas Bloomberg has been filling my mailbox with bilingual flyers and speaking to me in choppy Spanish between novelas. No doubt some of this is because the incumbent mayor is a billionaire who could air ads in pig Latin if he wanted to because money is no object. Pero what about old fashioned pressing of the flesh? Yeah we’ve seen Ferrer waving at parades but when was the last time he was in your hood? Sources have placed Ferrer at an event last week in the highly Latino concentrated Jackson Heights, Queens but it wasn’t publicized. I’m sure many members of the immigrant would have had plenty of questions and concerns that Freddy could have played up.
Of course Freddy’s camp says that polls don’t mean anything and that
Quinnipiac pollsters have always underestimated the NY Rican.
We will certainly be able to decide for ourselves in just two more weeks when election day comes.
Via / New York Post
In a speech to the Hispanic National Bar Association, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Latinos to get over it about him, or any other Latino for that matter, not being nominated to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court and to throw their support behind Harriet Miers. According to AP, Gonzales asked that:
you and others reserve judgment and give her an opportunity to show why she would be good for the Court, for the country, and for the Hispanic community.
Gonzales was passed over not once but twice for a spot on the nation’s highest court, first to John Roberts and now to Ms. Miers.
Latino Pundit probably hit it right on the nose when he says that Gonzales’s request is probably based more on loyalty to the Republican hands that feed him than on a real belief that Miers is going to do right by the community. The little we do know about Miers is cause enough for concern. She’s anti-choice and thinks President Bush is the smartest person she’s met, ever (really mujer needs to get out more). According to ImmigrationProf Blog when Miers worked as President of the State Bar of Texas she did some pro-bono work handling an immigration and naturalization case for Catholic Charities of Dallas. Hopefully she didn’t help deport people and hopefully Latinos won’t just go the way of sheep and follow what Gonzales says just because he is “one of us”.
Via / Latino Pundit and Los Angeles Times
VL Opinion: Just because we both eat mofongo doesn’t mean I’m voting for You
8:00 pm By Maegan La Mala · New York City|Politics · 5 Comments
19 Oct 2005 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.
Yo hablo coreano
2:20 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Bilingualism · Comments Off
26 Sep 2005
I love stories of mestizaje, of cultures and languages intertwined, I guess because I am a mixed bag of idiomas and etnias myself. For that reason, today’s LA Times article on what I would call “the new face of bilingualism” made me smile. Not only does it speak to new immigrants’ capacity to adapt in the US, but also to the growing importance of Spanish in the world. This piece offers perspectives from Latinos who are learning Korean, and Koreans learning Spanish, as they live their lives side by side in Los Angeles’ Koreatown:
“At the beginning, English was very important – and it still is, if I need to go to a government office or court or get a license,” Aliaga, 32, said as he sat behind a small display case in his soccer-supply shop in Koreatown.
“For me, (learning Korean) is as important because I lived in Koreatown. Now I am able to communicate with Koreans.”
“In California, Spanish is more important than English,” said Paik, a Seoul native. “I haven’t found any inconvenience because I don’t speak English. … I don’t need to speak English. If you can speak Spanish, you can drive, employers can have clients, you can order in restaurants, you can do anything.”
Welcome to the new America.
Hola!
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