Guest Column

Latino Group Champions New Civil Rights Push

By Chris Echegaray 

Tampa (Florida)Tribune

May 28, 2005

 

They say they're the face of a new civil rights movement - one prompted by workplace discrimination, anti-immigration legislation and educational barriers.

 

This time, Latinos must speak out against laws to keep driver's licenses from undocumented workers, barriers that keep Latinos out of boardrooms and attempts to suppress the language, said Gabriela Lemus of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

 

``There are issues of diversity, issues of under representation,'' said Lemus, LULAC's director of policy and legislation. ``This has to be more than just awareness. We are here to level the playing field. There has to be a push so people listen.''

 

She and 300 other attendees began gathering Friday at the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa for LULAC's annual state conference, a place to learn about the issues and plan a course of action.

 

Today's workshops are free and open to the public. Panelists and speakers include a federal court judge, representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, and LULAC members from across the country.

 

They'll discuss governmental issues that primarily will affect Latinos - for instance, a proposed guest-worker visa that would allow immigrants to work in the United States legally for several years but not grant them any rights.

 

States are grappling with whether to offer in-state college tuition for illegal immigrant students, who could earn degrees but be barred from white-collar work after graduation.

 

Some states have passed laws allowing their police officers to become an extension of the Department of Homeland Security, asking people about their status in this country. Meanwhile, other states, including Florida, won't allow it.

 

Population Explosion

 

The Latino population explosion catapulted their issues into the limelight. The group increased 74 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Social service agencies, advocates and lawmakers are scrambling to serve a group that is the largest minority in the nation.

 

Across the country, there are demonstrations and campaigns by grass-roots organizations pushing for immigrant rights.

 

Latinos are calling LULAC and other advocacy groups to explain their troubles. Anita de Palma, LULAC's Florida director, said chapters are documenting incidents of discrimination in the workplace.

 

She has heard complaints from employees who are not allowed to speak Spanish to one another at work, even though their employers hang signs that claim ``Se Habla Español'' - Spanish is spoken - to attract customers.

 

On some levels, the arguments are reminiscent of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, when blacks fought for desegregation, equality and voting rights, said North Carolina-based race and poverty researcher Paul Cuadros.

 

A fellow from the Alicia Patterson Foundation, Cuadros said the initial civil rights movement provided equal representation and equal access. He said the current movement is about allowing a group to develop, making them fully functional members of society.

 

``Now,  towe're dealing with a certain set of rights on who deserves be treated like a human being,'' Cuadros said.

 

Cuadros said it's a precarious situation when a group feels marginalized.

 

``When you have a lot of people who are educated, bright, have talent, dreams and aspirations, and you keep them alienated from society, from achieving their full potential, you put them in an underclass,'' he said.

 

``People who are talented with ambition, they are going to find a way to be successful within the means of society or outside of it. History has shown us that this happens. Sometimes it's great for society, sometimes not.''

 

New Freedom Rides Criticized

 

Opponents of immigration said advocates are wrong for using the symbolism of the civil rights battles as a publicity tool.

 

Steven Camarota, a spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington advocacy group that favors restrictions on immigration, said immigrant workers' freedom rides in 2003 should not have been used as a symbol in their fight for amnesty.

 

Thousands of immigrant workers hopped in buses, forming caravans across the country to draw attention to immigrants' rights and to rally support for a way to gain U.S. citizenship.

 

They emulated the 1961 Freedom Rides, when blacks rode in buses in their battle against segregation.

 

``These are people who knowingly and willfully violate the law,'' Camarota said. ``They are not supposed to be here and demand rights. It does not appeal to citizens. These are different circumstances.''

 

Even so, Latino immigrants' presence is changing the complexion of U.S. cities that hardly saw them 10 or 20 years ago. LULAC's national convention will be in June in Little Rock, Ark., which saw a 110 percent increase in the Hispanic population from 1990 to 2000.

 

With 115,000 members nationally, LULAC works to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of the U.S. Hispanic population.

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Reporter Chris Echegaray can be reached at (813) 259-7920. or Email at cechegaray@tampatrib.com

Article at: http://www.tampatrib.com/MGBM42ZC99E.html

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