Guest Column
Latino Liberation Through Education!
By Roberto Miranda
The other day I was in a local coffee shop reading a book about the Middle East by Michael T. Klare.
My attention was drawn away from the book when a young couple began debating whether it was a good thing to be a Latino in the United States.
I was floored when after the discussion the young couple agreed that it was not in their best interest to be seen as Latinos, rather than just be identified as Americans.
I wanted to stop them and ask them to sit down with me so that we might engage in further discussion. I decided to write my thoughts here instead.
I can understand why these young people believe in the notion that being a Latino can be a detriment to them. After all, the attacks being levied by the political right-wing against immigrants—especially Mexicans, Latin Americans and Africans—have placed much unwanted attention upon these populations. The end result of this unwanted attention is evil laws being created by Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner and his fellow reactionaries in the Republican Party.
It’s a shame that some Latinos feel they must hide who they are so that no one feels threatened by them.
The continuing oppression of black Latinos is another example of Latinos trying to hide from the fact that they’re more related to Africans then they are to Europeans. For example, ask a black Latino his or her race and more often than not he or she will respond by letting you know his or her ethnicity.
The Anglo history in America has always been the use of racism to divide and conquer the masses. The evil message of white supremacy—liberal and conservative—is solely intended to use Anglos, including the Anglo working class, as pawns against people of color.
So it was not surprising to me to hear these young people talking the way that they did about their identity. After all, in America, to be an American is to be a practitioner of racist politics.
Latino liberation from these insidious politics can only be won by educating oneself of the importance of our heritage and its significance to world history.
Understanding African genocidal holocaust of the Middle Passage and the destruction of indigenous cultures in Latin America and North America, help pave the way for one’s mind to free itself from Anglo dependence.
Mexicans, Boricuas, Colombians, all Latinos have history of being builders of cities and have made their mark on the world as advanced societies. These ancient people were overcome by the diseases of an old world that has introduced ancient and inhumane notions about Africans and indigenous people.
No struggle can be more just than the fight against racism in this country. The day when justice is won for the victims of every act of racism will be a glorious one.
To be able to one day celebrate that victory, we must all remember where we come from. To those young people who thought it best to hide their identity, I say, please seek education and study your history.
Liberate yourselves from the propaganda of white supremacy and stand up to those who in turn try to call you a racist for being pro-Latino. Education is the key.
- If you don’t stand for your people, who will?
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- Robert Miranda, a frequent contributing columnist to HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) is a national award winning columnist, Latino community activist and Publisher of the Milwaukee Spanish Journal. Email at: rmiranda@wi.rr.com
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