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March 20, 2004
¡Si...!
Something must be done!
By Ricardo
Castañón/HispanicVista.com
An investigation
conducted by The Associated Press,
compared safety statistics among various
ethnic groups. Justin Pritchard (AP)
reports that the study covered from 1996
through 2002 and based its findings
on data from the US Bureau of labor
statistics.
The annual
death rate for Mexican workers was found
to be -one in 16,000- while the
average US born worker was -one in
28,000. Our brothers are more likely to
be killed than other workers doing
similar work. Kids in their teens get
buried in ditches at construction sites
or in the fields. Others get torn apart
by heavy equipment -it is gruesome.
Ignorance of
the language and
overeagerness are the major
reasons why.
Hispanic-Americans
who master both languages fluently,
need to start an educational campaign
to get these folks to read bilingual
materials. While there are some cases
where indigenous immigrants don't even
read Spanish, they still have that same
drive to progress as the next guy. They
will welcome every opportunity to improve
their condition.
Advocacy
groups should distribute bilingual fliers
at the work place. Workshops should be
organized to train legions of
volunteers that would visit work
sites and conduct
preventive seminars on safety
standards. English reading and writing
courses should be offered by bilingual
instructors to the workers and their
families.
Pictures of
accidents should be distributed along
with slogans like:
"Don't let this happen to
you!"
"No permitas que esto te pase a
ti!"
"Do NOT become an
statistic!"
"No te combiertas en
estadistica!"
"READ, learn
English!"
"Lee, aprende Inglés!"
"If you
die, your DREAM dies with
you!" "Si
mueres, tu sueño muere
contigo!"
There are
myriads of other messages that would have
a positive effect on our folks. We owe it
to our heritage, to our family principles
and values. We MUST lend a helping hand
and try to remedy this awful situation.
They are out there helplessly in the
middle of the battlefield. Few to guide
them and many awaiting to take their
place.
Verdad
que... Si?
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Ricardo Castañón
is a bilingual essayist contributing
weekly columns to HispanicVista.com.(www.hispanicvista.com).
He has authored an anthology of
motivational articles on Hispanic
heritage and traditions. Book information
is at www.IkarosPress.com.
Ricardo is based in El Paso, TX E-mail
him at Rico@IkarosPress.com.
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