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La Raza’s faith in the two-party system was dealt a shocking blow with the defeat of Senate Bill 170. The tuition equity legislation went down to defeat on a 16-18 vote as Democrats from Aurora, Hesperus, Wheat Ridge, Littleton (Tancredoville) and Thornton “voted against the bill.” When the interests of brown children are placed on the table, it seems that old attitudes and platitudes seem to surface with an intense backlash.
The American myth and its corollary, the Puritan ethic, believed by those from the south who come to work and seek out a better life have been shattered. The image of paved gold streets is again tainted with the stark reality that draconian attitudes are difficult to obliterate. The aspirations and future lives of thousands of undocumented children will be affected. Democrats proved the old adage stated by famed leader Rudolfo “Corky” Gonzales that the two-party system “is like a monster with two heads eating out of the same trough.”
The political muckrakers should be exposed, especially if they show up strutting in the barrio wearing guaraches, guayaberas and sombreros while gorging on mamacita’s tacos during Cinco de Mayo or better yet, during voting season. What they have ostensibly done is expose the continued wave of imigraphobia that has become rampant, as they listened to their constituents and voted accordingly. Maybe we should listen to our constituents and get them out of office. That would require some wrangling from strong leadership in the Democratic Party. The question is do we have that kind of leadership, someone willing to take the party on. Historically, disloyalty to the party has its repercussions.
The doors of opportunity have been shut again. It comes at a time when countless hours have been spent to restore faith in a system that uses the Latino vote as my mother used to say, “A su coveniencia.” The loss of faith in the system has history behind it. From the canneries, mines, packing houses and fields in South Texas to Southern California and into Northern Colorado, the vote meant nothing. It was an exercise in futility as conditions remained the same for la Raza irrespective of who was in office.
This defeat comes at a time when social demographers predicted that Latinos would be a strong force in partisan politics. There is no doubt that Latinos played a fundamental role in the election of Barack Obama. This defeat comes at a time when Obama’s Secretary of Education was in Denver Public Schools, as DPS administrators were bragging about their innovative practices. I wonder what he thinks now, especially since Latina/o “push out” rates are increasing in numbers.
I spoke with my confidant who asked a profound question, “Why should Latino kids negatively affected by this decision go to school?” They have no future. The incentive to prosper will wither away. There is an apparent contradiction. How can you hope to build an educated work force with strong civic leaders without complimentary policies that ensure their success? Broken promises and broken covenants are hard to repair.
The final ray of hope will fall in the hands of national legislators as they too come to grips with the passage of the Dream Act. Access to education, the supposed great equalizer will either be the great savior for Latina/o youth or America will create a permanent underclass of brown laborers. The cyclical theory of history is knocking at the door; but the noise is falling on deaf ears.
If the Dream Act passes in its current form, long lines of young brown women and men will congregate at the recruiter’s door, no not the educational recruiter, the Marine Corps recruiter anxiously waiting to fill quotas for warriors. That’s really a pretty slick move. The current administration declares a war on terrorism while local communities continue to terrorize undocumented workers; and more so, innocent children.
Brown children will swell in numbers and fill the ranks of the military machine and the border patrol, protecting themselves from the war on drugs. I remember writing a poem during the Nicaraguan Conflict, at a time when the School of Las Americas was training Chicano troops to fight the Sandinistas. To paraphrase the theme of the poem, I remember writing, “I don’t want to kill anyone who makes tortillas; it won’t free any of us.” Our youth is good enough to guard the gates, fight in wars, pick the crops, and wash dirty dishes, but not good enough to be educated. That, mis amigos is a supreme contradiction. Behind this defeat is an attitude of superiority blended with psychological fear. It is called racism.
The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC) has vowed to continue the struggle. In a statement released on Monday, a representative stated, “Make no mistake; this struggle is not over.” The Colorado Latino Forum stated, “Today, we ask that you reach out to Latinas/os in your community and across Colorado to join us in our continued endeavor to build a unified statewide coalition. The litmus test of any group is showing courage, unity and strength following defeat. We may have lost the battle; but the struggle for social justice continues.
Si Se Puede!
Dr. Ramon Del Castillo
Independent Journalist
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