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Latinos tell candidates "No more racism"

By Marisa Trevino

Dallas, TX – During this first presidential campaign of the 21st century, it is bittersweet for Latinos to find ourselves being singled out from among the national constituency by being targeted with Spanish television commercials, websites and sound bytes from both parties. We don't mind that the accents are in all the wrong places when either of the presidential candidates touts their knowledge of our mother tongue. In fact, according to the recent Public Broadcasting Latino Poll 2000, most Latinos think it is only moderately effective for candidates to speak Spanish to appeal to us. At least they're trying. And, above all else, it is effort that we admire.

It is an effort, no matter how politically motivated, that is attempting to convey they know us and they understand our concerns. Who wouldn't understand the facts that we have the highest number of school dropouts, or that more than 25% of Hispanic families live below the poverty level? Yet, no matter how much the candidates promise to improve education and employment opportunities, they still have trouble understanding discrimination and racism.

According to the Public Broadcasting Latino Poll, those Latinos surveyed ranked racism and discrimination not only the number one problem facing Latinos, but also the number one problem facing the country. It is an issue that permeates, and contributes to the severity of, all the other concerns facing Latinos in American society. In education, low educational expectations from school administrators place an inordinate number of Latino children in remedial classes with little encouragement to transcend. In achieving the American dream of home ownership, according to the Public Broadcasting Latino Poll, only 43% of Hispanic families own their own home. And in the quest for equal justice, Latinos, along with blacks, are stopped more often by law enforcement, not for speeding or running a red light, but simply because we fit the look of a particular criminal.

Discrimination and racism dissolves the very core of human dignity. It underscores the inequality and mistrust that exists among this country's people. It breeds prejudice. And it can be heard. It is heard in the court testimony of a psychologist who claimed that the trial's defendant was a future threat to society because he was Latino. It is heard in the national promotion of the English, First! Campaign and in the dissolution of affirmative action programs at universities. It is everywhere.

However, we are responding to these acts of discrimination and racism. In the Public Broadcasting Latino Poll, 83% of the Hispanics polled made it clear that Latinos seeking higher education should receive special consideration for college admissions and scholarships, and 80% strongly opposed the passage of English-only legislation.

We are speaking out and we are waiting to be heard. If the candidates insist on speaking Spanish to us, then let us hear the two magic words we have been waiting for - No mas.