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opinion guest_columns
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Gov. Has Insight About Hispanics
By Harry Moskos
Of the Journal
Who said:
â– “... Mexican-Americans don't have much, they really feel that blacks get all the breaks. They don't know blacks. They don't understand blacks. There is tremendous resentment towards blacks. They view the Democratic Party as the party of blacks.”
n “The Hispanic considers himself, although a racial minority, basically white, mainstream middle class, trying to be part of the mainstream, not always seeking, I think, the same objectives blacks have: redistribution, poverty programs. Their economic level may be the same but the objectives seem to be different.”
Fernando C de Baca?
No.
The first statement, by Rafael Valdivieso, is included in Washington, D.C., journalist's Peter Brown's 1991 book, “Minority Party.” Brown, who devotes a chapter to racial groups and presidential elections, noted that Valdivieso, at the time vice president for research at the Hispanic Policy Development Project, was a former Carter administration appointee.
The second statement, also in the book, is by Bill Richardson, then a congressman from New Mexico. Richardson went on to say:
“In the Hispanic community there is a large American dream, work-hard mentality — pride, self-reliance, family, church, neighborhood. There is less of 'somebody has got to help me.' There is more of a self-reliant attitude, particularly when they have left their native country and know they have to make it on their own, and not with the help of the government because the government is perceived as the immigration service.”
C de Baca kicked off a firestorm with his comments in BBC interviews, including that “Hispanics consider themselves above blacks, ...” “... are not going to support the Democratic candidate for president ...” and that Hispanics “resented” being “left behind” when it came to some government civil rights programs ever since the '60s.
In the wake of his comments, C de Baca, under pressure from both within and outside the GOP, resigned as the Bernalillo County Republican Party chairman.
Richardson also said: “The Democratic Party's perception of the Hispanic rank-and-file fits into two categories: that they are agricultural farm workers, or people in the barrio who are poor and have no other option. Their perception is that dealing with poverty issues will get you the Hispanic vote. And that is not going to happen, because Hispanics are now asking about tax policy and economic growth, defense. ...
“Unless the Democratic Party pays more attention to Hispanic needs and changes its emphasis from social redistribution policies to economic growth polices, the danger is that the Hispanic vote will become like other (white) ethnic votes and take more stands on bread-and-butter issues not reflected in the Democratic philosophy.”
While both Valdivieso and C de Baca made references to resentment between Hispanics and blacks, Richardson took a different path by pointing out the direction the Democratic Party needs to take to assure it gets the votes of the Hispanics.
Although written 17 years ago, it is interesting that Brown's book raised an issue that is still very much relevant in this year's presidential campaign.
We will find out in 17 days whether Richardson's advice to his fellow Democrats was heeded or if the resentment cited by Valdivieso and C de Baca still lingers.
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