“I realize that some might be satisfied with a MALDEF, and a bunch of other alphabet soup orgs to represent the Latino constituency…”

Seneca has said they don’t so even you disagree with his assumptions.

I am am sorry for Lucero, but nothing is 100%. And maybe (hopefully) someone will take up his case.

But I am against any consolidation of the alphabet soup of orgs. Independently they function better because they compete.

Actually, Janet Murguía’s father was born in Oklahoma and moved to Mexico as a young boy. Imagine living in Oklahoma and being Latino during his time.

You can read more here:

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2005/3/28/focused_vision.htm

Anna, Janet Murguía’s parents are from Mexico. I believe Janet Murguía was born in Kansas City. She grew up in an area called “Argentine” which is why you may think she’s South American. Her family is actually quite accomplished. You can read more about her family here:

http://www.nclr.org/files/30591_file_The_Kansas_City_Star_2.8.04.pdf

Not that it really matters, but I think that Janet Murguía has a distinctly Mexican look to her.

Mexitli,

I have looked at MALDEF’s website for a statement about the Lucero killing and nothing was posted as of yesterday. I realize that some might be satisfied with a MALDEF, and a bunch of other alphabet soup orgs to represent the Latino constituency, but in some cases, an argument could be made for consolidating them. Seneca is trying to illustrate how factioned the Latino community is, even in Washington, D.C. You accomplish things by building winning coalitions, not by creating separate fiefdoms.

This is false. Of the 47 million “Hispanics” and “Latinos” in the U.S. the overwhelming majority are of Mexican descent. Therefore, MALDEF does indeed represent them.

Seneca offers common OTM complaints, nothing new here.

Why doesnt Miguel Estrada start the HALDEF?

Nothing is stopping him.

“The LULACs also are closely identified as Mexican American”

Holy cow. What a brainstorm. And I was accused of making idiotic statements. Nothing gets by Seneca does it?

“both depend on the generosity of the white liberal establishment”

So do the blacks. Whites, and do I dare say, Jews, have most of the money in this country.

But you are wrong in that they are liberal. First, you offer no stats or citations. And I can assure you that conservatives give as well.

“Precious little funding appears to come from the Latino (read: Mexican American Community) grassroots.”

Cite your sources.

“the current leaders of the Hispanic (Latino) organizations did not grow up with the internet and may be less prepared to use it or their preference is conventional press releases etc..”

That is ridiculous.

Do the have cell phones?

“everyone interested in current Hispanic affiars seems to get something from the Pew Hispanic Center”

Aww, a positive statement. Pew Hispanic is fast and online.

“Mexican-derived Hispanics are only 60 to 65 % of 45 million.”

Well this is just false. There are 47 million Hispanics. About 5 million are OTM.

“Then you see the closing of the ranks as was the case in California during Gov Pete Wilson’s ignoble attempt to create fear of immigrants”

The Cubans, who numbered about 500k at the time, took Reagan’s Republican side.

“did not pull MALDEF into high gear”

Have you spoken to the local chapter? Perhaps there is a logical reason. Like being underfunded or perhaps no chapter at all.

You sound very bigoted. Again, your slant is very obvious.

I am not one to defend the NCLR, MALDEF or LULAC but the picture you paint is clearly biased and borders on sour grapes.

No organization is perfect. You have said nothing about what these organizations do locally for the benefit of the people, ALL PEOPLE.

There are Asians, Blacks, Jews and OTM’s that work selflessly for these organizations and mostly poor, voiceless people benefit from their labour.

Sorry they are not perfect.

As for MALDEF not supporting Miguel Estrada, they weren’t obligated to support his nomination. Why would they support a candidate who doesn’t support their policies? No other advocacy group would be expected to do that and neither should MALDEF.

As for the quality of the leadership, it could be better. We need articulate, well educated leaders who are media savvy. The problem is lack of education. Quality leadership is usually ivy league educated.

As for not responding to the death of the immigrant man on Long Island, my guess is that they don’t want to ignite a debate over illegal immigration, which any mention of Latinos seems to do. Better leaders would know how to control the discussion and not just react to it.

Not to be mean, but Muriega intimidates easily and isn’t very assertive. I saw her one time on Lou Dobbs and she was so “in her place.” It was really sad.

NCLR on the other hand is not as sectarian, but widely seen as equating “La Raza” as Mexican, hence they are not viewed as a national leader representing all Latinos. Certainly the Cuban Americans and the Puerto Ricans and most other Latinos did not readily see NCLR as their representative. The LULACs also are closely identified as Mexican American even though seen as least partisan and certainly more grassroots as opposed to MALDEF and NCLR, which both depend on the generosity of the white liberal establishment foundations like Ford for basic funding. Precious little funding appears to come from the Latino (read: Mexican American Community) grassroots.

As for using the internet, I suspect they have grown lax and unfamiliar or unconvinced of the internet’s effectiveness…truly a good question. Or perhaps a generational issue — the current leaders of the Hispanic (Latino) organizations did not grow up with the internet and may be less prepared to use it or their preference is conventional press releases etc..Yet nearly everyone interested in current Hispanic affiars seems to get something from the Pew Hispanic Center, which appears to be now the leading research group examining overall Latino assimulation progress, behavior and voter patterns, social-educational and economic indicators and readily reports on the Latino immigration groups by examining Federal immigration policies impacting on the Latino community.

Also an effort should be made to compare these three basically Mexican American organizations (MALDEF, NCLR, LULAC) with such other Latino organizations such as the National Cuban Council (civic oriented), The Puerto Rican National Foundation (civic mostly) and the Cuban American National Foundation (highly political and one trick pony on US Cuba policy). In sum, we do not have even an all encompassing Latino national organization like the NAACP, the Urban League, United Negro College Fund. The nature of our divided Latino organizations: Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican and countless other Latin chambers of commerce through the country like the Panama Business Council, the Honduran Foundation, the US Ecuador Business group, the Peruvian, the Brazilian American Institute, the US Argentine groups, et al…indicates that we divide the totality of Latinos by nationality: Mexican-derived Hispanics are only 60 to 65 % of 45 million. This means there are about twenty million non-Mexican Latinos in the country that our traditional organizations pay scant attention, and be certain that the white establishment recognizes this lack of unity. The only thing that seems to united all Latinos is when the immigration debate becomes ugly and is perceived to be anti-Latino: racist and discriminatory in tone. Then you see the closing of the ranks as was the case in California during Gov Pete Wilson’s ignoble attempt to create fear of immigrants which readily became ‘racist’ and anti-Latino..the result it was an effective way of making California a Democratic Party bastion…and our NCLR, MALDEF and LULAC have not fully seized on this to forge a more united front. Finally, the most recent ‘lynching’ by whites of a Latino-Ecuadorian did not pull MALDEF into high gear, an unfortunate situation. Hopefully it was just negligence and not a wilful political position. The fact is that in a growing economic uncertainty and increasing joblessness, hate crimes against Latino immigrants and others can be expected to increase. Our Latino issues organizations should anticipate this and be ready to swing into action. The internet should be the first choice of dissemination.