Comments on: A “woe is me” piece by Ruben Navarrette

By: Rosey

Rosey — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:57:31 +0000

Duh.. I agree with Irma. of course he got in because of his race. My nephew was interviewed by Harvard. He wasn’t accepted, I think, because he ‘looked too white”. He also carried a non-Hispanic last name, although his father is from Mexico.
Navarette puts too much emphasis on the fact that he graduated from Harvard. So what? It’s who you are and what you do with said degree that’s important.
So for, all I’ve seen is a man who doesn’t know what side of the fence he want’s to stand on. And shame on him if he is not fluent in Spanish. Maybe he should have taken some initiative and learned it himself.

By: kevin

kevin — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:50:35 +0000

alot of talk about “possible” racial profileing, fear of it is not good enough to keep laws from being written.there must actually be racial profileing to have a case. America is not built with diversity of cultures,but of a diversity of peoples. America has its own culture and just as my ancestors left theirs behind to become Americans so must all who come here .America cannot stand united while everyone is insisting on their own culture and language. if you come here ,then come legally and come to be American or you are part of the problem.

By: irma

irma — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:24:35 +0000

” They were no more pleased when, on other fronts, I opposed bilingual education, racial preferences and Latino boycotts.”

I am no Ruben Navarette fan, but I must say that I was surprised to learn how misguided and naive. I happen to know quite a bit about Harvard picks its undergraduate students.
I spent some time on the Cambridge campus years ago and was briefly involved in graduate admissions. At the undergraduate level, Harvard will bend over backwards and throw out conventional standards to make the incoming freshman class diverse. Racial
preferences are used at Harvard and I am certain that they were a factor in Mr. Navarette’s admission. The reason I say this is because, Harvard gets so many applicants, it could easily fill its class with people who
by a number of standards (not just grades)
were more “qualified” than Ruben Navarette.
He was attractive to Harvard precisely because of his ethnicity and social background. Harvard probably had very few applicants with a background similar to Mr. Navarette. Put it another way, his competition for his spot in the
freshman class was other Mexicans or minorities .

Mr. Navarette is incredibly naive, if he actually believes that his college application to Harvard was stronger than that of most of the majority applicants.

By: webmaster

webmaster — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:44:59 +0000

Anna,

That piece Ruben Navarrette wrote was published last week.

Unfortunately, we don’t have many Latino voices beyond the usual suspects who make it to the traditional media, so we get stuck with this, which is why blogging is so important.

For what it’s worth, Gustavo graces this blog with his presence and encourages other writers. I don’t think I have ever seen Navarrette participate in any blog banter or avail him self to the public like Gustavo does. I don’t even think that Navarrette tweets or engages in social media to share ideas.

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:26:10 +0000

That article of his you linked is stale, and reads like something from the 70s or 80s. He has too much of a race obsession. With all of that education he should be writing something more insightful. He won’t move to the next level, until he works out his issues.

By: webmaster

webmaster — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:55:08 +0000

Gustavo,

I don’t dislike Ruben (haven’t engaged with him personally to say whether I like him)… I agree that he antagonizes people, but he is doing this “light skin, middle class” woe is me bit in this piece.

That being said, I don’t think that Ruben decides to say something conservative to get on the tube as Anna asserts. I know that she once commented on this blog that Ruben should get into politics or something to that effect. The “Harvard Chicano” makes a good living off of his writing, why would he want to subject himself and his family to the circus? He gets paid for his ideas and gets to write in his pajamas, the nude, whatever…

By: Gustavo Arellano

Gustavo Arellano — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:46:05 +0000

Anna: Geez, I haven’t slammed your idiotic remarks in months, yet you still have opinions on me? Sorry, honey but I don’t swing that way–dumb!

Adriana: I’m a Marxist of the Groucho variety in my political worldview. I like Ruben–antagonizes people as a columnist should–and I frequently appear with him on the Barbershop segment of NPR’s Tell me More program. However, if Ruben has “light skin,” then I’m a Joe Arpaio supporter.

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Oh, I forgot, Gustavo went on CBS and told the nation that Hispanic women would vote Villaraigosa out of office because of his affair. Political prognostication at its best.

By: FormerStaffer

FormerStaffer — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:04:46 +0000

Ruben Navarrette a liberal? I don’t think Ruben Navarrette knows politically where his printed whining often lines up.

By: webmaster

webmaster — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:55:32 +0000

Anna: “When has Gustavo been on TV, besides on a comedy show?”

Gustavo has been on the Today Show, Nightline, The Situation with Tucker Carlson, etc.

http://www.askamexican.net/?p=about

Since I don’t really watch TV, I don’t know if the Today Show and Nightline have evolved into comedy shows, but that may be the case given the current state of media in America.

I would consider Gustavo to be more liberal than Ruben Navarrette. For instance, I don’t see Gustavo Arellano writing a piece that beats the war drums like this:

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_13585788