COLUMNS
Finding Dad in a Museum August 18, 2015 - There I was, on my Great Hispanic American History Tour, visiting yet one more gallery where our heritage is on display, and much to my surprise — through my camera lens — I made a discovery that almost knocked me down. I was visiting Miami's Freedom Tower, the National Historic Landmark that served as the U.S. government's "Cuban Refugee Center" in the 1960s and early 1970s, and I was determined to write a very personal account of what that building means to me — how it received my own family when it served as "the Ellis Island of the South." But nothing had prepared me for the shock I received last week when I entered the tower — now a museum — for the first time in more than 50 years. Read more . . . |
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Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit June 9, 2015 - On the broad streets of Washington, D.C., and within the majestic halls of the U.S. Capitol, our often-hidden Hispanic heritage had not been hard to find. My Great Hispanic American History Tour had discovered many remarkable monuments and works of art recognizing Hispanic patriots and heroes and their contributions to this great nation. I was truly impressed — until I got to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Wow! After visiting so many Hispanic historical sites around the country, what a disappointment! It was as if I had walked into an average American history book, with all its typical blatant omissions of the contributions of Hispanic Americans. Read more . . . |
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Searching for Not-So-Hidden Hispanic Heritage in Washington, DC April 21, 2015 - When we go to our nation's capital, mostly as tourists trying to make time to cover all the major attractions, we seldom find enough time to visit some smaller sites that would be monumental if they were elsewhere. Washington has so many statues, sculptured buildings, busts, monuments and other outdoor attractions that it's easy to overlook many of them — even when some could have special significance to you. This is especially true for U.S. Latinos . . . Read more . . . |
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A Tour of Our Extraordinarily
Hispanic U.S. Capitol March 24, 2015 - You see Hernando De Soto and his Spanish conquistadors as they discovered the Mississippi River. You view different artistic interpretations of the moment Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World. You see Hernando Cortes' meeting with Montezuma in Mexico and Francisco Pizarro on his way to Peru. You see tributes to Spanish monarchs and missionaries — and to U.S. Hispanic heroes and accomplishments. Read more--> (78) |
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When Galvez Came to Congress
February 2, 2015 - WASHINGTON — It took Congress 231 years to keep this particular promise, perhaps setting a record, but it finally happened in December, when a portrait of Spanish Gen. Bernardo de Galvez finally was hung on a wall in the U.S. Capitol. Read more --> (77) Searching for Coronado's Quivira After Spanish conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado gave up on New Mexico because the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola turned out to be made of mud instead of gold — and before returning to present-day Mexico — he went all the way up to present-day Kansas. Marching with more than 1,000 people, with several thousand head of livestock, and often sending small groups of soldiers to explore in different directions, the 1540-42 Coronado expedition covered a huge territory — through today's Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Read more-> (74) |
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2014
A Hilltop View of Hispanic Heritage
December 17, 2014 - You are standing on a hilltop, next to a beautiful shrine. You see a valley of farmland embraced by mountain ranges. You are overlooking a quaint, historic community at the bottom of the hill — and all of it is named in Spanish. You are on "La Mesa de la Piedad y de la Misericordia," or the Hill of Piety and Mercy, standing next to "La Capilla de Todos Los Santos," or the Chapel of All Saints, overlooking the San Luis Valley, which is embraced by the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains. You are in southern Colorado. But from the names of the landmarks here, you could just as well be in Spain. Read more --> (73)
December 17, 2014 - You are standing on a hilltop, next to a beautiful shrine. You see a valley of farmland embraced by mountain ranges. You are overlooking a quaint, historic community at the bottom of the hill — and all of it is named in Spanish. You are on "La Mesa de la Piedad y de la Misericordia," or the Hill of Piety and Mercy, standing next to "La Capilla de Todos Los Santos," or the Chapel of All Saints, overlooking the San Luis Valley, which is embraced by the Sangre de Cristo and San Juan Mountains. You are in southern Colorado. But from the names of the landmarks here, you could just as well be in Spain. Read more --> (73)
Back in 1776, while 13 British colonies were becoming an independent nation on the eastern side of North America, two Spanish priests were leading an expedition across present-day New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. They were looking to establish a northern route from Santa Fe to the Spanish settlements in present-day California. But the mighty Colorado River stood in their way. Read more -->
January 13, 2015 - He was the star of the Founding Fathers, the intellectual architect of our system of government, the author of our Declaration of Independence, our first secretary of state and our third president. He was well-known for his attraction to France. But if you were to ask Thomas Jefferson, he would tell you how important it is for you to learn Spanish. Read more --> (76)
Long before southern Arizona was part of the United States and long before it was part of Mexico, back when it was part of the territory of New Spain, the town of Tucson was born. Its name is a Spanish adaptation of "S-cuk Son," which is what Tohono O'odham Native Americans called their village. But the name Tucson is what stuck, especially after 1775, when the Spanish decided to build a fort to protect the village and called it Presidio de San Agustin del Tucson. Read more -->
January 6, 2015 - Somewhere beneath the Hilton Hotel and Ballpark Village — the fancy new complex built by the St. Louis Cardinals next to Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis — lie the remains of an old Spanish fort that played a key role in defeating the British during the American Revolution. In fact, had it not been for Fort San Carlos, hastily built by Spanish troops and French Creole settlers to protect the small village of St. Louis in 1780, some historians believe American independence from Great Britain would not have been achieved. Read more --> (75)
The first time I met him, I immediately perceived that he had a unique talent for bringing Hispanic American history into present-day context. And that's all I needed. Because my history columns seek the same objective, I became an instant fan and follower of Dr. Bernard "Bunny" Fontana. It was more than two years ago, and we were in the living room of his Sonoran Desert home, just outside the Tohono O'odham Native American reservation in southern Arizona — the area he has explored, researched and exposed in several books as a noted anthropologist and historian. Read more -->
Right then and there, as I knelt on a pew at the Mission San Xavier del Bac church in southern Arizona two years ago, I made a pledge that I would go back — not just for another Sunday Mass but by way of a cross-country pilgrimage to discover America's hidden Hispanic heritage. This church was so uniquely beautiful, so spiritually fulfilling, so ethnically enriching that it rearranged my professional priorities and took my life in a new direction.
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They were the best that 17th- and 18th-century Europe had to offer. Every one of them was an explorer, a diplomat, a teacher, a cartographer, a farmer, a rancher, a builder, a scribe and a preacher. The men who really settled and first established what now are huge portions of the United States were Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries who worked for the king of Spain.
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As you drive there, you get the feeling you are terribly alone. The area is so remote and desolate that if you are traveling by yourself, it feels a little spooky, like being on a deserted planet. You don't see anyone for miles! You've driven across the country to visit the Coronado National Memorial in southern Arizona, which commemorates the 1540 to 1542 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado expedition through North America and "the cultural influences of Spanish colonial exploration." But you are greeted by signs warning you that if you are traveling alone, you shouldn't be there. Read more ->
Using 16th-century maps but traveling on 21st-century highways — and even some waterways — my cross-country trip has been roughly following the route of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, the Spanish conquistador who spent almost eight years traveling across the North American wilderness from 1528 to 1536 — from Tampa, Florida, to Mexico City. Read more ->
When a huge chunk of Mexico became part of the United States in 1848, many of the Mexicans who lived in the affected territory moved further south, back into Mexico, because they didn't want to live in the country that had invaded them. Back then, the flow of immigration was in reverse! Read more ->
Back in 1995, when I was almost 20 years younger, I was daring enough to hike all the way up to the mountaintop. But much to my relief, there was no need to do it again, because this time, I was there for a different reason. Instead of the view from 4,675 feet above sea level, this time I was there to see that majestic sierra from a distance and to admire the huge crucifix that stands on its summit. This time, I was on the Great Hispanic American History Tour, and Mount Cristo Rey — in Sunland Park, New Mexico, just west of El Paso, Texas — was a mandatory stop. It was conceived by a Hispanic priest, was created by a Spanish sculptor and has guided Latinos along El Paso del Norte (the Pass to the North) for more than seven decades. Read more->
When the United States and Mexico agreed to designate a large portion of the Rio Grande as the international border between the two countries in 1848, no one asked the river whether it wanted to accept such a huge responsibility. And so, because nature is never bound by international treaties, the course of the river kept shifting — making the border inconsistent, inviting unscrupulous land-grabbing and igniting bitter feuds that lasted more than a century. . . Read more->
It is, by all accounts, "the world's biggest equestrian statue" — so big that it's meant to be seen from a distance. Standing next to this rearing Andalusian stallion — mounted by a Spanish conquistador — can be intimidating, not to mention illegal. Read more ->
When you get to San Elizario, Texas, in a part of the country that bears little resemblance to Plymouth, Massachusetts, you learn that you are in "a proud and picturesque community, which is gaining fame as the home of the 'First Thanksgiving.'" At least that's what the welcoming signs tell you: "The expedition of Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate held a Thanksgiving feast in 1598 near what is now San Elizario, twenty-three years before the Thanksgiving at Plymouth Colony." Read more ->
As you drive west on I-10 across Texas, you can see Mexico from your left windows. Sometimes the highway gets so close to the Mexican border that you can clearly see the landscape on the other side of the Rio Grande. But if you take an offramp a few miles before you get to El Paso, you not only can get much closer to Mexico but also can travel back in time and relive West Texas' rich Hispanic history. Read more.
Long after "Remember the Alamo" no longer needed to be used as a battle cry against Mexico, it was used once again by a Latina who fought to preserve that former Spanish mission as a shrine to the heroes of the Texas revolution. Her name was Adina De Zavala, born in 1861, the granddaughter of Lorenzo de Zavala (1789-1836), the first vice president of the Republic of Texas. Read more.
There Was Compassion on the Spanish Mission Trail
August 26, 2014 - When we think of the Spanish conquistadors, most of us see images of the ruthless explorers who committed genocide while seeking gold in Latin America. Those images often are grossly distorted by the anti-Spanish propaganda known as the Black Legend, but they are even more distorted when they are applied to the Spanish missionaries who came to North America. Nowhere is this more evident than on the San Antonio Mission Trail, where you can see marvelous things the Spanish did to improve the lives of Native Americans. Read more.
August 26, 2014 - When we think of the Spanish conquistadors, most of us see images of the ruthless explorers who committed genocide while seeking gold in Latin America. Those images often are grossly distorted by the anti-Spanish propaganda known as the Black Legend, but they are even more distorted when they are applied to the Spanish missionaries who came to North America. Nowhere is this more evident than on the San Antonio Mission Trail, where you can see marvelous things the Spanish did to improve the lives of Native Americans. Read more.
San Antonio: The Showcase of Our Hispanic Heritage
08/19/14 -- In the early evening, as I walked through Main Plaza in downtown San Antonio, headed by the majestic San Fernando Cathedral and reminiscent of the many Spanish colonial plazas throughout Latin America, I noticed that something had changed. Just a few hours earlier, I had spent some time taking pictures of the plaza, where beautiful fountains reign, and inside that grand Gothic cathedral, where the Spanish faith of the 1700s still lifts your spirit. But now the daylight was fading, and the fountains had been shut off. A huge crowd was gathering at the plaza. People were bringing their own folding chairs and sitting there, all facing the church. I was tired, on my way back to my hotel after spending the entire day walking around downtown San Antonio, taking pictures in every direction, marveling at how this city showcases its Hispanic heritage. But I had to ask what the evening gathering was about. "You have several cameras," a woman told me as she searched for the best position to place her portable chair in front of the church. "You can't leave!" Read more . . .
08/19/14 -- In the early evening, as I walked through Main Plaza in downtown San Antonio, headed by the majestic San Fernando Cathedral and reminiscent of the many Spanish colonial plazas throughout Latin America, I noticed that something had changed. Just a few hours earlier, I had spent some time taking pictures of the plaza, where beautiful fountains reign, and inside that grand Gothic cathedral, where the Spanish faith of the 1700s still lifts your spirit. But now the daylight was fading, and the fountains had been shut off. A huge crowd was gathering at the plaza. People were bringing their own folding chairs and sitting there, all facing the church. I was tired, on my way back to my hotel after spending the entire day walking around downtown San Antonio, taking pictures in every direction, marveling at how this city showcases its Hispanic heritage. But I had to ask what the evening gathering was about. "You have several cameras," a woman told me as she searched for the best position to place her portable chair in front of the church. "You can't leave!" Read more . . .
08/12/2014 -- Its original name was Mision San Antonio de Valero. It was built by Native Americans and Spanish Franciscan priests in 1724. But you probably know it better because of what happened there in 1836, when it was no longer a Spanish mission. You probably . . . Read more . . .
08/05/2014 -- We all make the same mistake. When traveling through history, we tend to shorten time and lose perspective, often turning centuries into decades and decades into years. Perhaps this is the reason why so many Americans still confuse the totally . . . Read more . . .
07/29/2014 -- As if the day had been made to order, just for me to truly appreciate the hardships endured by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and a few-dozen other shipwrecked Spanish conquistadors almost 500 years ago, there was menacing weather when I arrived on . . . Read more . . .
07/22/2014 -- You feel like you've been there before, and yet you know this is your first time in New Orleans. That's the sensation you get if you are a Latino arriving in the French Quarter. At first you can't quite figure out why everything looks so . . . Read more . . .
07/15/2014 -- From the cannons mounted on the roof of Fort Conde, now surrounded by modern high-rise buildings in downtown Mobile, Alabama, it's hard to envision the time when it was under siege by Spanish and Latin American troops. But it's even harder for many . . . Read more . . .
07/08/2014 -- When you stand next to those huge cannons pointing into Mobile Bay, as I did when I recently visited Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan in Alabama, somehow they don't look as menacing as when you see them from the water, as I did when I took the ferry that . . . Read more . . .
07/01/2014 -- To follow the footsteps of the Spanish conquistadors who came to North America some 500 years ago, sometimes water routes are necessary. And that's how I found myself rowing on the Econfina Creek in northwest Florida. After seeing how the . . . Read more . . .
06/24/2014 -- From the water, you still can see small sections of unspoiled shoreline that allow you to imagine what the conquistadors must have seen when they landed on the west coast of Florida almost 500 years ago. Seeking that vantage point, from the . . . Read more . . .
06/17/2014 -- The time has come for me to take a long drive. My pilgrimage in search for America's hidden Hispanic heritage requires reporting from dozens of historical sites I'm determined to visit this year. To get the most out of my journey, I have been Read more . . .
06/10/2014 -- As you walk in, you feel like you are going through a time warp and landing abruptly in 18th-century Europe. A few minutes earlier you were driving through the Arizona desert, but suddenly you are surrounded by dozens of saints and angels. You feel as . . . Read more . . .
The 'Discovery' of Self-Loathing Hispanics
06/03/2014 -- Wherever they went in North America, usually years before any of the other European explorers, the Spanish conquistadores drew a map and named the landmarks they found along the way. No wonder so much of our country is named in Spanish! . . . Read more . . .
Peace With Colombian Drug Rebels? Keep Dreaming!
May 20, 2014 - When Colombians go to the polls to vote in a presidential election Sunday, they will be going through deja vu. After 50 years, you would think they would have moved on to different issues. But nah, Colombians have no such luck. They will again be voting on whether to make peace or war with the leftist, drug-trafficking rebels, who have caused them so much pain for a half-century. From a handful of candidates, two already are projected by the polls to face each other again in a mid-June runoff: President Juan Manuel Santos, who wants Colombians to keep waiting for a never-ending peace process, and Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, a former finance minister who speaks for Colombians who are tired of waiting and have come to the sad realization that the rebels have no intention of giving up their weapons after 50 years of war. After all, these so-called Marxist rebels are not ideological dingbats — a la Che Guevara — stupidly believing they are liberating people who don't want to be liberated. These are major league cocaine dealers who don't want to give up a very lucrative business. You may be able to negotiate with political opponents on ideological grounds by listening to their concerns and even implementing some of their demands. But how do you cut a peace deal with a band of criminals wearing Guevara masks? . . . Read more . . .
May 20, 2014 - When Colombians go to the polls to vote in a presidential election Sunday, they will be going through deja vu. After 50 years, you would think they would have moved on to different issues. But nah, Colombians have no such luck. They will again be voting on whether to make peace or war with the leftist, drug-trafficking rebels, who have caused them so much pain for a half-century. From a handful of candidates, two already are projected by the polls to face each other again in a mid-June runoff: President Juan Manuel Santos, who wants Colombians to keep waiting for a never-ending peace process, and Oscar Ivan Zuluaga, a former finance minister who speaks for Colombians who are tired of waiting and have come to the sad realization that the rebels have no intention of giving up their weapons after 50 years of war. After all, these so-called Marxist rebels are not ideological dingbats — a la Che Guevara — stupidly believing they are liberating people who don't want to be liberated. These are major league cocaine dealers who don't want to give up a very lucrative business. You may be able to negotiate with political opponents on ideological grounds by listening to their concerns and even implementing some of their demands. But how do you cut a peace deal with a band of criminals wearing Guevara masks? . . . Read more . . .
Obama Discriminates
Our national Latino leaders still dance around it. They come close to saying it, but they still won't admit it. So I'll say it for them: The Obama administration discriminates against Latino immigrants. Clearly, that should have been the conclusion of a new study that showed while 75 percent of undocumented immigrants are Latinos, 97 percent of those deported in 2013 were from Mexico, Central America or South America. But when a group of national Latino organizations released the study's findings, instead of blasting President Barack Obama for discriminating against Latino immigrants, they kept playing softball with the president, saying only that Latino immigrants are "disproportionally deported" and calling again on Obama's deaf ears . . . Read More . . .
Like Taking Risks? Try Venezuela!
For the world's risk-taking travelers, those who go to places from which there may be no return, Venezuela is rapidly becoming a major attraction. If you like finding yourself amid violent demonstrations, if you seek the thrill of being accused of working for the CIA, if you like getting mugged by street thugs, or if you are just a traveling masochist, try Caracas! In Venezuela, all your nightmares can come true! If the thugs don't mug you, the cops will probably arrest you. The socialist government of questionably elected President Nicolas Maduro acknowledged Friday that 58 foreigners, including an American, have been arrested on suspicion of inciting the violent anti-government protests that have rocked Venezuela for three months. While trying to suppress a "Venezuelan Spring," the Maduro government tries to blame foreigners for the discontent of its people — as if the world could not see they are fed up with totalitarian measures, food scarcity, economic chaos, scary crime rates and the highest inflation in the Americas. As if the Venezuelan people could not cry out for change by themselves without foreigners to incite them! . . . Read more . . .
Boehner's Whiny Hypocrisy
When House Speaker John Boehner mocked his Republican colleagues for their reluctance to deal with immigration reform last week, we saw the ultimate display of: A. poor leadership; B. hypocrisy; C. a divided Republican Party; D. a puppet rebelling against the puppeteers; E. a politician getting ready to retire. Those are just some of the many ways people from all extremes of the political spectrum interpreted and reacted to Boehner's whinnying performance before a Rotary Club lunch audience in his Ohio district Thursday. "Here's the attitude," Boehner said of his GOP colleagues. "Ohhhh. Don't make me do this. Ohhhh. This is too hard." At first glance, depending on the viewpoint, it came off as either a betrayal of GOP principles or a rare act of courage by a leader who had forgotten how to lead. But there was one huge irony in Boehner's diatribe: The main person he should have been mocking was himself! . . . Read more . . .
U.S. Media is Ready To Lift the Cuban Embargo
Congress may not be ready. The American people may need more clarity. And even our so-called socialist president, Barack Obama, has some reservations. But the American news media are ready to lift the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba and embrace a ruthless socialist dictatorship. If it were up to the pundits, Obama would be having lunch with Fidel and Raul Castro and ignoring their 55 years of repression and their millions of victims. Ever since Obama shook hands with Raul at Nelson Mandela's funeral in South Africa in December, many in the media have been expecting the next shoe to drop. Curiously, you don't hear them citing any overtures or concessions from the Cuban government that would deserve a change in U.S. policy — no newfound respect for human rights or civil liberties, no releases of imprisoned dissidents, no freedom of expression, no free press, no free elections, no sign that the Castro brothers are willing to loosen their shocking grip of the Cuban people. The pundits can't cite Cuban overtures because there haven't been any! And yet, we hear them constantly insinuating that we should lift the embargo anyway. Their logic? "It hasn't worked for 50 years and it's time we try something different," they tell you with astonishing naivety . . . Read more . . .
Latinos: Why Vote?
The Democratic president who was supposed to be our great amigo turned out to be a huge disappointment, deporting more immigrants than even his Republican predecessors, refusing to ease his government's crackdown on the people he claims he wants to help, and making a mockery of his " Si Se Puede /Yes We Can" campaign rhetoric. And the Republicans who claim they want to be our new amigos won't even allow immigration reform legislation to come up for a vote in the House of Representatives, proving they are more concerned about a backlash from their anti-immigrant "base voters" than making new friends. No wonder so many Latinos have lost faith in American politics! No wonder so many don't bother to vote! When you ask eligible Latino voters why they don't "do the right thing on Election Day," many of them respond with another forceful question: "What for?" . . . Read more . . .
Can a Pro-Immigrant Candidate Survive the GOP Primaries?
We know where the Democrats would stand. If they were to run for president, both Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton would support comprehensive immigration reform. But with the Republicans, it's a question of whether any of them would have the courage to do it, and whether a pro-immigrant candidate could survive the GOP primaries. In recent history, once they enter the primaries, even pro-immigrant Republicans have been forced to run to the right. They have to act like xenophobes in order to win the GOP nomination. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney are among the most prominent immigration flip-floppers. They knew they needed Latino voters once they got to the general election, but while appealing to their "conservative base" in the primaries, they alienated Latinos — and the rest is history. President Barack Obama was handed the Latino vote on a silver platter — twice. And so, here comes 2016! Can a pro-immigrant candidate survive the GOP primaries? Would he or she be forced to flip-flop, become an immigrant basher and then lose the general election? All those questions could soon be answered by the potential presidential candidacy of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who raised a lot of eyebrows Sunday when he said that instead of a felony, illegally coming to this country could be considered "an act of love." . . . Read more . . .
Exposing the Immigration Hypocrites
Some critics say it's only theatrics, a waste of time on a political stunt that has no chance of succeeding. But they obviously don't see the true purpose of the "discharge petition" distributed by House Democrats last week. Its only goal was to expose the immigration hypocrites. And it's working! Using a seldom-deployed legislative procedure to force a vote on comprehensive immigration reform, the Democrats are flushing out the Republicans who claim to support it but lack the courage to defy their own GOP leadership . . . Read more . . .
Latinos Fall For Obama-Scare
To me, they are not a statistic. I don't have to read about them. I know them. I don't need a study to show me that too many Latinos are foolishly rejecting Obamacare. The polls confirm that it's happening, but I see it every day. Some say they'll get around to it later — totally unaware that open enrollment ends March 31. Some say they are overwhelmed by its complexity — although they have never bothered to look at how simple it can be. Some say they want nothing to do with socialism, even if it's just socialized medicine. Some blame the enrollment website, as if it were still broken. But most are clearly affected by the negative publicity and scare tactics that have been used by opponents of the Affordable Care Act. In the Latino community, unfortunately, Obamacare has become Obama-Scare. And it's working! . . . Read more . . .
GOP to Latinos: We Can Be Worse Than Obama
Just when you think there is nothing more Republicans can do to alienate themselves from Latino voters, when you would think that they would sit back and relish how many Latinos are turning on President Barack Obama for his record-breaking deportations, House Republicans come up with legislation that reclaims the championship of immigrant-bashing. No, senor! If Obama thinks he can be tough by deporting more immigrants than his predecessors, Republicans are not going to be outdone. In a year of midterm elections, when they need to appeal to their base in conservative-gerrymandered districts, they are not about to let Obama steal the wrath of Latinos. Not after they have done so much to earn it! And so, as if to upstage Obama's deportations, the House Republicans passed a bill last week that would kill the only positive progress that has been made on immigration in recent history. Amazingly, after claiming they would have compassion at least for the young undocumented immigrants who were brought here by their parents, Republicans are going after the Dreamers! . . . Read more . . .
Obama Apologists Should Share Blame For Deportations
From the very beginning, everyone knew there was something morally wrong with it. And yet, many Hispanic community leaders shamefully pretended not to see it and went along with the Obama administration's aggressive immigrant deportation policy. They were duped into believing that by deporting thousands of sacrificial lambs, President Barack Obama would demonstrate strength on border security and gain a stronger position to persuade some Republicans to pass comprehensive immigration reform through Congress. Yet now, almost 2 million deportations later, now that immigration reform has been shut out of Congress by Republicans, some prominent Democrats and Latino community leaders are acting as if they are surprised and outraged by Obama's record-breaking deportations. But they should really be sharing the blame for having supported Obama's farce for several years! . . . Read more . . .
TV News Wears Horse Blinders
We have more TV channels and more 24-hour "news stations" than ever before. We can cover news events and deliver reports instantly from the farthest corners of the world. Our TV reporters are daring enough to go into war zones and violent demonstrations. But when it comes to Latin America, we act as if it's not even there. There is hardly an "international crisis" that we miss, especially in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. If people are getting killed, we have cameras there to show it. But when those who are dying are our own hemispheric neighbors — when it's happening in our own backyard — the images are hard to find on American television.nIn fact, if you don't read a newspaper or search the Internet, and you don't follow Spanish-language media, you probably don't know that 18 people have been killed, that 260 have been injured, and more than 800 have been arrested in student clashes with government forces in Venezuela over the past couple of weeks. When it looks at the world, our TV news wears horse blinders . . . Read more . . .
Somewhere Between Extremes
February 25, 2014 On one extreme, I have some Cuban-American friends who are sooo conservative that they sound like reruns of FOX News. They are so anti-communist and feel so betrayed by Democrats that they behave as if they had sold their souls to the Republican Party, even if all they get from the GOP is cheap lip service. They fled Cuba to avoid being "indoctrinated" by the left and ended up being "programmed" by the right! But on the other extreme, I have some Latino friends who are sooo leftist that they distribute propaganda from communist "news" agencies. They live in the United States, and yet they feel resentment for this country and see the CIA even in their soup. They enjoy our precious civil liberties — some even claim to be civil rights activists — and yet they blindly support socialist regimes that deny those liberties to their people. Amazingly, while I think I stand somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, the extremists don't agree. They all think I'm on the other side! Regardless of how much I take swings in both directions, they all think I'm the enemy. That's the way it is with extremists; you may agree with them on most issues, but if you disagree on any of their obsessions, you become the enemy . . . Read more . . .
Say Adios to Real Immigration Reform
February 11, 2014 I never thought I would say this, but I'm glad immigration reform is dead for this year. Don't get me wrong: Comprehensive, humane and logical immigration reform — with a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants — is long overdue. But the legislation we were getting this year would have been a farce. Republicans were about to create a permanent underclass of American residents, and the typically outmaneuvered Democrats — just to be able to say they did something — were about to cave in and let them do it. Congress was getting ready to allow most undocumented immigrants to stay here legally but without ever enjoying the full rights of citizenship, and even President Barack "Si Se Puede" Obama was getting ready to let that happen. . . Read more . . .
Super Bowl Coke Commercial Draws Out Ugly Americans
February 4, 2014 We are strong, unique and beautiful because of our diversity. We have a long history as a multilingual country — "a nation of immigrants." Many of our states, cities and major American landmarks are named in foreign languages. Our government has published documents in various languages since the time of the Continental Congress. Long before a word of English was spoken in North America, books were already being written here in Spanish. And yet, a Coca-Cola commercial airing during Sunday's Super Bowl, exquisitely depicting an "America the Beautiful" in multiethnic images and several languages, has drawn out the ugly Americans. The commercial featured Americans of different races and ethnicities enjoying the beauty of our country while "America the Beautiful" was sung in the background in eight different languages. But on social media, promoters of ignorance, xenophobes and right-wing extremists are throwing tantrums and spewing venom that only serves to illustrate the only part of "America the Beautiful" that remains ugly — even in the 21st century . . . Read more . . .
Gay Marriage's Hidden American History Started in Spanish
January 28, 2014 The word, as originally written in Spanish, was "diablura," which has been translated to English in at least two ways: "wicked" or "devilish." But it was the way Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca described an issue that is very contentious in society today: same-sex marriage. Perhaps he was being a bit judgmental. But what he said is not as important as when he said it. His observations were made almost 500 years ago. Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish conquistador, and he was describing gay marriages among Native Americans. "During the time I spent with these people I saw one devilish thing, and that was a man married to another man," Cabeza de Vaca wrote in his 1542 book, "La Relación" ("The Account"). "These are impotent, effeminate men and they go about covered like women and they perform the tasks of women, and they shoot with a bow, and they carry very great loads." Long before the British colonists arrived, Cabeza de Vaca trekked across North America — from present-day Florida to Arizona — and same-sex marriage was just one of the many fascinating images he gave to a 16th-century Europe hungry for knowledge about the lives of the natives of the New World . . . Read more . . .
Hispanics in Denial Should Be Infamous
January 14, 2014 So say the name your parents gave you is clearly a loser in Hollywood, or say you want to be a rock star and you decide you need a stage name. To succeed in America in the 21st century, do you also need to Anglicize your name and hide your heritage? Very few people know that a half-Puerto Rican pop singer named Peter Hernandez is going all the way up to the pinnacle of American entertainment — the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 2 — but that's because he is going as Bruno Mars, the stage name he chose to "avoid being stereotyped" as a Latin music singer. The history of American entertainment and sports is filled with famous people who purposely hid their ethnicities back in the days when that was the only way they could get jobs. Their transformations, to beat discrimination, were totally understandable. But hiding your heritage nowadays — at a time when so many Latino surnames have conquered Hollywood, sports and the entertainment industry — is not only unnecessary but disgraceful . . . Read more . . .
Immigration Reform Could Be a Nightmare
January 7, 2014 The pundits are already telling us that 2014 is most definitely the year for comprehensive immigration reform, as if they had not said the same thing about 2013, and a few of the years preceding. Are we to believe that legislation Congress has been unable to pass in recent years will somehow jump over all of its hurdles in a year of midterm elections — at a time when many conservative politicians will be seeking office in gerrymandered districts where bashing on immigrants is politically expedient? Are we to believe that House Speaker John Boehner, after demonstrating a trace of courage by taking on the conservative extremists in his party over the federal budget, would now find the cojones to defend comprehensive immigration reform and risk sparking a divisive feud within the Republican Party? In other words, are to believe in dreams and fairy tales? Mark my words: If we get immigration reform before the midterm elections, it will not be comprehensive. Read more . . .
Marking America's Birthplace
January 31, 2014 The dream of marking the spot where Juan Ponce de Leon actually landed — after discovering and naming Florida 500 years ago — finally was realized Saturday as more than 100 people gathered in Melbourne Beach, Fla., for the unveiling of an impressive 10-foot, bronze statue of the Spanish conquistador holding a cross and facing the Atlantic Ocean. The statue officially marks Melbourne Beach's claim that de Leon first landed there instead of St. Augustine some 125 miles north, where it was long believed the first landing took place. It took many years of work and sacrifice by a small group of very passionate history buffs, but they were able to prove that distorted history could be corrected and made relevant once again. They marked the site where Florida began and this country was born, and they created a huge source of pride for Latinos! Read more . . .
2013
The Power of Dinero and Demographics
Shaking Hands With a Tyrant
So there I was in the White House about to meet the president of the Untied States, and I had to think of something to start up a conversation. I would have just a couple of minutes to stand next to George H. W. Bush, because it was only a photo opportunity with him and Barbara. As I stood in line to greet them, I noticed the others before me were simply sharing nervous "hellos" with the first couple and posing for a quick photo. "I'll have very little time," I told myself. "I'll have to talk even while the photo is being taken." To keep the line moving swiftly, the White House photographer was reminding everyone they would receive copies in the mail. But I wasn't worried about the photo. I kept searching for a way to engage the president in a conversation. The people in line behind me would have to wait! It was June 14, 1992 and Bush had just returned from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where, one day earlier, a news photographer had captured him standing close to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. I decided the photo would be my icebreaker . . . Read more . . .
Mandela's Blind Spot
He was one of the greatest leaders of our time, a champion for human rights and racial equality. The world is a better place because Nelson Mandela lived among us. But not the whole world! I can think of at least one small part of the planet where he turned a blind eye to human rights and racial equality, and where his complicity with dictators will forever stain his legacy. Unfortunately — and disgracefully — when Mandela looked toward my native Cuba, he was blinded by his loyalty to Fidel and Raul Castro. He never seemed to notice blacks in Cuba are a minority in government and a majority in prison, or that Cuba had freedom fighters and political prisoners — principled martyrs, just like him. Ever since the South African leader died last week, TV talking heads have been trying to explain Mandela's illogical relationship with the Castro brothers. The professional spinners have even tried to convince us that his blind loyalty was something admirable. Former President Bill Clinton was on CNN last week making excuses for Mandela's unyielding loyalty to those who supported him during his 27-year imprisonment — as if devotion to evil were an honor or asset! But there is no logical explanation. When Mandela looked at Cuba, he had a blind spot . . . Read more . . .
Obliviously Living In 'The Land Of Estevan Gomez'
It happens to all of us – including Latino Americans who should know better. When we think of Spanish conquistadors, we usually are drawn to their exploits in the Caribbean, Mexico and South America, seldom paying attention to those who came to the land now known as the United States. Because their North American accomplishments are generally omitted from American history – only because they happened before the Mayflower – even U.S.-educated Latinos are ignorant about the great achievements of their Spanish ancestors. Before the Pilgrims, Spanish explorers had celebrated other Thanksgiving ceremonies in North America. They had charted our entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and explored the territories that are now Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. Spanish explorers had been here for a whole century before the Mayflower arrived. And on those rare occasions we do recognize that many came north from the Caribbean and Mexico, we forget just how far north they came! We generally think of Florida, the Southwest and California, but should know better, especially Latinos from the Northeast. After all, even the Northeast of the United States was once known as “La Tierra de Estevan Gomez.” . . . Read more . . .
Only two months ago, this column suggested the pro-immigrant movement was very myopic and planned only for the next battle in Congress instead of who gets sent to Congress on Election Day. "Where are the pro-immigrant troops lining up to take on the GOP demagogues who spew xenophobia?" I asked. "Where is the effort to make the House of Representatives a little more immigrant-friendly?" The headline noted that in order "To Reform Immigration," we would have to "Depose the Xenophobes." Yet today — sooner than I expected — I'm happy to report that many other people have finally come to the same sobering conclusion: If you have a large number of Hispanic constituents and continue to oppose immigration reform, you give us no choice; we will make you pay for it at the ballot box . . . Read more . . .
Carrying the Cuban Family Torch
November 19, 2013 - I had done it before so I thought it wouldn't be so difficult. In delivering funeral eulogies, unfortunately, I've had some practice. But it was always for a friend who passed, never for one of my relatives. In my own family funerals, I always deferred the eulogy speech to my brother, Beny, who had a special knack for speaking, and even singing, in public. I knew he could do it much better. Yet, there I was, standing in Beny's shoes, speaking in church, delivering a family eulogy at a funeral. And I had to find the courage to do it. Of all of us in the Perez family who came from Cuba in the early 1960s, I'm the only one left alive. It was my turn to speak for the "familia." It was the toughest speech I've ever delivered, as it was Beny's funeral . . . Read more . . .
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In 1934, Wallace Beery was Pancho Villa in MGM's "Viva Villa." In 1939, Paul Muni played Benito Juarez in Warner Bros' "Juarez." In 1952, Marlon Brando starred as Emiliano Zapata in FOX's "Viva Zapata." In 1961, Natalie Wood became the Puerto Rican "Maria" in United Artists' "West Side Story." Do you see a pattern here? When Paramount made another Pancho Villa movie in 1968, the lead role in "Villa Rides" went to Yul Brynner. When Fox released the movie "Che" in 1969, Omar Sharif played Che Guevara and Jack Palance played Fidel Castro. Do I need to drop more names? Was Al Pacino a credible Cuban in "Scarface"? Was George Chakiris a credible Puerto Rican in "West Side Story"? Was Anthony Hopkins a credible Pablo Picasso in "Surviving Picasso"? Of course not! Hollywood has a shameful history of giving key Latino roles to non-Latinos. Apparently, they believe credibility can be forsaken when casting Hispanic roles. Read more . . .
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Hispanics or Latinos?
It may seem like an identity crisis, as if we Latinos/Hispanics can’t make up our minds about what to call ourselves. And it’s true. We can’t. It started many years ago, when Census Bureau officials determined that they needed a term to lump together all people of Spanish and Latin American origin. They settled on the term “Hispanic,” and a controversy was born. Read more ...
To Reform Immigration Depose the Xenophobes
As if the immigration reform coffin needed any more nails, two more House Republicans have dropped out of the bipartisan group of legislators who were trying to drive comprehensive reform through a wall of GOP xenophobia on Capitol Hill. The original "Group of Eight" is now down to five — four Democrats and one lone Republican. Not coincidentally, the only Republican who remains is the one with a huge Hispanic constituency, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of South Florida. Also not coincidentally, the first to abandon the group was another Latino, Rep. Raul Labrador, a Republican from Idaho who panders to anti-immigrant extremists . . . Read more . . .
In the Name of Heritage
So what do you do when people mispronounce your name? Do you correct them? If they butcher your identity, do you let it ride? Just to avoid having to educate them? Foreign-born Americans are constantly pressured to Americanize their names nowadays — just to make it easier for the ears of those who refuse to accept foreign sounds. But if you go along, aren't you hiding your heritage? . . Read more .
Say Hello to Syria and Adios to Immigration Reform
It started with Sept. 11, 2001. Twelve years ago, opponents of immigration reform had a perfect excuse to delay changes that had seemed eminent until that infamous day. And ever since then, whenever those changes come to the forefront again, something happens to redirect our national attention elsewhere. So for now, say hello to Syria and adios to immigration reform. If you still think Congress will fix our broken immigration laws this year, you truly are a "dreamer." ... Read more ...
When Leaders Divide
They are marching in all the Hispanic parades, having their photos taken with every brown face they can find, waving Latin American flags, trying to speak Spanish, buying time and space on Spanish media and kissing Latino babies! But what are the New York City mayoral candidates actually saying to Latinos? Very little! They acknowledge that Latinos will be close to a quarter of the voters in the Sept. 10 primary, and this voting bloc has the potential to "pick the next mayor." But you hear little substance in their rhetoric. You don't see the attention to Latino issues that we have seen in past New York City elections. And you don't see candidates feeling any pressure to deal with those issues. Don't get me wrong. At least cosmetically, some of the candidates occasionally push the right Latino buttons by superficially mentioning immigration, education, housing, health care, "stop and frisk" police detentions, etc. But there is no depth, nothing substantial, no promises you can trust . . . Read more . . .
Let's Build a Timeline of Hispanic-American History
So let's assume that you already know that the Spanish conquistadors were here long before the British colonists, that Spanish was spoken in North America before a word of English was uttered, that St. Augustine was established 42 years before Jamestown. But how much do you really know about the first European-American century? If you have been reading my series on "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage (hiddenhispanicheritage.com)," you know that American history often fails to recognize everything that happened here before the British arrived. You know that this is the year when this country should be celebrating its 500th birthday, that the first North American thanksgivings and Christmases were celebrated in Spanish and that the great accomplishment of Lewis and Clark actually pail in comparison to the conquistadors who trekked across North America two centuries earlier. You know why so many American states, cities and landmarks have names in Spanish and why many Southwest Latinos have deeper roots in that area than the United States itself. But did you know that the first child of Europeans born in present-day United States was a Latino — the son of Spaniards? Did you know that the first American history book was written in Spanish and published in Spain? . . . Read more . . .
The Discovery of White Hispanics
We have been in this country longer than most other ethnic groups and races. We are a majority among Latinos. Finding us should not be a problem. We have been here all along! And yet some of our fellow Americans are just beginning to notice us. We are white and we are Hispanic — and that should not be a problem, either. Nevertheless, ever since The New York Times described George Zimmerman as a "white Hispanic," some people are having a hard time hiding their ignorance about the U.S. Hispanic population . . . Read more . . .
The New King Of Intolerance
He has become toxic material in Washington D.C. Even the leaders of his own party are running away from him and strongly condemning the waste that keeps coming out of his mouth. But Iowa Rep. Steve King is undeterred. He has a narcissistic need for attention, and he is determined to get it by bashing on immigrants. It's not a new phenomenon. In recent history, we've had quite a few poster boys for American xenophobia: Former California Gov. Pete Wilson, former California Rep. Bob Dornan, former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo and former Arizona Senate President Russell Pierce. Yet, aside from having been obnoxious demagogues when they were in office, the thing they still have in common is the word "former" preceding their elected titles. Is King heading in the same direction? Are his constituents getting tired of his embarrassing diatribes? Is there a pattern here? Not quite. Unlike the other poster boys who represented states and districts where the Latino vote was significant, King represents the overwhelmingly white and conservative 4th Congressional District in southwest Iowa, where he is now in his sixth term and where minority voters still are a tiny minority. Apparently, he feels he can afford to be obnoxious ... Read more ...
Obama Preaches To the Converted
Everyone knows that immigration reform is stalled in Congress, that House Republicans are the ones who need to be swayed to become a bit more compassionate with undocumented immigrants, and that comprehensive legislation is running out of time and supporters in Washington. And so what does President Obama do? He preaches to the converted! Instead of going on the stomp for comprehensive immigration reform with at least some of the passion he displayed when he campaigned for Obamacare, instead of reaching out to the Republicans who could still be swayed, Obama went to the Univision and Telemundo Spanish-language TV networks last week — to pretend that he is actually taking a leadership role on this issue. He is not! In the media, some treated the president's new Hispanic offensive as a major development. But it didn't make much sense. Some even reported that Obama was doing it "to increase pressure on House Republicans to pass immigration reform." Really? Is that how you pressure House Republicans, or is that how you continue to fool Latinos? ... Read more ...
Snowden Exposes Our Enemies
He may have done more damage to this country than any other person in recent history. He may have exposed national security secrets that could put Americans at risk. U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden may have helped the terrorists, and we'll never know by how much! But for those naive Americans who have a hard time identifying our enemies, Snowden has served a good purpose. He is taking a roll call of our enemies, and the response he is getting is "presente." After betraying his country by leaking documents about U.S. surveillance programs, Snowden's pleas for asylum have been mostly answered by anti-American despots all over Latin America ... Read more ...
Immigration Reform is DOA
As if immigration reform legislation had not already been considerably diluted when it went through the Senate last week, the House of Representatives is getting ready to dissect it so well that the whole process may turn into an autopsy. Of course, killing any form of legislation that would consent any kind of "amnesty" to undocumented immigrants is precisely what GOP conservative extremists are seeking. And that's why members of the GOP majority in the House already are dismissing the 68 to 32 Senate vote for the bill and threatening to come up with their own (obviously much more draconian) legislation ... Read more ...
'Uncle Tom' Rubio
At a time when we thought Sen. Marco Rubio couldn't go any farther to the right, when his pandering to conservative extremists had become too repugnant to bear, when so many Latinos were already identifying him as our own "Uncle Tom," out he comes with an amendment to make immigration reform contingent on English proficiency. He has no shame. His excessively subservient loyalty to the tea party is downright embarrassing. Rubio represents a community where immigrants, including his own parents, were not required to learn English until they applied to become citizens. Yet now, with amazing gall, he wants to require English proficiency from green card applicants. Doing the biding for his hard-right masters, Uncle Tom Rubio has introduced yet another hurdle that could potentially delay many immigrants from becoming permanent legal residents and eventually citizens and voters. Although he had vowed to stick to the original legislation proposed by the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" senators, of whom he is a member, Rubio introduced an amendment to his own bill last week, not to ease the process for his immigrant constituents, but to make it more difficult for them. It's appalling! He wants to require green card applicants to demonstrate the same proficiency in English that is now required of applicants for citizenship . . . Read more . . .
Exposing the Social Media Bigots
Just when we think racism is in retreat, when census and election results demonstrate that we should be much more tolerant than we have been in the past, something happens to remind us that much work still needs to be done to combat ignorance in America. Last week, that reminder came in the form of the cruel reaction received by an 11-year-old Hispanic boy who sang the National Anthem in Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. Before they knew anything about Sebastian De La Cruz — other than hearing his Hispanic surname and seeing the Mariachi suit he wore when he sang — America's bigots assumed that he must be an illegal immigrant and demanded to know why he had been allowed to sing the National Anthem . . . Read more . . .
Guantanamo Has a History
Long before Guantanamo became synonymous with al-Qaida prisoners, American injustice and hunger strikes — yes, even before it became known as a high-security prison for suspected terrorists — it was a U.S. Naval Base with a long and fascinating history. It still is! And long after the military prison is gone, the U.S. Naval Base is very likely to remain there, surrounding Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — still the oldest American outpost on foreign soil, and the only one in a communist country. Those 45 square miles of land and water are so unique and awkward for an American military installation that you would think some occasional historical perspective is necessary.
Yet nowadays, we hear journalists and pundits talking about how Guantanamo "needs to be closed" — without clarifying that they are referring only to the military prison opened there in 2002, not the base established there in 1903. We see no efforts to put Guantanamo in proper historical context, no explanation for why the United States can hold enemy prisoners within the territory of another enemy ... Read more...
Yet nowadays, we hear journalists and pundits talking about how Guantanamo "needs to be closed" — without clarifying that they are referring only to the military prison opened there in 2002, not the base established there in 1903. We see no efforts to put Guantanamo in proper historical context, no explanation for why the United States can hold enemy prisoners within the territory of another enemy ... Read more...
The Obstacle Course to Legalization
Has anyone noticed that the so-called "path to legalization" for undocumented immigrants is rapidly becoming an obstacle course? Are we so hungry for immigration reform that we are willing to swallow it without even looking at it? Even if it's spoiled? We hear the pundits saying that "at least immigration reform is moving forward," and, since Congress has been suffering from paralysis, they seem willing to celebrate any forward movement — never mind the details in hundred of forthcoming amendments that could kill the entire measure. In fact, the two immigration bills still being drafted (in the House) and amended (in the Senate) are likely to be so far apart that reconciling them might prove to be impossible. But if they do reach a consensus and pass some form of immigration legislation this year, I fear that it will be so diluted by Republicans and unprotected by Democrats that it will not be worthy of the president's signature. Of course, just to save face, President Obama probably would sign anything, and he would call it a great accomplishment even if it isn't. But surely it would be nowhere near the pro-immigrant reform most Latino voters envisioned when they heard him say, "Si Se Puede" and when they sent him to the White House twice ... Read more ...
The Conveniently 'Forgotten War'
If you missed CBS's "Sunday Morning" program last week, you missed a report that should be required viewing for all Americans. And if you are one of those Americans who still question why Latinos in the Southwest are offended when they are treated like foreigners, someone needs to sit you in front of a computer and make you watch this video online. If there ever was a chapter of American history that needed a refresher course, this was it! That's because this particular chapter on the Mexican-American War has been so egregiously and conveniently forgotten that many Americans are forming opinions that are based on ignorance. We still call it the Mexican-American War. But in Mexico, they still call it "The American Invasion." Some of us forget, and some never learned, that up to 165 years ago, most of the western United States belonged to Mexico, and that this territory was won in a war provoked by the United States to satisfy its thirst for territorial expansion ... Read more ...
Venezuelan Democracy Is a Farce
You can call Venezuela many things — a political circus, an upcoming dictatorship, the world's most effective government vote-manipulating machine, a melodramatic Latin American telenovela — but please don't call it a democracy. Whatever trace they had left of their once-democratic system of government was totally lost when the Chavista government of Nicolas Maduro clearly stole the presidential election of April 14. It's gone. Democracy has left the country — much like so many Venezuelans who have been fleeing their homeland in search of freedom in the United States. In spite of clearly evident fraud and widespread government manipulation of voters, Venezuela has "elected" Hugo Chavez's handpicked successor by less than 300,000 votes out of more than 14.7 million cast — all with the stamp of approval of the Chavista-controlled election commission, military, courts and legislature. And in spite of opposition tantrums — calling for recounts, boycotts, Supreme Court appeals and new elections — in spite of the U.S. and other countries' reluctance to recognize the Maduro government, in spite of how many people believe that opposition candidate Henrique Capriles actually won the election, Maduro is staying in power. You may want to call him "President Maduro." I say he is a dictator. Read more...
On Immigration Reform, The Democrats Caved
Just when we thought we were about to see fair and compassionate immigration reform, when we thought the Latino vote in the presidential election had opened a real pathway to U.S. citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants, when at least some Republicans seemed to be retreating from their anti-immigrant offensive, the Democrats caved! The comprehensive immigration reform legislation drafted in secret and finally unveiled by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators known as the "Gang of Eight" — including four Democrats — is not the "path to legalization" many of us expected. It's a minefield! This road has so many detours, roadblocks and dead ends — so many ways to delay and even prevent undocumented immigrants from ever becoming citizens — that calling it a pathway insults our intelligence. At best, perhaps they could say they have created a "gauntlet" to legalization ... Read more ...
The Re-Conquest Of American History
As if he was a field commander rallying his troops, "the dean of Florida historians" was distributing ammunition among those who fight to correct American history, especially those who try to dispel the misconceptions about the Spanish explorers who discovered a land they called "La Florida" in 1513. While others were preparing picket signs that would accuse the conquistadors of genocide, Dr. Michael Gannon was opening the April 2 celebrations to commemorate the 500th anniversary Juan Ponce de Leon's discovery of North America. "We are all honored to be alive on an anniversary of this magnitude," Gannon told a crowd of history buffs who had filled the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Melbourne Beach, Fla. Of course, he was literately preaching to the choir. In the audience, there were people who take their history so seriously that they were dressed as Spanish conquistadors, people who have spent years on a crusade to get Ponce de Leon and his men the recognition they deserve ... Read more
The Fountain of Our Hispanic Heritage
People were shouting "Viva Espana" and celebrating the great achievements of the Spanish conquistadors in Florida last week. They were dressing up as Spanish explorers, firing muskets and even cannons, listening to history lectures and attending Catholic masses in recognition that Christianity came to America with much more compassion than history tells us. In two days and two cities, they celebrated the 500th anniversary of the discovery and landing by Juan Ponce de Leon on the flowery land he called "La Florida." They were showcasing our normally hidden Hispanic heritage, and there I was, in the middle of it all, thanking the Lord for giving me the opportunity to see it with my own eyes. Borrowing a line from baseball, I kept telling myself, "I live for this." I heard non-Latino politicians, historians and clergy recognizing the contributions of our Spanish ancestors. I heard Spanish government officials expressing gratitude for Florida's "dedication to commemorate and remember the importance of the Spanish contribution to the history of Florida and the United States." I heard them speaking about the assets of diversity, the importance of history and the unfair and negative effects of the Black Legend, that centuries old campaign by English, French and American writers to minimize the accomplishments of the Spanish explorers and their Latino descendants. "We celebrate First America, the genesis of the American culture, where Hispanics and African-Americans and Native American mingled together in this area," said Dana Ste. Claire, one of the celebration organizers in St. Augustine. "We are talking about the birth of the American culture. It happened right here." Instead of the fountain of youth in the nation's oldest city, I had reached the fountain of our Hispanic heritage ... Read more ...
Can They Revive the GOP After an Autopsy?
March 26, 2013 - When the Republican National Committee released a report on the health of the GOP and called it an "autopsy" — instead of a prognosis — last week, were they admitting that the Republican Party is dead? After all, you don't come back from an autopsy! Yet that's what Republicans were calling their own assessment of how they handled the 2012 presidential election. And this "autopsy" will reportedly become their new playbook for correcting the things that went wrong last year. Luck would not suffice. They are going to need miracles to resuscitate the GOP cadaver. Nevertheless, some GOP right-wing extremists already are balking over the report's call for comprehensive immigration reform, claiming that their party should stick to its anti-amnesty principles and should not abide by the will of the American people who say such reform is necessary ... Read more
Latino Pope Evokes Pride and Questions
March 18, 2013 - At first, all we felt was pride. Learning that the Vatican had selected its first Latin American pope gave Hispanic Catholics a sense of inclusion we had never felt before. I felt like screaming "gooooal," but I was in a university faculty meeting, and my colleagues would have found it a little strange. Even "Viva el Papa" would have been disruptive, and so some emotions needed to be suppressed. Nevertheless, the selection of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — was a huge symbolic gesture to embrace the world's Hispanic Catholics, and it was received with tears of joy throughout the Americas. But then came the questions. What can the former Bishop of Buenos Aires really do for Latin America? Better yet, what is he willing to do now that he is the pope? Can he become the driving force that leads to liberation? Can he do for Latin America what Pope John Paul II did for his native Poland and Eastern Europe? ... Read more
2012
Cabinet-Level (Con) Jobs
March 5, 2013 - Back in November, when an overwhelming majority of Latino voters extended President Barack Obama's lease to remain in the White House four more years, no one would have believed what happened this week. Yet when Obama hosted the first Cabinet meeting of his second administration Monday, for the first time in recent history, a president headed a Cabinet that could soon be left without a single Latino. Granted, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is still on the job, but he resigned on Jan. 17, his replacement has been named, and he is expected to return home to Colorado next month. And the other Hispanic in Obama's first-term Cabinet, former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who resigned Jan 9., already has been replaced by an acting labor secretary. This inexcusable underrepresentation of the Latino population and their interests has gone mostly unnoticed by today's highly partial news media because those on the left have been covering for the president and those on the right don't have a single Latino appointment to complain about. Since the right-wing media demagogues normally claim that Obama panders to Latinos, you are not going to hear them complaining about a Latino-less Cabinet. And yet following the most recent appointments Obama has made to his second-term Cabinet, some in the so-called mainstream media, as if they were publicists for Obama, claim that the president is "potentially quelling criticism about the lack of diversity among his Cabinet nominations." Really? ... Read more
Castro Wants to Retire But Preserve Communist Dictatorship
February 26, 2013 - When I was 8 years old, they came into my life and changed the course of my destiny, driving me and 2 million other Cubans out of our homeland and submitting those who stayed behind to the longest dictatorship in modern human history. And now that I'm 62, the Castro brothers tell us they are ready to get out of our lives — in five more years, just in time for my 67th birthday! For this, I should be grateful? Some people seem to think I should be celebrating because Cuban dictator Raul Castro announced Sunday that he will retire in 2018. They think that "the end of the Castro era" — as it is widely being reported by the naive American news media — will automatically mark the end of repression and open the gates to democracy and freedom in my native homeland. I wish they were right, but they are being terribly ingenuous ... Read more
Not All Cubans Are Rubio Fan Club Members
Please get this straight: For those of us Cuban-Americans who value our brotherhood with our fellow Latin Americans, especially those who didn't have our privilege to come to this country legally, Marco Rubio is an embarrassment. As the Florida Republican senator becomes the voice for limiting immigration reform, as he puts Machiavellian conditions on a path to legalization, as he clearly puts the interests of his party before those of his own Hispanic community, mind you, not all Cuban-Americans feel proud of him. And certainly not all of us want him to become our next president! I'm often amazed by the attitude of some people who, knowing that I was born in Cuba, erroneously assume that I must belong to the Marco Rubio fan club. Just because Rubio's parents also were born in Cuba, they think that this should be enough for me to ignore what he stands for and the interests he represents ... Read more
Florida's 500th Birthday Should Be a National Holiday
My reservations are made; my plans are solid. I'm going to be in Florida on April 2 and 3 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de Leon's great discovery. But it's not really fair. I'm going to a celebration that should be coming to me — and to all of us across this country! When Florida marks its quincentennial, the whole nation should be celebrating its 500th birthday. After all, on April 2 and 3, 1513, Ponce de Leon didn't just discover and land on what today we know as the State of Florida but on the mainland that later became the United States. He discovered our country! ... Read more
On Immigration Reform, El Diablo Is in the Details
February 5, 2013 - If there is a stipulation that has to be met first, if comprehensive immigration reform still is going to depend on when Republicans "certify" that the border with Mexico has been "secured," then forget about it. It's all a huge farce. And if Democrats are going along with it, as some already have in a U.S. Senate proposal, knowing that some GOP governors along the border are likely to block it, are Democrats really trying to help immigrants? Or are they just setting a trap for Republicans to keep alienating themselves from Latino voters? Read more ...
On Exhibit and Yet Hidden
On a concrete courtyard in upper Manhattan, a group of Hispanic boys were playing stickball, totally oblivious of the treasures that hung on the other side of the walls that embraced their play area. "Do you know what's inside?" I asked them, pretending to be clueless and pointing to one of the buildings. "Some kind of museum," one of them responded. "You don't know what kind?" I insisted. The boy shrugged his shoulders and went back to his game. Sometimes our Hispanic heritage is hidden right before our eyes! On the other side of that wall ... Read more
Backdoor Amnesty or Lesson Learned?
Remember the time when Obama administration officials let it be known that things would get worse before they got better for undocumented immigrants? Remember how they justified their raids, border re-enforcements and record-breaking deportations? Remember that they were meant to convince Republicans who insisted on border security first before they would allegedly support a comprehensive reform bill that would finally fix our broken immigration system? I recall that even some so-called immigrant rights activists shamefully went along with the administration's plans to increase deportations, offering thousands of immigrants as sacrificial lambs to feed the thirst of anti-immigrant zealots. I also recall that this strategy was a miserable failure. Read more ...
Happy Three Kings Day
To many U.S. Latinos, they are much more than figurines in the Nativity mangers under our Christmas tree. They are Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar, those three magical figures who rode camels and left toys under our beds every Jan. 6 when we were kids. They are the same three wise men who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus in Bethlehem, according to the Bible, on the 12th day of Christmas. And they still come around to visit many Hispanic homes — yes, even after we immigrate to the United States — when we remember to invite them! After all, most foreign-born U.S. Latinos grew up receiving gifts not from Santa Claus on Christmas Day, but from Los Tres Reyes Magos on Jan. 6 — the day Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany. It's a wonderful tradition that came to the New World — including current U.S. territory — with the Spanish conquistadors. Read more ...
A Hispanic Christmas
We call it "Navidad," the Spanish word for Christmas. But literally, it means "Nativity" — and we have no qualms about the birth we are celebrating. Christmas traditions unfortunately are becoming politically incorrect in many segments of American society, but in the overwhelmingly Christian Hispanic-American community, we still proudly display our faith in Jesus Christ. Efforts to quash public Nativity displays and even censor references to the word "Christmas" are seen as ridiculous in a community where most homes still display Nativity scenes and other religious ornaments that remind us of the real meaning of Navidad. Read more ...
The Mexican Gauntlet
December 18, 2012 - If it was safe, you can bet a lot more Latinos would be taking long drives back to their homelands in Central and South America. But we know better. We know that in order to get there, we have to go through a gauntlet of crime and corruption known as Mexico. And so we fly home when we go back on vacation. We've all heard the horror stories of all that can happen while traveling through Mexico, where you can be robbed, kidnapped, sold into slavery and even murdered, especially if you are travelling northbound while trying to reach the United States. But on the way south, for American citizens, just trying to get through Mexico is a huge challenge. You have to go through a dangerous obstacle course of drug cartel wars and even corrupt cops looking for bribes. Read more ...
Puerto Rico's Questionable Vote for Statehood
November 27, 2012 - At first glance, it seemed like a totally different story, especially given the superficial way in which the American news media tend to cover Latin America, even in a part of Latin America that also is part of the United States. The way it was initially reported, the people of Puerto Rico appeared to have made a decisive and historic shift away from their current "Commonwealth" relationship with the United States and in favor of turning the Caribbean island into the 51st state of the American union. Unless you were following the island's Nov. 6 election returns via cyberspace and directly from Puerto Rico's news media, on the mainland you were led to believe that, with 61 percent of a referendum vote for statehood, Puerto Ricans had placed huge pressure on the U.S. Congress to deal with Puerto Rico's colonial status once and for all. We saw pro-statehood Puerto Ricans celebrating in the streets of San Juan and telling us that, for the first time in 45 years, the island had clearly chosen to become a state. They came off as if they had a mandate! But there was nothing clear about the results of this referendum. Unfortunately, what they sent to Washington was a bunch of mixed signals that will give U.S. politicians a new wealth of excuses to keep ignoring our unique, undemocratic and often unfair relationship with Puerto Rico and its people. Read more ...
Beware of Repentant Republicans
November 20, 2012 - The human hand was not meant to scribble so fast as to be able to record all the truly amazing, self-deprecating comments uttered by Republicans as they confessed repentance for all their immigrant bashing last week. I know because I tried, and I couldn't keep up with them. Such juicy quotes don't usually come in barrages. One after another, GOP leaders were finding the cojones to admit they have been alienating Latino voters, and that their party will vanish unless they drop their hatemongering, voter-suppressing, xenophobic tactics. I couldn't believe it. They were beginning to sound like me. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called on Republicans to "stop being the stupid party." Former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez charged that, "the far right of the party has taken the party to a place where it doesn't belong." Read more ...
How to Lose an Election by Alienating Latinos
November 13, 2012 - Back in August, when Republicans still were in denial about the depth of the hole they had dug for themselves in the Hispanic community during the GOP primaries, back when they thought that having Sen. Marco Rubio and a few other Latino surrogates defending their xenophobia would be enough to confuse Latino voters, this column made an easy prediction: "If President Barack Obama wins reelection, mark my words: Romney will be remembered as the candidate who wrote the book on how to lose an election by alienating Latino voters." Well, the book has been written! Now that Mitt Romney got only 27 of the Latino vote and came second to Bob Dole's 1996 record low of only 21 percent support from Latinos, even some prominent Republicans are coming out of the woodwork to thrash Romney's immigrant-bashing policies. They are openly admitting that they alienated Latino voters. Ah! Vindication! How sweet it is! Those Republican politicians who feared the backlash of xenophobic extremists in the past now are realizing that the Latino backlash can be even more painful. Read more ...
Like Most Latinos, I Voted Against Romney
November 6, 2012 - Remember the times when we went to the polls to vote for someone we believed in, instead of against a candidate we can't stand? Ah! The good old days. Before the complete polarization of our country, before we were divided between those who strongly dislike President Barack Obama and those who can't stand former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, we went to the polls because we were following a leader. Remember? But given the tone of our political discourse, this year it seemed as if most of us were anxious to vote against Romney or Obama, rather than for either one of them. Instead of inspiration and motivation, it was fear, anger and revenge that drove many of us to the polls. Read more ...
Latinos Get Nada From Debate Moderators
October 23, 2012 -During the entire presidential campaign season, the media has been telling us that this is the year when Latino voters can swing the swing states and determine who gets to be president. The hype over the alleged power of the Hispanic vote in some of the most highly-contested states has rightfully concerned the politicians, especially the Democrats who have taken Latinos for granted and the Republicans who have waged war on immigrants. But what about those Latino voters who finally matter? Apparently, the media doesn't believe its own hype. If it did — if the Latino vote really was as important as the media tells us it is — the journalists who moderated the presidential debates would have raised Latino issues, right? But we got nada from the moderators. The Latino vote they have been hyping was expediently forsaken. When Latino voters were trying to determine which candidate would best represent them, it was the journalists who failed to speak for them. Read more ...
Now That Fiesta Month Is Over, Can We Talk About Heritage?
October 16, 2012 - It's an awkward month, covering the second half of September and the first half of October. But it's not as awkward as the way we celebrate it. We call it Hispanic Heritage Month, but it has little to do with heritage. Hispanic Fiesta Month would be a better name. To many Latinos, this is mostly a time to party like there is no manana. From Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, you hear little talk about the role Latinos have played in making this nation great; you see little recognition of nearly 500 years of Hispanic presence in North America. Instead, we go to concerts, parades, cocktail parties, banquets, street festivals and a variety of other fiestas where we wave flags and tell each other we are very proud of being Latinos. And there is nothing wrong with that, as long as we know what we are celebrating. Read more ...
Socialism Unlike Ours
October 9, 2012 - Imagine an election where the incumbent president can bribe the voters with public housing, household appliances and social welfare programs — all paid by the state. Envision a contest in which the incumbent uses state funds and workers to conduct a military-style "Get Out the Vote" campaign among his supporters. Visualize a place where the free media is constantly threatened with censorship and the state media is used to promote the incumbent. Picture a country where the incumbent controls the courts, the legislature and the election commission, and where his near-dictatorial powers already have allowed him to eliminate term limits and perpetuate his time in power. How can anyone defeat such a president in such a country? You can't. That's why Venezuela again reelected 14-year President Hugo Chavez to another six-year term on Sunday. Read more ...
Do We Have to Exaggerate To Get Attention?
October 2, 2012 - All summer long, if we paid attention to the media, we were led to believe that Republican voter suppression laws were meant to target mostly African-Americans, students, the elderly and other groups that are likely to favor Democrats. If we were lucky, some news reports also noted that Latinos were one of the "other groups" that could be kept from voting by these mean-spirited and un-American state laws. Read more ...
The "Accidental" Death of a Cuban Dissident
September 18, 2012 - If you believe Cuban authorities because you choose to ignore five decades of lies, propaganda and deception, then you believe that Cuban dissidence leader Oswaldo Paya was killed in a single-car accident. But if history makes you skeptical, if you know of the many atrocities the Cuban government has tried to conceal, then you may want to consider that the Castro brothers are, once again, getting away with murder ... Read more
Brown Face Conventions
September 9, 2012 - We Latinos should be happy, shouldn't we? In both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, brown faces were on display like never before. But is that all we need? Do Latinos vote for surnames or substance? If brown faces and Hispanic surnames are all we need, then the conventions were a draw. There were enough Latinos on both teams to make it seem as if we were playing on a leveled field ... Read more
Romney's Anti-Immigrant Platform
8/28/12 - The pundits tell us not to pay too much attention to the Republican convention platform, because this document usually reflects the party's most extreme ideas — just fodder for the far-right activists — and because the GOP nominee for president is not really expected to follow it. But what if those extreme ideas came from the horse's mouth? What if there is an issue where all the new Draconian ideas actually came from Mitt Romney? Read more . . .
Dreaming With Risks
08/21/12 - When thousands of young people come out of the undocumented-immigrants' closet and reveal all their well-kept secrets to the federal government in the next few weeks, are they taking a risk for relying on a temporary reprieve from President Barack Obama? When Obama's two-year "deferred action" expires, what happens if we have a new president? Read more ...
The Bucket List Of Hispanic Heritage 08/14/12
I always wanted to go there. The Grand Canyon was on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I always thought that it wasn't enough to just see it in pictures. And I was right. Last Monday, Aug. 6, in celebration of my 62nd birthday, I treated myself to a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. This time, I was the one taking the pictures and in complete awe! Read more... and more photos...
With Amigos Like Hugo Chavez ... 07/24/2012
As if President Barack Obama didn't have enough problems, especially with so many Americans who think he is a closet socialist, he gets an unexpected endorsement from the most obnoxious socialist of them all. Without an invitation, Venezuelan ...
The Real Privilege Is That Voting Is a Right 07/17/2012
Just when we think Republican talking points can't get any more ridiculous and insulting, out they come with a new one that takes insolence to a higher level. Did you hear the one about voting? According to some GOP spinners, voting is ...
They Think Latinos are Stupid 07/03/2012
They are so desperate, so far behind in their quest to get Latinos to vote for Mitt Romney, that GOP leaders are now resorting to telling half-truths — the kind of distortion that insults our intelligence and surely will backfire. They ...
Supreme Court Upholds Racial Profiling 06/26/2012
When the Supreme Court struck down 3 out of 4 provisions of Arizona's controversial SB 1070, immigrant-bashing law Monday, President Barack Obama received a huge, unexpected boost, Mitt Romney got egg on his face, and U.S. Latinos and other immigrant ...
Say Adios to Romney 06/19/2012
When President Barack Obama finally realized the dream of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants who long to be Americans last week, he hammered the last nail on Mitt Romney's political coffin. As if Romney had not done enough to bury his ...
The New Dream Act Is Only an Act 06/05/2012
As if young undocumented immigrants had not been disillusioned enough over the past few years. As if Washington politicians had not done enough to thrash their hopes and aspirations by rejecting the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors ...
In Defense of Colombianas and Cartagena 05/22/2012
Working at a Manhattan jewelry store, the last thing my friend Claudia expected was confronting a new stereotype about her native Colombia. "For many years, whenever some people discovered that I'm Colombian, I would have to put up with ...
The Spirit of Ada Merritt 05/15/2012
Perhaps it was the times we lived in; the 1960s were special to almost everyone. Or perhaps it had more to do with the unique place we found ourselves sharing. Our junior high school, in the heart of Miami's Little Havana, is legendary. No one ...
Supreme Setback Looms Ahead 05/01/2012
If the Supreme Court tea leaf readers are correct, if more than four justices decide to uphold Arizona's infamous SB 1070, and you are an immigrant — legal or illegal — brace yourself for unprecedented harassment. Even if you were ...
The First Latino Vice President 04/24/2012
Mitt Romney doesn't have a choice. Without a Hispanic running mate, he doesn't stand a chance of winning a significant portion of the Hispanic vote, which is what he needs in the swing states that will determine who gets to be president. ...
Loving Fidel Is Offensive 04/17/2012
He is the all-time champion of world dictators, making his people succumb to pain and degradation longer than any other despot in human history. He has killed thousands and driven tens of thousands to drowning deaths while they were trying to escape ...
Studying the Obvious Reveals the Absurd 04/10/2012
It was surely a well-intended effort to clarify the complex identity of those of us who hail from Latin America and live in the United States and of those "Latinos" or "Hispanics" who were born here of Latin American parents. But ...
My American Birthday 04/03/2012
There are no photos of that day. No one in my family took pictures on the morning I left my native Cuba. But those images never will leave me. Immigrants never forget the day we begin our new lives in the United States. It becomes almost like a ...
Saint Santorum in San Juan 03/20/2012
On his way to Puerto Rico, at least in a hastily conducted briefing, you would think that someone would have reminded Rick Santorum not to mess with the Spanish language. You would think someone would have told him that fear of losing their language ...
Fueling the Syrian Massacres 03/13/2012
Just when you begin to feel sorry for Hugo Chavez, when his bouts with cancer make you feel compassion for a man who doesn't deserve any, when you begin to tell yourself that you don't wish anyone's death, the president of Venezuela reminds us he ...
Romney: Rejecting the Latino Vote 02/28/2012
He has vowed to support the most extremist anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic measures that have been floated in this country in many years. He says he would oppose comprehensive immigration reform, veto the Development Relief and Education for Alien ...
Eye-Opener for Diehard Latino Republicans 02/14/2012
Just when we think there is nothing more Republicans can do to alienate themselves from Latino voters, when they have made it clear to most Latinos that they don't want us in their "big tent," out they come with more evidence to convince ...
Romney: The DREAM Latino Unifier 02/07/2012
In our public schools, we taught them to be civic minded and to exercise their rights as Americans. There were no separate courses where young undocumented immigrants could learn how to be submissive second-class citizens. When they learned about ...
Snake Oil Peddlers 01/31/2012
It takes a lot of gall to defend either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney in the Hispanic community nowadays. And yet, we see them out there, the Latino GOP surrogates — selling snake oil to their own people. The Republican candidates have ...
My Mother Wouldn't Let Me Vote for Gingrich 01/24/2012
When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, back in the mid-'90s, Newt Gingrich was trying to take away her healthcare benefits. She had been a legal U.S. resident for many years, but Gingrich's "Contract with America" was bent on ...
Romney's Bilingual Hypocrisy 01/17/2012
In the past, Republican presidential candidates would only have to be a little hypocritical as they came back from extremist right-wing views driven by the GOP primaries and then tried to appeal to moderates — just in time for the general ...
2011
Romney's 'Long-Term' Sham
From the moment Mitt Romney clinched the Republican nomination some three months ago, the pundits have been expecting him to soften his stance on immigration in order to appeal to Latinos. We have become so cynical about our political environment that we expect politicians — from both the left and the right — to make a dramatic about-face and start marching toward the middle immediately after securing the presidential nomination of either party ... Read more
America's First Christmas 12/27/2011
Editor's Note: This is the 25th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. Now that we have welcomed Santa, some of us are getting ...
The Latino Clock is Irreversible 08/30/2011
Just when we think our detractors are gaining strength, when efforts to turn back the civil rights clock are making it harder for Latinos to realize the American Dream, the U.S. Census Bureau gives us a much-needed confidence boost. Around this ...
05/10/2011 Official English Promotes Ignorance
For at least a couple of decades, they have been lobbying for laws to make English the country's official language. Slowly but surely, English-only zealots have been gaining ground — and taking this country backward! All over the world, ...
04/19/2011 What a Birthday To Forget!
Editor's Note: This is the fourth part of the ongoing series "Should We Celebrate Our Quincentennial?" and the 23rd part of another series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns, go to http://www....
01/18/2011 Birthright Bigots: More Dangerous Than They Seem
They are the champions of the Constitution — at least, that's what they tell us — yet they keep looking for ways to violate it. They hold the patent on family values — at least, that's the impression they try to give — yet they ...
2010
10/12/2010 Hispanic Voters Are Staying Home
Considering the way many Republicans have treated Latinos lately — promoting racial profiling, immigrant-bashing and outright bigotry — Democrats thought the Hispanic vote would be served to them on a silver platter. They knew that ...
07/13/2010 World Cup Loyalties
When the World Cup tournament began, I was surprised by a question from a friend. "By the way, whose flag are you flying in the World Cup?" my friend Jim asked in an e-mail. I thought it was clearly understood that I was ...
06/01/2010 Colombia Votes for Democracy
Defying the pollsters who had predicted a tight presidential election and pleasantly surprising defenders of democracy in Latin America, Colombian voters Sunday gave a resounding first-round lead to a strong U.S. ally and rebuked the growing socialist ...
02/16/2010 If I Were Illegal
Put yourself in the shoes of an undocumented immigrant — constantly looking over your shoulder, aware that you could be arrested and deported at any time, going out every morning knowing that you might not be able to return to your family at ...
01/26/2010 Cuba's Jose Marti: His Legacy Lives Here
Editor's Note: This is the 18th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. You may have listened to his verses in the old Cuban ...
01/05/2010 A Latino Peace Plan
On one side, we have those who argue that participating in the 2010 U.S. census is crucial to Latinos, that getting even undocumented immigrants counted is essential to empowering the Hispanic community. And they are right! Because census results are ...
2009
11/24/2009 Ready To Surrender
At a time when a human rights organization is charging that Raul Castro is just as ruthless as his brother Fidel, when Cuban political prisoners are on the rise, when dissidents are being assaulted by government goons on the streets of Havana, a ...
10/20/2009 From Cuba With Courage
She is an outstanding writer, a great political analyst, a popular blogger and an award-winning journalist. But those are not the best adjectives to describe Yoani Sanchez. Courage is what makes her different. After all, writing, ...
09/15/2009 American Discovery Day
Editor's Note: This is the 15th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. When he discovered the huge landmass now known as the United ...
09/09/2009 Our Quincentennial Is Coming!
Editor's Note: This is the 14th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — When they take the time ...
09/01/2009 America's Cradle
Editor's Note: This is the 13th part of an ongoing series on America's hidden Hispanic heritage. To read previous columns in the series, go to http://MiguelPerez.com and click on "American's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." SANTO ...
08/11/2009 Repelling Latino Voters
The feeling is hard to explain. Ethnic pride is like intense love — something you just can't put into words. You have to feel it to understand it. This is why, in the U.S. Hispanic community — in ways that are incomprehensible to ...
08/04/2009 A Dose of Cuban Reality
For those who still had naive illusions about changing Cuba by befriending a couple of old tyrants, Raul Castro offered a dose of reality Saturday. "I wasn't elected president to return capitalism to Cuba or to surrender the revolution,&...
06/30/2009 Keep Affirmative Action, Without Reverse Discrimination
Some Republicans will tell us that Sonia Sotomayor is in trouble, that Monday's Supreme Court decision to overturn one of her appeals court rulings should disqualify her from joining the highest court in the land. Of course, because this is not ...
05/26/2009 Making Census Sense
At first glance, it seems like a crazy idea, a counterproductive movement born out of frustration. But when you hear the people who are calling on illegal immigrants to boycott the 2010 census, some of their arguments make a lot of sense. The ...
04/28/2009 Fidel Being Fidel
Just when America's useful fools were getting ready to sing "Kumbaya" with Cuba's Castro brothers last week, just when they thought they had heard from Raul the kind of conciliatory remarks they never had heard from Fidel, that's when they ...
03/31/2009 Latino-American History, Chapter 12: Whitman's Prophetic Letter
The letter was penned in 1883, but it could have been written today. Its message is still very current. Its words still need to be repeated. "We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents," the letter noted. "Thus far,...
03/24/2009 Obama Should Stop Immigration Raids
It's going to happen! Regardless of the fact that some people write me bitter letters assuring me that illegal immigrants never will be given any form of amnesty, this is the year when we finally will begin to fix our broken immigration system, with ...
03/17/2009 A Scary Domino Theory
Like falling domino pieces, continuously tilting one another, our Latin American neighbors keep falling to the political left. And we don't seem to care, as if their dominoes can't reach us, their problems can't affect us. While we fight two ...
02/17/2009 The Ultimate Paradox: A Democratic Dictatorship
Until Sunday, Latin American dictatorships had been established by force. It usually took a strong-arm president, a coup d'etat or a violent revolution to violate a constitution and subject the people to a regime that deprived them of their civil and ...
2008
11/04/2008 Mexico Wears Two Faces
At first, you think it must be some kind of sick joke. Someone must be trying to be funny by twisting a few things around and making it seem as if Mexico, the world's largest exporter of illegal immigrants, is vowing to arrest and deport anyone who ...
10/14/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 11: Two Good Places To Rest
To most Spaniards, Christopher Columbus rests where he belongs: in the Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria, in Seville, Spain, the city from where he set sail for the New World in 1492. But to most Dominicans, Columbus rests where he wanted to be ...
10/07/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 10: Columbus Deserves His Day
To most of us, he was the ultimate explorer, the gutsy genius who brought Europe to the New World, one of history's greatest figures. His name, of course, was Cristobal Colon, better known here as Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator, ...
09/23/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 9: Latinos Are Failing
About this time every year, when Latinos can't keep up with all the parades and fiestas to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I get terribly upset. I keep looking for the kind of substance that African-Americans absorb in serious seminars and ...
09/16/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 8: We Are All 'Americanos'
Perhaps I had not been paying attention, but now that I'm in the midst of writing a series of columns on the Latino contributions to North American society, I see a history column everywhere I look. When Sen. John McCain reminded us that a ...
09/09/2008 McCain Hits, Stays on 1st Base
When it became John McCain's turn to bat in the contest to win the Hispanic vote, the senator from Arizona took a good swing at the "bola." But he got a base hit when he needed a home run. "We believe everyone has something to ...
08/12/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 7: Exalted or Offended?
It all began with an innocuous column to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month, one that encouraged U.S. Latinos to take pride in the contributions their ancestors made to this great nation. And yet many non-Latinos were offended. Almost 20 years ...
07/15/2008 Obama and McCain Are Making Me Punch Myself!
Sen. Barack Obama challenges America to learn how to speak Spanish, and Sen. John McCain challenges Obama to deal with Latin America -- and my dual national personalities, Miguel and Michael, are fighting again. I'm at war with myself! As a Cuban-...
07/08/2008 Ingrid Walks Free, But Where Does She Stand?
When I met her, about a month before she was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas in Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt struck me as an idealist bordering on naive. We were in New York, and she was going back to Colombia to run for president, but somehow, she ...
06/24/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 6: Our Spanish Heritage
CARTAGENA, Colombia — Surrounded by a wall fortified by cannons and in the midst of fortresses and castles, there is no better place to appreciate Spanish influence in the New World than in this beautiful city by the Caribbean Sea. This is the ...
06/10/2008 Latinos Will Select Our New 'Presidente'
With Sen. Hillary Clinton out of the presidential race after having won most of the Hispanic vote in the primaries, Latinos and their issues are about to receive unprecedented attention from Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. After all, neither of ...
05/13/2008 In Puerto Rico, Rare Vote for 'Presidente'
They serve valiantly in our armed forces, yet they don't have the right to vote for the president, who is their commander in chief during war. They are American citizens, yet they don't have a single voting representative in Congress. They are our 4 ...
05/06/2008 The Great Immigration Divide
I've been saying it for years: The only reason we can't fix our broken immigration system is because on the issue of illegal immigration, there is no middle ground. But maybe I've been part of the problem; maybe I, too, should move to the middle ...
04/01/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 5: Even on HBO, 'The Black Legend' Lives
Watching the Founding Fathers and their historic creation of a new nation, even in a dramatization, always makes me feel proud to be an American. But just when I expected "John Adams" to make me feel proud to be a Latino, too, the new ...
03/25/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 4: The Black Legend Returns
Don't blame it on talk radio and conservative politicians, as if they started something new. The anti-Hispanic rhetoric poisoning political discourse in the United States lately actually dates back to 16th-century Europe. That's when British and Dutch ...
03/04/2008 War Is Knocking on Our Back Door
At first, you get the impression that the Colombians overplayed their hand. You don't send armed troops across a border with a neighboring country — not even if you are chasing wanted criminals — unless you have permission from your ...
02/05/2008 Free Trade for Freedom
In these hard economic times, there are many compelling arguments against the free trade agreements we have been making lately. Too many American jobs, instead of U.S. products, are getting exported. But if there were ever a country that we ...
01/15/2008 McCain Empowers Latinos
For the past few months, it seemed as if Latino voters had lost their leverage. When the polls and the pundits gave Sen. John McCain of Arizona up for dead, when they said his presidential campaign was on life-support, Latinos lost their ability to ...
01/08/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 3: Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico — Until you get here and you stand before the great pyramid of Kukulcan, you don't fully appreciate the amazing ingenuity and achievements of the Mayan people. Sure, you may have seen pictures and heard that this ...
2007
12/18/2007 Latino-American History 102: A Tale of Two Cities
Which came first: the Spanish conquistadors or the British colonists? Jamestown or St. Augustine? The Spanish language or the English language? Hernando De Soto or Lewis and Clark? Figuring out the answer to all those questions is much easier ...
12/11/2007 To Get to the White House, Go Through 'El Barrio'
In spite of the anti-immigrant climate that has been sweeping the nation, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll says 60 percent of Americans are still in favor of a legalization plan for law-abiding illegal immigrants. Other polls say two Republican ...
11/27/2007 Latino-American History 101: Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
For Latino immigrants, no other American holiday is more precious than Thanksgiving. "El dia de accion de gracias," as we know it in Spanish, is a welcomed opportunity to reflect on the reasons we came here and to express our ...
11/20/2007 A Dangerous Clown
The U.S. government pretends he is invisible, and the American people refuse to see him. Most of us don't see the threat he represents to U.S. interests. He keeps telling us he is powerful and dangerous, but because he acts like a clown, we just keep ...
10/30/2007 The Congress of Broken American Dreams
When we can't even forgive the children of illegal immigrants, when we insist on penalizing them for decisions made by their parents, there's something wrong with us. On the scale that measures our compassion as a nation, we must be at an all-...
10/23/2007 The United States of Cubazuela
Just when you thought the clown who rules Venezuela couldn't be any more bizarre or say anything more absurd, out comes President Hugo Chavez with yet another amazingly preposterous statement. It happens at least once a week. He is the shock ...
10/02/2007 The Latin American Axis of Evil
They are a new and emerging team of anti-American players — Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and Ecuador's Rafael Correa. They call themselves socialists of the 21st century. And their team manager is the ...
09/11/2007 Winning the Hispanic Vote -- By Default
Republicans give us their back, and Democrats give us demagoguery. That's what Latinos are getting from the presidential candidates, and nowhere was that more evident than in the debate hosted by the Spanish-language Univision TV network Sunday night ...
09/04/2007 The Lawyer Becomes the Accused
For more than 10 years, ever since Florida attorney Magda Montiel Davis was caught on video kissing Fidel Castro and expressing admiration for the Cuban dictator, she has been persona non grata in Miami's Cuban-American community. And now that ...
08/07/2007 For GOP, Immigration Reform Is About Self-Preservation
We knew it all along: Self-preservation was always the main reason why so many Republicans were opposed to giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. But if we had any doubts, a new proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., confirms the main ...
07/24/2007 Courting Latinos, Without Shame
He spends much of his campaign time feeding the flames of hatred against illegal immigrants, yet Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has the gall to go courting Hispanic voters. There is a Spanish word to describe that kind of person, &...
07/17/2007 As McCain Slips, Latinos Lose Leverage
The unfortunate demise of the presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain is taking away Latino leverage with Democratic candidates. Until now, whenever Democrats began to take Latino voters for granted, we could still threaten them with McCain. ...
06/26/2007 From Punching Bags to Voters
Let's face it, they have us playing defense. Those of us seeking fair and comprehensive immigration reform are barely holding the line against those who promote anti-immigrant sentiments. Immigration restrictionists, conservative radio ...
06/05/2007 Venezuela Unplugs Opposition TV
When the people freely give away their freedom, as they have in Venezuela, can you really feel sorry for them? In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez gives the people every indication that he intends to gradually take away their liberties, and yet ...
05/29/2007 For Immigration, A Remedy Worse Than the Illness
It never really mattered how much immigrant rights activists were willing to concede in order to reach a compromise on comprehensive immigration reform. If the deal included any kind of legalization path for the 12 million illegal immigrants already ...
05/08/2007 Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Leads to Violence
When Los Angles police launched an attack on thousands of peaceful immigrant-rights protesters and many members of the news media last week, the violent nature of the U.S. anti-immigrant movement was finally exposed. The immigrant-bashing ...
04/24/2007 Bad News? Cringe and Pray!
You hear the news of a mass murder or some other horrible crime, and if you are a white American you probably wonder about the criminal's motivation or the way he executed his plan. But if you are a minority American, immediately the first ...
04/17/2007 A Lesson in Latino vs. Black Power
For weeks before Don Imus was fired for making racist and sexist remarks on the radio, two other shock jocks were already targeted for protests and boycotts for making insensitive remarks on New Jersey's 101.5 FM. The two jocks, known as "...
04/03/2007 The Hidden Anti-Latino Agenda
At a time when immigration reform proposals have been moved so far to the right that even conservative Republicans could support them, out comes the White House with its own remarkably hawkish set of ideas. For a president who supposedly wants ...
03/27/2007 Vigilante Radio Stoops to New Low
Just when we thought American xenophobes couldn't stoop any lower, when their mean-spirited behavior couldn't be any more repulsive, two New Jersey radio shock jocks are seeking to reach a new low. The two jocks, knows as "The Jersey Guys,&...
03/13/2007 Bush Rediscovers the New World
Just when we thought Hugo Chavez had been given free rein to take over Latin America, President Bush suddenly remembered that there are 19 countries just south of the Mexican border. After neglecting Latin America for the past six years, and ...
03/06/2007 The Democrats' Secret Weapon
She is just about the best thing that could have ever happened to the Democratic Party, the reason why they may retake the White House in 2008, the person who will finally make most Americans see just how destructive conservative extremists can be for ...
02/27/2007 Let Them Swear on Their Faith
When someone is taking an oath, and placing his or her hand on a holy book, you want it to be a scripture that person believes in, right? It's only logical. If they swear on something for which they have no respect, how valid is the oath they are ...
02/20/2007 Immigrant Bigots Cause Indigestion
When your mail is filled with hatred and vicious remarks from xenophobic native-born Americans who are inexplicably offended by your calls for compassion for illegal immigrants, somehow you get used to it. You accept the fact that intolerance is ...
02/13/2007 Colombia Forced to Gamble With Hostages' Lives
When I first met her in New York five years ago, Ingrid Betancourt was campaigning to be president of Colombia. She had been a strong critic of the leftist guerrillas who had caused so much bloodshed in her war-torn homeland, and she knew her ...
I always wanted to go there. The Grand Canyon was on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. I always thought that it wasn't enough to just see it in pictures. And I was right. Last Monday, Aug. 6, in celebration of my 62nd birthday, I treated myself to a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. This time, I was the one taking the pictures and in complete awe! Read more... and more photos...
With Amigos Like Hugo Chavez ... 07/24/2012
As if President Barack Obama didn't have enough problems, especially with so many Americans who think he is a closet socialist, he gets an unexpected endorsement from the most obnoxious socialist of them all. Without an invitation, Venezuelan ...
The Real Privilege Is That Voting Is a Right 07/17/2012
Just when we think Republican talking points can't get any more ridiculous and insulting, out they come with a new one that takes insolence to a higher level. Did you hear the one about voting? According to some GOP spinners, voting is ...
They Think Latinos are Stupid 07/03/2012
They are so desperate, so far behind in their quest to get Latinos to vote for Mitt Romney, that GOP leaders are now resorting to telling half-truths — the kind of distortion that insults our intelligence and surely will backfire. They ...
Supreme Court Upholds Racial Profiling 06/26/2012
When the Supreme Court struck down 3 out of 4 provisions of Arizona's controversial SB 1070, immigrant-bashing law Monday, President Barack Obama received a huge, unexpected boost, Mitt Romney got egg on his face, and U.S. Latinos and other immigrant ...
Say Adios to Romney 06/19/2012
When President Barack Obama finally realized the dream of thousands of young, undocumented immigrants who long to be Americans last week, he hammered the last nail on Mitt Romney's political coffin. As if Romney had not done enough to bury his ...
The New Dream Act Is Only an Act 06/05/2012
As if young undocumented immigrants had not been disillusioned enough over the past few years. As if Washington politicians had not done enough to thrash their hopes and aspirations by rejecting the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors ...
In Defense of Colombianas and Cartagena 05/22/2012
Working at a Manhattan jewelry store, the last thing my friend Claudia expected was confronting a new stereotype about her native Colombia. "For many years, whenever some people discovered that I'm Colombian, I would have to put up with ...
The Spirit of Ada Merritt 05/15/2012
Perhaps it was the times we lived in; the 1960s were special to almost everyone. Or perhaps it had more to do with the unique place we found ourselves sharing. Our junior high school, in the heart of Miami's Little Havana, is legendary. No one ...
Supreme Setback Looms Ahead 05/01/2012
If the Supreme Court tea leaf readers are correct, if more than four justices decide to uphold Arizona's infamous SB 1070, and you are an immigrant — legal or illegal — brace yourself for unprecedented harassment. Even if you were ...
The First Latino Vice President 04/24/2012
Mitt Romney doesn't have a choice. Without a Hispanic running mate, he doesn't stand a chance of winning a significant portion of the Hispanic vote, which is what he needs in the swing states that will determine who gets to be president. ...
Loving Fidel Is Offensive 04/17/2012
He is the all-time champion of world dictators, making his people succumb to pain and degradation longer than any other despot in human history. He has killed thousands and driven tens of thousands to drowning deaths while they were trying to escape ...
Studying the Obvious Reveals the Absurd 04/10/2012
It was surely a well-intended effort to clarify the complex identity of those of us who hail from Latin America and live in the United States and of those "Latinos" or "Hispanics" who were born here of Latin American parents. But ...
My American Birthday 04/03/2012
There are no photos of that day. No one in my family took pictures on the morning I left my native Cuba. But those images never will leave me. Immigrants never forget the day we begin our new lives in the United States. It becomes almost like a ...
Saint Santorum in San Juan 03/20/2012
On his way to Puerto Rico, at least in a hastily conducted briefing, you would think that someone would have reminded Rick Santorum not to mess with the Spanish language. You would think someone would have told him that fear of losing their language ...
Fueling the Syrian Massacres 03/13/2012
Just when you begin to feel sorry for Hugo Chavez, when his bouts with cancer make you feel compassion for a man who doesn't deserve any, when you begin to tell yourself that you don't wish anyone's death, the president of Venezuela reminds us he ...
Romney: Rejecting the Latino Vote 02/28/2012
He has vowed to support the most extremist anti-immigrant and anti-Hispanic measures that have been floated in this country in many years. He says he would oppose comprehensive immigration reform, veto the Development Relief and Education for Alien ...
Eye-Opener for Diehard Latino Republicans 02/14/2012
Just when we think there is nothing more Republicans can do to alienate themselves from Latino voters, when they have made it clear to most Latinos that they don't want us in their "big tent," out they come with more evidence to convince ...
Romney: The DREAM Latino Unifier 02/07/2012
In our public schools, we taught them to be civic minded and to exercise their rights as Americans. There were no separate courses where young undocumented immigrants could learn how to be submissive second-class citizens. When they learned about ...
Snake Oil Peddlers 01/31/2012
It takes a lot of gall to defend either Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney in the Hispanic community nowadays. And yet, we see them out there, the Latino GOP surrogates — selling snake oil to their own people. The Republican candidates have ...
My Mother Wouldn't Let Me Vote for Gingrich 01/24/2012
When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, back in the mid-'90s, Newt Gingrich was trying to take away her healthcare benefits. She had been a legal U.S. resident for many years, but Gingrich's "Contract with America" was bent on ...
Romney's Bilingual Hypocrisy 01/17/2012
In the past, Republican presidential candidates would only have to be a little hypocritical as they came back from extremist right-wing views driven by the GOP primaries and then tried to appeal to moderates — just in time for the general ...
2011
Romney's 'Long-Term' Sham
From the moment Mitt Romney clinched the Republican nomination some three months ago, the pundits have been expecting him to soften his stance on immigration in order to appeal to Latinos. We have become so cynical about our political environment that we expect politicians — from both the left and the right — to make a dramatic about-face and start marching toward the middle immediately after securing the presidential nomination of either party ... Read more
America's First Christmas 12/27/2011
Editor's Note: This is the 25th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. Now that we have welcomed Santa, some of us are getting ...
The Latino Clock is Irreversible 08/30/2011
Just when we think our detractors are gaining strength, when efforts to turn back the civil rights clock are making it harder for Latinos to realize the American Dream, the U.S. Census Bureau gives us a much-needed confidence boost. Around this ...
05/10/2011 Official English Promotes Ignorance
For at least a couple of decades, they have been lobbying for laws to make English the country's official language. Slowly but surely, English-only zealots have been gaining ground — and taking this country backward! All over the world, ...
04/19/2011 What a Birthday To Forget!
Editor's Note: This is the fourth part of the ongoing series "Should We Celebrate Our Quincentennial?" and the 23rd part of another series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns, go to http://www....
01/18/2011 Birthright Bigots: More Dangerous Than They Seem
They are the champions of the Constitution — at least, that's what they tell us — yet they keep looking for ways to violate it. They hold the patent on family values — at least, that's the impression they try to give — yet they ...
2010
10/12/2010 Hispanic Voters Are Staying Home
Considering the way many Republicans have treated Latinos lately — promoting racial profiling, immigrant-bashing and outright bigotry — Democrats thought the Hispanic vote would be served to them on a silver platter. They knew that ...
07/13/2010 World Cup Loyalties
When the World Cup tournament began, I was surprised by a question from a friend. "By the way, whose flag are you flying in the World Cup?" my friend Jim asked in an e-mail. I thought it was clearly understood that I was ...
06/01/2010 Colombia Votes for Democracy
Defying the pollsters who had predicted a tight presidential election and pleasantly surprising defenders of democracy in Latin America, Colombian voters Sunday gave a resounding first-round lead to a strong U.S. ally and rebuked the growing socialist ...
02/16/2010 If I Were Illegal
Put yourself in the shoes of an undocumented immigrant — constantly looking over your shoulder, aware that you could be arrested and deported at any time, going out every morning knowing that you might not be able to return to your family at ...
01/26/2010 Cuba's Jose Marti: His Legacy Lives Here
Editor's Note: This is the 18th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. You may have listened to his verses in the old Cuban ...
01/05/2010 A Latino Peace Plan
On one side, we have those who argue that participating in the 2010 U.S. census is crucial to Latinos, that getting even undocumented immigrants counted is essential to empowering the Hispanic community. And they are right! Because census results are ...
2009
11/24/2009 Ready To Surrender
At a time when a human rights organization is charging that Raul Castro is just as ruthless as his brother Fidel, when Cuban political prisoners are on the rise, when dissidents are being assaulted by government goons on the streets of Havana, a ...
10/20/2009 From Cuba With Courage
She is an outstanding writer, a great political analyst, a popular blogger and an award-winning journalist. But those are not the best adjectives to describe Yoani Sanchez. Courage is what makes her different. After all, writing, ...
09/15/2009 American Discovery Day
Editor's Note: This is the 15th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. When he discovered the huge landmass now known as the United ...
09/09/2009 Our Quincentennial Is Coming!
Editor's Note: This is the 14th part of an ongoing series, "America's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." To read previous columns in the series, go to http://www.MiguelPerez.com. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — When they take the time ...
09/01/2009 America's Cradle
Editor's Note: This is the 13th part of an ongoing series on America's hidden Hispanic heritage. To read previous columns in the series, go to http://MiguelPerez.com and click on "American's Hidden Hispanic Heritage." SANTO ...
08/11/2009 Repelling Latino Voters
The feeling is hard to explain. Ethnic pride is like intense love — something you just can't put into words. You have to feel it to understand it. This is why, in the U.S. Hispanic community — in ways that are incomprehensible to ...
08/04/2009 A Dose of Cuban Reality
For those who still had naive illusions about changing Cuba by befriending a couple of old tyrants, Raul Castro offered a dose of reality Saturday. "I wasn't elected president to return capitalism to Cuba or to surrender the revolution,&...
06/30/2009 Keep Affirmative Action, Without Reverse Discrimination
Some Republicans will tell us that Sonia Sotomayor is in trouble, that Monday's Supreme Court decision to overturn one of her appeals court rulings should disqualify her from joining the highest court in the land. Of course, because this is not ...
05/26/2009 Making Census Sense
At first glance, it seems like a crazy idea, a counterproductive movement born out of frustration. But when you hear the people who are calling on illegal immigrants to boycott the 2010 census, some of their arguments make a lot of sense. The ...
04/28/2009 Fidel Being Fidel
Just when America's useful fools were getting ready to sing "Kumbaya" with Cuba's Castro brothers last week, just when they thought they had heard from Raul the kind of conciliatory remarks they never had heard from Fidel, that's when they ...
03/31/2009 Latino-American History, Chapter 12: Whitman's Prophetic Letter
The letter was penned in 1883, but it could have been written today. Its message is still very current. Its words still need to be repeated. "We Americans have yet to really learn our own antecedents," the letter noted. "Thus far,...
03/24/2009 Obama Should Stop Immigration Raids
It's going to happen! Regardless of the fact that some people write me bitter letters assuring me that illegal immigrants never will be given any form of amnesty, this is the year when we finally will begin to fix our broken immigration system, with ...
03/17/2009 A Scary Domino Theory
Like falling domino pieces, continuously tilting one another, our Latin American neighbors keep falling to the political left. And we don't seem to care, as if their dominoes can't reach us, their problems can't affect us. While we fight two ...
02/17/2009 The Ultimate Paradox: A Democratic Dictatorship
Until Sunday, Latin American dictatorships had been established by force. It usually took a strong-arm president, a coup d'etat or a violent revolution to violate a constitution and subject the people to a regime that deprived them of their civil and ...
2008
11/04/2008 Mexico Wears Two Faces
At first, you think it must be some kind of sick joke. Someone must be trying to be funny by twisting a few things around and making it seem as if Mexico, the world's largest exporter of illegal immigrants, is vowing to arrest and deport anyone who ...
10/14/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 11: Two Good Places To Rest
To most Spaniards, Christopher Columbus rests where he belongs: in the Gothic Cathedral of Santa Maria, in Seville, Spain, the city from where he set sail for the New World in 1492. But to most Dominicans, Columbus rests where he wanted to be ...
10/07/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 10: Columbus Deserves His Day
To most of us, he was the ultimate explorer, the gutsy genius who brought Europe to the New World, one of history's greatest figures. His name, of course, was Cristobal Colon, better known here as Christopher Columbus, the Italian navigator, ...
09/23/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 9: Latinos Are Failing
About this time every year, when Latinos can't keep up with all the parades and fiestas to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I get terribly upset. I keep looking for the kind of substance that African-Americans absorb in serious seminars and ...
09/16/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 8: We Are All 'Americanos'
Perhaps I had not been paying attention, but now that I'm in the midst of writing a series of columns on the Latino contributions to North American society, I see a history column everywhere I look. When Sen. John McCain reminded us that a ...
09/09/2008 McCain Hits, Stays on 1st Base
When it became John McCain's turn to bat in the contest to win the Hispanic vote, the senator from Arizona took a good swing at the "bola." But he got a base hit when he needed a home run. "We believe everyone has something to ...
08/12/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 7: Exalted or Offended?
It all began with an innocuous column to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month, one that encouraged U.S. Latinos to take pride in the contributions their ancestors made to this great nation. And yet many non-Latinos were offended. Almost 20 years ...
07/15/2008 Obama and McCain Are Making Me Punch Myself!
Sen. Barack Obama challenges America to learn how to speak Spanish, and Sen. John McCain challenges Obama to deal with Latin America -- and my dual national personalities, Miguel and Michael, are fighting again. I'm at war with myself! As a Cuban-...
07/08/2008 Ingrid Walks Free, But Where Does She Stand?
When I met her, about a month before she was kidnapped by leftist guerrillas in Colombia, Ingrid Betancourt struck me as an idealist bordering on naive. We were in New York, and she was going back to Colombia to run for president, but somehow, she ...
06/24/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 6: Our Spanish Heritage
CARTAGENA, Colombia — Surrounded by a wall fortified by cannons and in the midst of fortresses and castles, there is no better place to appreciate Spanish influence in the New World than in this beautiful city by the Caribbean Sea. This is the ...
06/10/2008 Latinos Will Select Our New 'Presidente'
With Sen. Hillary Clinton out of the presidential race after having won most of the Hispanic vote in the primaries, Latinos and their issues are about to receive unprecedented attention from Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. After all, neither of ...
05/13/2008 In Puerto Rico, Rare Vote for 'Presidente'
They serve valiantly in our armed forces, yet they don't have the right to vote for the president, who is their commander in chief during war. They are American citizens, yet they don't have a single voting representative in Congress. They are our 4 ...
05/06/2008 The Great Immigration Divide
I've been saying it for years: The only reason we can't fix our broken immigration system is because on the issue of illegal immigration, there is no middle ground. But maybe I've been part of the problem; maybe I, too, should move to the middle ...
04/01/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 5: Even on HBO, 'The Black Legend' Lives
Watching the Founding Fathers and their historic creation of a new nation, even in a dramatization, always makes me feel proud to be an American. But just when I expected "John Adams" to make me feel proud to be a Latino, too, the new ...
03/25/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 4: The Black Legend Returns
Don't blame it on talk radio and conservative politicians, as if they started something new. The anti-Hispanic rhetoric poisoning political discourse in the United States lately actually dates back to 16th-century Europe. That's when British and Dutch ...
03/04/2008 War Is Knocking on Our Back Door
At first, you get the impression that the Colombians overplayed their hand. You don't send armed troops across a border with a neighboring country — not even if you are chasing wanted criminals — unless you have permission from your ...
02/05/2008 Free Trade for Freedom
In these hard economic times, there are many compelling arguments against the free trade agreements we have been making lately. Too many American jobs, instead of U.S. products, are getting exported. But if there were ever a country that we ...
01/15/2008 McCain Empowers Latinos
For the past few months, it seemed as if Latino voters had lost their leverage. When the polls and the pundits gave Sen. John McCain of Arizona up for dead, when they said his presidential campaign was on life-support, Latinos lost their ability to ...
01/08/2008 Latino-American History, Chapter 3: Our Pre-Hispanic Heritage
CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico — Until you get here and you stand before the great pyramid of Kukulcan, you don't fully appreciate the amazing ingenuity and achievements of the Mayan people. Sure, you may have seen pictures and heard that this ...
2007
12/18/2007 Latino-American History 102: A Tale of Two Cities
Which came first: the Spanish conquistadors or the British colonists? Jamestown or St. Augustine? The Spanish language or the English language? Hernando De Soto or Lewis and Clark? Figuring out the answer to all those questions is much easier ...
12/11/2007 To Get to the White House, Go Through 'El Barrio'
In spite of the anti-immigrant climate that has been sweeping the nation, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll says 60 percent of Americans are still in favor of a legalization plan for law-abiding illegal immigrants. Other polls say two Republican ...
11/27/2007 Latino-American History 101: Our Pre-Mayflower Thanksgivings
For Latino immigrants, no other American holiday is more precious than Thanksgiving. "El dia de accion de gracias," as we know it in Spanish, is a welcomed opportunity to reflect on the reasons we came here and to express our ...
11/20/2007 A Dangerous Clown
The U.S. government pretends he is invisible, and the American people refuse to see him. Most of us don't see the threat he represents to U.S. interests. He keeps telling us he is powerful and dangerous, but because he acts like a clown, we just keep ...
10/30/2007 The Congress of Broken American Dreams
When we can't even forgive the children of illegal immigrants, when we insist on penalizing them for decisions made by their parents, there's something wrong with us. On the scale that measures our compassion as a nation, we must be at an all-...
10/23/2007 The United States of Cubazuela
Just when you thought the clown who rules Venezuela couldn't be any more bizarre or say anything more absurd, out comes President Hugo Chavez with yet another amazingly preposterous statement. It happens at least once a week. He is the shock ...
10/02/2007 The Latin American Axis of Evil
They are a new and emerging team of anti-American players — Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Bolivia's Evo Morales, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega and Ecuador's Rafael Correa. They call themselves socialists of the 21st century. And their team manager is the ...
09/11/2007 Winning the Hispanic Vote -- By Default
Republicans give us their back, and Democrats give us demagoguery. That's what Latinos are getting from the presidential candidates, and nowhere was that more evident than in the debate hosted by the Spanish-language Univision TV network Sunday night ...
09/04/2007 The Lawyer Becomes the Accused
For more than 10 years, ever since Florida attorney Magda Montiel Davis was caught on video kissing Fidel Castro and expressing admiration for the Cuban dictator, she has been persona non grata in Miami's Cuban-American community. And now that ...
08/07/2007 For GOP, Immigration Reform Is About Self-Preservation
We knew it all along: Self-preservation was always the main reason why so many Republicans were opposed to giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. But if we had any doubts, a new proposal by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., confirms the main ...
07/24/2007 Courting Latinos, Without Shame
He spends much of his campaign time feeding the flames of hatred against illegal immigrants, yet Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has the gall to go courting Hispanic voters. There is a Spanish word to describe that kind of person, &...
07/17/2007 As McCain Slips, Latinos Lose Leverage
The unfortunate demise of the presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain is taking away Latino leverage with Democratic candidates. Until now, whenever Democrats began to take Latino voters for granted, we could still threaten them with McCain. ...
06/26/2007 From Punching Bags to Voters
Let's face it, they have us playing defense. Those of us seeking fair and comprehensive immigration reform are barely holding the line against those who promote anti-immigrant sentiments. Immigration restrictionists, conservative radio ...
06/05/2007 Venezuela Unplugs Opposition TV
When the people freely give away their freedom, as they have in Venezuela, can you really feel sorry for them? In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez gives the people every indication that he intends to gradually take away their liberties, and yet ...
05/29/2007 For Immigration, A Remedy Worse Than the Illness
It never really mattered how much immigrant rights activists were willing to concede in order to reach a compromise on comprehensive immigration reform. If the deal included any kind of legalization path for the 12 million illegal immigrants already ...
05/08/2007 Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Leads to Violence
When Los Angles police launched an attack on thousands of peaceful immigrant-rights protesters and many members of the news media last week, the violent nature of the U.S. anti-immigrant movement was finally exposed. The immigrant-bashing ...
04/24/2007 Bad News? Cringe and Pray!
You hear the news of a mass murder or some other horrible crime, and if you are a white American you probably wonder about the criminal's motivation or the way he executed his plan. But if you are a minority American, immediately the first ...
04/17/2007 A Lesson in Latino vs. Black Power
For weeks before Don Imus was fired for making racist and sexist remarks on the radio, two other shock jocks were already targeted for protests and boycotts for making insensitive remarks on New Jersey's 101.5 FM. The two jocks, known as "...
04/03/2007 The Hidden Anti-Latino Agenda
At a time when immigration reform proposals have been moved so far to the right that even conservative Republicans could support them, out comes the White House with its own remarkably hawkish set of ideas. For a president who supposedly wants ...
03/27/2007 Vigilante Radio Stoops to New Low
Just when we thought American xenophobes couldn't stoop any lower, when their mean-spirited behavior couldn't be any more repulsive, two New Jersey radio shock jocks are seeking to reach a new low. The two jocks, knows as "The Jersey Guys,&...
03/13/2007 Bush Rediscovers the New World
Just when we thought Hugo Chavez had been given free rein to take over Latin America, President Bush suddenly remembered that there are 19 countries just south of the Mexican border. After neglecting Latin America for the past six years, and ...
03/06/2007 The Democrats' Secret Weapon
She is just about the best thing that could have ever happened to the Democratic Party, the reason why they may retake the White House in 2008, the person who will finally make most Americans see just how destructive conservative extremists can be for ...
02/27/2007 Let Them Swear on Their Faith
When someone is taking an oath, and placing his or her hand on a holy book, you want it to be a scripture that person believes in, right? It's only logical. If they swear on something for which they have no respect, how valid is the oath they are ...
02/20/2007 Immigrant Bigots Cause Indigestion
When your mail is filled with hatred and vicious remarks from xenophobic native-born Americans who are inexplicably offended by your calls for compassion for illegal immigrants, somehow you get used to it. You accept the fact that intolerance is ...
02/13/2007 Colombia Forced to Gamble With Hostages' Lives
When I first met her in New York five years ago, Ingrid Betancourt was campaigning to be president of Colombia. She had been a strong critic of the leftist guerrillas who had caused so much bloodshed in her war-torn homeland, and she knew her ...
Let me introduce myself
January 3, 2006 - On the second anniversary of this syndicated column, I think the time has come to introduce myself.
After all, not too many people were reading me when the column was first launched and if I asked for help two years ago – as I will in a minute – my pleas could have gone unheard.
But now that I have some faithful readers, according to my mail, I figure that after you meet me – more formally – you may want to introduce me and my column to your friends in other parts of the country, so that they’ll request the column from their own local newspaper.
I write about Hispanic issues.
For the past 30 years, at three major American newspapers, that has been my mission – to present the Hispanic perspective to non-Latinos.
As a syndicated columnist, addressing a national audience, I see myself as a bridge builder, creating paths of understanding between non-Hispanic Americans and their 40 million Latino neighbors.
It is never my intention to write a protest column – although to some readers it may seem that way. My goal is to dispel the negative myths about Latinos, most of whom are honest, hard-working people who want to assimilate rather than impose their culture on this society.
As taxpayers, voters, and contributors to this society, Latinos want their fair share of the entitlements, but they don’t expect them on a silver platter.
Most Latinos spend a lot less time demanding their rights than expressing gratitude for the opportunity to live in the greatest country in the world. These are the sentiments I want my column to convey.
The mission was eloquently outlined by the nation’s first Hispanic columnist in an English-language newspaper, Cuban writer and patriot Jose Marti – my idol – who wrote for the old New York Sun more than a century ago.
"What I want is to demonstrate that we are good people, industrious, and capable,” Marti wrote. “For each offense, a reply . . . and more effective by its moderation. For each false assertion about our countries, an immediate correction. For each defect, apparently just, which is thrown in our faces, the historical explanation which will excuse it, and proof of the capacity to remedy it. It would seem to me that I were being derelict in my duty if I should not realize this thought."
Although the growth and impact of the U.S. Hispanic population is not often reflected in American newspapers, my goal is to fill that void, by discussing the wide gamut of issues that concern Latino Americans – from affirmative action to immigration.
And to adequately reflect what U.S. Latinos are thinking, it’s also important to cover significant events in Latin America. When there are statehood discussions in Puerto Rico, human rights violations in Cuba, border squabbles in Mexico, drug wars in Colombia, and anti-American movements in Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia, you can be sure Latinos are talking about it in the United States. This column will tell you what they are saying.
But it wouldn’t be a column without a good dose of opinion, and my opinions are formed by my own life experiences.
You are what your life makes you. I was born in Havana, Cuba in 1950 and I came to the United States, as a refugee, at the age of 11 in 1962. Spanish was my only language then. I couldn’t speak a word of English.
My life has shown me the ruthlessness of a right-wing dictatorship, the repression of a communist regime, the struggles of U.S. immigrants, and the economic, social, and even violent discrimination suffered by minorities.
That makes me generally a liberal on domestic issues and a conservative on U.S. foreign policy. And that makes me difficult to read, especially for people who want to cast me into a mold.
It happens to all of us. You express an opinion based on one of a trillion issues that concern you, and based on that single remark, you are either a liberal or a conservative. And when you express another opinion that breaks your assigned mold, some people don't know where to place you.
But when a columnist expresses many opinions to thousands of readers, it happens practically every day. I'm either supposed to be a liberal or conservative columnist.
Some readers want me to be like those predictable talking heads on cable TV – the ones whose opinions we know, even before they express it.
Yet I refuse to be defined or limited by the parameters set by those two words. Living under communism, as I did in my native Cuba, taught me not to allow being molded by the party line.
When I condemn flag desecration and anti-American sentiments abroad, and when I recognize the need for U.S. Latinos to learn English and accept some personal responsibility for child abuse, domestic violence, drug dealing and other social ills, I break the liberal mold.
But when I come out in defense of immigrants and the downtrodden, when I say Latinos also have a right to dream the American dream, it’s hard to peg me as a conservative.
So, if you want to know what Latinos are thinking from a not so predictable columnist, tell you friends to ask for this column in their local newspaper.
January 3, 2006 - On the second anniversary of this syndicated column, I think the time has come to introduce myself.
After all, not too many people were reading me when the column was first launched and if I asked for help two years ago – as I will in a minute – my pleas could have gone unheard.
But now that I have some faithful readers, according to my mail, I figure that after you meet me – more formally – you may want to introduce me and my column to your friends in other parts of the country, so that they’ll request the column from their own local newspaper.
I write about Hispanic issues.
For the past 30 years, at three major American newspapers, that has been my mission – to present the Hispanic perspective to non-Latinos.
As a syndicated columnist, addressing a national audience, I see myself as a bridge builder, creating paths of understanding between non-Hispanic Americans and their 40 million Latino neighbors.
It is never my intention to write a protest column – although to some readers it may seem that way. My goal is to dispel the negative myths about Latinos, most of whom are honest, hard-working people who want to assimilate rather than impose their culture on this society.
As taxpayers, voters, and contributors to this society, Latinos want their fair share of the entitlements, but they don’t expect them on a silver platter.
Most Latinos spend a lot less time demanding their rights than expressing gratitude for the opportunity to live in the greatest country in the world. These are the sentiments I want my column to convey.
The mission was eloquently outlined by the nation’s first Hispanic columnist in an English-language newspaper, Cuban writer and patriot Jose Marti – my idol – who wrote for the old New York Sun more than a century ago.
"What I want is to demonstrate that we are good people, industrious, and capable,” Marti wrote. “For each offense, a reply . . . and more effective by its moderation. For each false assertion about our countries, an immediate correction. For each defect, apparently just, which is thrown in our faces, the historical explanation which will excuse it, and proof of the capacity to remedy it. It would seem to me that I were being derelict in my duty if I should not realize this thought."
Although the growth and impact of the U.S. Hispanic population is not often reflected in American newspapers, my goal is to fill that void, by discussing the wide gamut of issues that concern Latino Americans – from affirmative action to immigration.
And to adequately reflect what U.S. Latinos are thinking, it’s also important to cover significant events in Latin America. When there are statehood discussions in Puerto Rico, human rights violations in Cuba, border squabbles in Mexico, drug wars in Colombia, and anti-American movements in Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia, you can be sure Latinos are talking about it in the United States. This column will tell you what they are saying.
But it wouldn’t be a column without a good dose of opinion, and my opinions are formed by my own life experiences.
You are what your life makes you. I was born in Havana, Cuba in 1950 and I came to the United States, as a refugee, at the age of 11 in 1962. Spanish was my only language then. I couldn’t speak a word of English.
My life has shown me the ruthlessness of a right-wing dictatorship, the repression of a communist regime, the struggles of U.S. immigrants, and the economic, social, and even violent discrimination suffered by minorities.
That makes me generally a liberal on domestic issues and a conservative on U.S. foreign policy. And that makes me difficult to read, especially for people who want to cast me into a mold.
It happens to all of us. You express an opinion based on one of a trillion issues that concern you, and based on that single remark, you are either a liberal or a conservative. And when you express another opinion that breaks your assigned mold, some people don't know where to place you.
But when a columnist expresses many opinions to thousands of readers, it happens practically every day. I'm either supposed to be a liberal or conservative columnist.
Some readers want me to be like those predictable talking heads on cable TV – the ones whose opinions we know, even before they express it.
Yet I refuse to be defined or limited by the parameters set by those two words. Living under communism, as I did in my native Cuba, taught me not to allow being molded by the party line.
When I condemn flag desecration and anti-American sentiments abroad, and when I recognize the need for U.S. Latinos to learn English and accept some personal responsibility for child abuse, domestic violence, drug dealing and other social ills, I break the liberal mold.
But when I come out in defense of immigrants and the downtrodden, when I say Latinos also have a right to dream the American dream, it’s hard to peg me as a conservative.
So, if you want to know what Latinos are thinking from a not so predictable columnist, tell you friends to ask for this column in their local newspaper.
