The Spanish language newspaper Siglo 21, web site www.lawrenceinteractivo.com and
local Spanish speaking radio talk show hosts on
WCEC (formerly WHAV) are promoting a political
campaign called "Vote Latino!" The
campaign advocates Latino voters only support and
vote for Latino candidates with race being the
only determining factor for the voters
choice.
The mere notion
that a voter "should" choose his/her
elected representatives based solely on race,
would make Martin Luther King weep in despair for
the dream he lived and died for.
If voting for candidates based on heritage or
race were anything short of racism the justice
department wouldn't have sued Lawrence to
restructure our election system. The stated
reason for the feds involvement in Lawrence was
because many Latinos had complained that white
voters were purposely voting against Latino
candidates and thereby Latino voters in an At
Large election could not get elected. As the
result the school committee is no longer elected
city-wide.
Yet, prominent members of the Latino community
and the mainstream Spanish language media outlets
are calling for such race determined voting with
little or no opposition or outcry from
anyone.
The idea being promoted (and believed by many) is
that it's ok for Latinos to vote against white
candidates to get Latinos elected because it is
"ethnic pride," while white voters who
vote for white candidates are
"racist."
Well, either it is racist or it isn't racist. Is
it, or it isn't. There is no debate.
I am happy to report that there is no debate
among the six candidates for City Council
At-Large; Marcos Devers, Barbara Gonzales, John
Dmytrow, Isreal Reyes, Nunzio DiMarca and Joe
Parolisi. At least not to the non-Spanish
speaking media.
 Isreal Reyes said on the
Paying Attention radio program last year that he
believed "voting for the best candidate
based on issues was more important than skin
color." Barbara Gonzales and John Dmytrow
have both made similar statements.
At last night's debate (Check main page for
scheduled airing dates and times) I asked the
At-Large candidates for City Council if they
believed in the concept of "Voting
Latino" as Siglo 21, WCEC and www.lawrenceinteractivo.com have all defined
it.
"You have to vote for the best person. No, I
do not believe in using race as a deciding factor
when voting." said At Large Councilor Nunzio
DiMarca.
Later he added, "I can't believe you even
have to ask that question in today's age but I
guess you do."
Council President Marcos Devers told Paying
Attention! audience that "a large number of
the people who support me are non-Latinos. We
have to stop thinking about a Latino community
and a non-Latino community. Mr. DiMarca is right
you vote for the best candidate."
Parolisi echoed those sentiments saying the idea
of voting Latino was
"divisive."
 Coincidentally, in this
weeks edition of Siglo 21, a big deal is made of
the fact that Isabel Melendez is endorsing Marcos
Devers, Isreal Reyes and Joe Parolisi. The paper
took great pains to point out in their sub
heading Siglo21 "Isabel apoya a Devers y a
Reyes, no a Bárbara" or
"Melendez supports Devers, Reyes but not
Gonzalez."
It didn't specifically mention who the three endorsed candidates were, it referred to
the three Latino candidates and whether they had
achieved an endorsement from Melendez. The
picture accompanying the article was that of
Devers, Gonzalez and Reyes (the three Latino
candidates) outside Lawrence High School.
Apparently the candidates of choice for the
paper..simply because they are Latino.
I am all for ethnic pride. The Semana Hispana
celebrations in Lawrence are wonderful displays
of what incredible contributions Latinos are
making to the City of Lawrence and to America. It
has opened the eyes of many Lawrencians who were
never exposed to the many Latino
cultures. I both recognize the
contributions of Latinos and acknowledge the
significance of celebrating ones
heritage.
But race voting is not "ethnic pride"
it is an attempt to disqualify from public office
every candidate who is not a specific race (and
in doing so only elect members of another race or
heritage). That fact is clear and deeply rooted
in every piece of civil rights legislation going
back to Martin Luther King and even as far back
as Abraham Lincoln.
Having said that I can come to no other
conclusion than this:
Those who advocate "Vote Latino" are
either racists or profoundly ignorant of what
America stands for in the year 2003. Their
efforts for representation based on race must be
harshly denounced by elected officials and
candidates for every office. And I don't just
mean denounced in the English language
press.
I say that because it is obvious that some
candidates (who benefit from this type of racism)
try to play both sides of the issue by saying
"Vote Latino!" to the Spanish language
press while denouncing that philosophy to the
English only press. Those candidates must summon
the courage to speak out more forcefully in their
own language against the "Vote Latino"
mentality and call it what it is: racism. There
are no benefits to race based voting whether it
is practiced by Whites or Latinos.
 Though I do not agree
with all of the endorsement Isabel Melendez (made
in Spanish newspaper Siglo21,) her efforts to
defeat a racist agenda masquerading as
"ethnic pride" cannot go unnoticed and
should not go unappreciated. Her actions
(regardless of motive) have made it easier for
others to speak out in their own neighborhoods.
My hope for Lawrence is that others
will.
Nobody in this community (including myself) would
tolerate it if WCCM ran radio ads stating
"Vote for White Power, here are the names of
the white candidates, make sure you vote for the
Whites!" Nor should we.
It is just astonishing to me that such a campaign
of "Voting Latino" is so effective in
getting large numbers of Latinos to do so. That
so many are still so silent in denouncing such
racism only ensures more failures for the City of
Lawrence.
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