latiNOhoosier

Now those young immigrants have begun to tell investigators about their jobs. Some said they worked shifts of 12 hours or more, wielding razor-edged knives and saws to slice freshly killed beef. Some worked through the night, sometimes six nights a week.One, a Guatemalan named Elmer L. who said he was 16 when he started working on the plant’s killing floors, said he worked 17-hour shifts, six days a week. In an affidavit, he said he was constantly tired and did not have time to do anything but work and sleep. “I was very sad,” he said, “and I felt like I was a slave.”

It might come as a shock to narrow-minded folks who devalue the richness of the English language by sending thinly veiled vile attacking Hispanics and immigrants - legal and otherwise as if the two are interchangeable - but this state’s heritage, culture and economy has strong Latin overtures.Three emails - of which one came from Southern California and the other from the Midwest - sent in response to a story that stated 3,000 foreign immigrants move to San Joaquin County every year blamed much of this nation’s ills on Hispanic immigrants

But in America, at least, we have narrowed the choices down to “Latino” or “Hispanic.” Each comes loaded with political baggage. Say “Latino” to a brown-skinned person, and you might receive a snappish “I don’t speak Latin!” in response. Refer to someone as “Hispanic” and you could hear that the word refers to Spain, the country that “raped my ancestors” or “subjugated the Aztecs” or some other historical atrocity that constitutes a fresh wound to people who have taken too many poli-sci classes.

national polls show McCain-Obama a close race, and the electoral map points to critical problems for Barack.He seeks, for example, to target Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico. But in all three the Hispanic vote may be decisive. And Barack was beaten by Hillary two to one among Hispanics, and between these two largest of America’s minorities, rivalry and tension are real and rising.

Tags: obama, win, hispanics

If Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee, every analysis HillBuzz reads says the Latino vote will go to McCain in the fall.Here is one such analysis HillBuzz read this weekend, from a Latino activist in the Democratic Party, who sees defeat to McCain with Obama as the nominee:Since the mainstream media is feeding the public perspectives about the Latino vote from an outsiders viewpoint, let me share some keyaspects from the Latino viewpoint.

Tags: Hillary, Latino, Obama

I am not sure what bible they preach out of up there in those big mansions in Carmel, but last time I checked disobeying the law was what got Jesus strung up on the cross in the first place.

When Puerto Rican officials in New York City honor Indiana this summer, they are going to expose what has always been the state’s paradox.In theory, Indiana’s primary city is also its capital city – Indianapolis ought to be the mecca of that rare breed of human being that willingly calls itself, “Hoosiers.” Yet the engine that in some ways provides what little significance Indiana offers comes from the northwest counties.

Tags: hispanic, hoosiers

The Latino baby boomers’ movimiento focused on civil rights, and it spread through the Southwest where Latinos were most concentrated, and later, through the small Latino settlements that dotted virtually every state.

Tags: latino, activist

Is anti-Americanism rampant in Latin America, or is it simply hyped by the international media? - I recently had the chance to attend a unique symposium at downtown Indianapolis’ historic Columbia Club, titled “Combating Anti-Americanism and Populism with Education in Latin America.” Speakers from more than half a dozen countries in North, Central and South America collaborated to present views germane to their homeland and the troubling infiltration of populism into said societies.

Tags: anti-americanism, america

The son of Latino rights activist and New York City Councilman Hector Rodriguez, young Nestor Rodriguez was an overachieving student in New York’s public school system who wanted to be just like his politically-active father. Dedicated to his neighborhood’s welfare, Nestor began working in soup kitchens and building housing for the homeless by age 13. When the crime rate skyrocketed within New York’s Latino community during the Cross Bronx Drug War, Nestor spearheaded the formation of the Street Angels, a controversial but effective watch group comprised of inner city youths whose popularity soared as the crime rate plummeted.

Tags: santerians

The Mexican immigrant worker in New York is a perfect example of the hero who has gone unnoticed. It is common for a Mexican worker in New York to work extraordinary hours in extreme conditions for very low wages which are saved at great cost and sacrifice and sent to families and communities in Mexico who rely on them to survive.

Tags: dulce, pinzon, superhereos

It is a nouveau term cultivated from the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prior to that, Mexican-Americans demanded to be listed as Caucasian on government applications, etc. When affirmative action started to kick in and “protected classes” began to formulate, their leadership abandoned the claim as Caucasian and demanded distinction as a protected class also. Thus, the broad term “minority” started to include Mexican-Americans and others who no longer saw the advantage in being separated from Blacks and Asians. Eventually, the term Hispanic began to be included among minority ethnicities.

Tags: What, means, hispanic

Although little noticed by the press, the 2005 Economic Report of the President – which was submitted to Congress on February 17, 2005 – prominently highlights the critical importance of immigration to the U.S. economy. The fact that the report devotes an entire chapter to the topic of immigration underscores both the extent to which immigration has become a driving force in the economy and the degree to which immigration policy affects the nation’s economic prospects.

ILW.COM - immigration news: The Economics Of Necessity: Economic Report Of The President Underscores The Importance Of Immigration

technorati tags:2005, Economic, Report, President

People who argue that immigrants are just taking jobs that Americans won’t accept are, after all, basically claiming that Americans don’t want those jobs at the rates industry is offering. If they paid higher wages, they’d attract American workers, and charge higher prices. Whether that’s an exchange that’s acceptable is worth discussing, though the debate is rarely put in those terms.

Thoughts from Kansas : Repealing Taft-Hartley to fix immigration

A gozaarrrrr!

As I climbed into my boyfriend’s car, I heard the familiar rhythmic pounding of a Reggaeton radio station eminating from his speakers. Born and raised in the Midwest, he had little contact with Latino culture prior to moving to Los Angeles for school. However with spending hours on the road commuting to school in a car that lacks a CD player, he has come to find new radio stations to entertain him while on the road. A white, middle-class, suburban, USC graduate and future doctor - he seems one of the least likely candidates to be a fan of the Puerto Rican and Cuban movement.

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The rare sighting in southern Indiana of a bird that’s indigenous to Mexico and Central America has left birdwatchers all atwitter.

[Link]

Mi nuevo héroe es el Cálico Electrónico!

technorati tags:New, Hero

No question, reading and speaking English are crucial skills when it comes to prospering in the United States. That is, in part, why we publish a Spanish edition. And it’s also why immigrant populations do assimilate. By the second or third generation, English is the primary, if not only, language spoken.

There with Estrada was the dwarf from the show Jackass, Wee Man, and nearby was a very thin woman wearing a fur shawl. I didn’t know who she was until somebody told me it was La Toya Jackson.

The Hoosier Scoop

technorati tags:Estrada, Weeman, Jackson, Muncie

If you go to China, Jesus is portrayed as a Chinese person; you go to parts of Africa, Jesus is portrayed as an African person; you go to Mexico, there are images of Jesus looking more Latino and Mexican. Black Americans are the only race of people on the planet that worship a Jesus outside of our own image.

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The tough border security message is carried mostly by Democrats in the South and the Midwest, where a surge of Hispanic immigration is transforming small towns and cities. In such communities, some candidates are deriding legalization as amnesty, proclaiming border security as their priority or criticizing Republican challengers as failing to stem the tide of illegal immigration.

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138 años después, el racismo sobrevive aún en la sociedad cubana a pesar de que a partir de 1959 fueron abolidas todas las prácticas institucionales, públicas y privadas, que de alguna forma sostenían este flagelo.

[Articulo completo]

What it means, Who uses it, Why it is controversial.

Three words to know

technorati tags:Chicano, Latino, Hispanic

After getting over the shock of September 11, 2001 I wondered what retaliation the U.S. would take against the culprits. During the furor I could easily rationalize hanging them! But it didn’t even cross my mind that the U.S. would proclaim war on other countries. Wouldn’t all of us be better off if they would have hired Special Forces to concentrate on the very group(s) that did this? Couldn’t have they by now, hand pick them one by one? Bin Laden and the rest of the gang took advantage of the complete chaos to hide deeper into territories that obviously were not going to be invaded.

The Afghan and Iraq operations remind me of trying to catch a single chicken in a 300 chicken pen. To draw even further on the simile, what you had to do was to be very patient, vigilant and focus. Eventually one would get the chicken. No different than police seeking a murder suspect.

No doubt, using this tactic would have caused some innocent people to die but not thousands and thousands of Afghans and Iraqis. No doubt, this tactic would still generate additional income to friends of the administration, but not millions and millions.

It is time to bring the soldiers home, use the successful technology to hunt and prevent these people from attacking again and put some of the best NYPD detectives to the task of finding Bin Laden and the rest of the gang. One by one, they can be picked from the pen.

Que entretenido Rush Limbo:

Hispanics, he said, “have shown a remarkable ability to cross borders” and “will do things other people won’t do.” Asians are “the best at espionage, keeping secrets.” Blacks “lack buoyancy” and are “more likely to drown,” while the white man’s burden will weigh down the last team with “guilt over the fact that they run things.”

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José Zapata llegó a Nueva York hace 17 años, cuando era un niño de dos. Su papá, Lorenzo Zapata, envió por su familia después de emigrar a esta ciudad y encontrar chamba en una lavandería en Manhattan. Acaba de terminar sus estudios de preparatoria y desea estudiar en la universidad. El y su familia viven en Brooklyn, pero a veces regresan a visitar a la familia en Anenecuilco, Morelos, durante los veranos, aunque a José también le gusta escaparse a Acapulco y otras playas. De su tatarabuelo, el general Emiliano Zapata, dijo: “fueron mis maestros estadunidenses quienes empezaron a preguntarme si no sabía quién era mi tatarabuelo, y me pusieron a leer, y así fue como aprendí más sobre él. Yo no sabía nada de él, pero ahora me siento orgulloso de que fuera un líder de la Revolución”.  (Foto: Elizabeth Coll)

technorati tags:Emiliano, Zapata, NYC

To me, growing up, an immigrant was some kid who spoke Spanish orRussian - just not American, but there are subcultures here I nevereven heard of until I moved here. There are Bukharan Jews fromUzbekistan, Kurds, Haka-Chinese who’ve lived in India for ages,Chino-Cubans, Fukwanese, Indo-Guyanese, Istrians (making some of thebest italian food I’ve ever had) and Coptic Egyptians. Whereas earlierin NYC we would have seen the holy trinity of immigrants - RussianJews, Italians and Irish. They’re all still here, but in lesseramounts. The Jews in Queens are mainly Orthodox, the Italians havemostly moved to the suburbs, and the Irish are staying home where theeconomy is just smashing.

Opening Arguments: Diversity 101

technorati tags:diversity, 101, NYC