Uniting Diverse Latino Groups

Frank del Olmo’s column (“Cuban in Congress Spells End of Hispanic,” Op-Ed Page, Sept. 5) on everything that’s wrong with the term “Hispanic” to denote Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and others of Spanish heritage reminded me of a story I learned while still in my native Cuba:

Two donkeys were tied to each other by a very short rope. There were two bales of hay at opposite ends of the field where they grazed, and the donkeys were tugging at each other, trying to get to the opposite bales of hay. After some wasted effort, the donkeys sat down in frustration. Then they had a bright idea. They both went to one of the bales of hay and shared it. When finished, they both went to the other bale and shared it. The title of the story is “ Unidos Venceremos ,” which not too loosely translated means “united we stand,” and by implication, divided we fall.

While I agree with Del Olmo that the historical experience of each Hispanic group in this country has been different, I submit that we should emphasize our similarities, and revel in our differences. Hispanics are not just a political interest group, sharing only a single belief. Hispanics share a language and a complex heritage colored by our own regional distinctions.

I suspect that like Del Olmo, I disagree with many of the political positions taken by Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Cuban American election to Congress from the Miami area. However, I find I am proud she was elected. Proud, not just because she’s a woman in what has been a male domain, but because she is Hispanic. We also need to keep in mind that her election to Congress is presumably a reflection of the political beliefs of those constituents who got her elected--something that doesn’t happen in many of the countries Hispanics originally hailed from.

ALINA C. LOPO

Riverside