Forgotten Constituencies Hold the Future of the State : Minorities: In the future, unlike today, no one will be elected governor who has ignored the concerns of nearly half the state’s people.

Last month I had a troubling encounter with gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson at a breakfast meeting in Los Angeles. The meeting was designed to provide local Latino leaders an opportunity to discuss key issues with an individual who could be our next governor, and I welcomed the occasion.

In discussing the Civil Rights Act of 1990 and his opposition to the legislation, I pleaded with Wilson to urge President Bush to sign the bill. I also asked Wilson to vote to override a veto, if necessary. The fact that he refused to change his position on the legislation didn’t disturb me as much as his intentions to use his stand on the bill to distort the issues and divide the people of this great state.

Wilson’s assertion that the bill would promote quotas, mediocrity and opportunities for undeserving individuals indicated to me that he did not recognize or understand the effects of employment discrimination on minority communities. His further response indicated a lack of knowledge, awareness and interest about the specific concerns of Latinos.

This negative, divisive and one-sided approach to campaigning has been typical throughout the governor’s race. Candidate Dianne Feinstein hasn’t fared any better.

The former San Francisco mayor’s early attempts at showing sensitivity to the changing demographics began when she said she would appoint women and minorities to key positions in her administration. As a woman of color, I was heartened to see she would seek out talented, resourceful individuals to create a government that included representatives from my community.

She quickly did an about-face, however, when she realized that Wilson was going to use this issue to divide rather than unite constituents. Token or sporadic attention to the needs and concerns of minorities is no longer acceptable, and this lack of commitment in addressing the real issues of this state has many of us worried.

Neither candidate has displayed the visionary leadership necessary to successfully address the complex and difficult issues facing the multicultural, multiracial population of this state. Neither candidate has demonstrated that he or she even realizes the population of the state has taken on a different hue. Neither candidate is instilling confidence in those who would be governed--specifically the minority communities--that he or she is worthy of their vote.

The changing demographics in this state tell part of the story. The latest census figures show the population of California numbers just under 30 million. Of this figure, 42% are ethnic minorities. With growth rates for Latinos and Asians expected to remain at similar or increased levels, those percentages will grow even more during the next decade.

Our next governor must establish a new form of governance that will include and involve all the people of the state. In the future, candidates won’t get elected by running campaigns of exclusion and 30-second commercials while ignoring the voices and neglecting the concerns of the other half of this state.

The gubernatorial candidates have failed to address the issues of relevance to Latinos, African-Americans and Asian-Americans. There are many of these issues, among them:

--Providing more money for schools, improving the course of study, hiring well-qualified teachers and holding on to them once they are hired.

--Addressing the questions of unemployment and underemployment of minorities and lack of economic development programs in their communities.

--Ending the exclusion of minorities from the state’s political processes and increasing the effectiveness of their representation.

--Easing tensions between the various ethnic and racial groups competing for the same slice of the limited pie.

But this feeling that no one cares is not unique to minority voters. Today, the general voting public feels frustrated and disillusioned with its representatives. People are hurling unprecedented levels of criticism at politicians for what they haven’t done or what they’ve done wrong. Some voters are threatening to “throw the bums out.” Others think they’ll get their message across by not voting at all.

This frustration is understandable for those who feel they have no say in their government. But think for a moment how individuals feel when they’ve been unrepresented not for just a few years, but for many decades. They know that no matter how often they vote for the individual they think will best represent their communities, their candidate will never win. They simply do not have the numbers or support of their neighbors. This has been the dichotomy of minority voters.

For decades, minorities have received mixed messages with regard to their participation in politics. They are told to participate, yet a history of voting discrimination, English-literacy requirements, at-large elections and gerrymandered districts has contributed to the disenfranchisement of minority communities.

Minorities are told that if they cast their vote, they can elect a candidate of their choice. They are told they must participate if they are going to make a difference in how their state and cities are run. But what minority voters have seen are elected officials working to protect their incumbencies and special interests, officials who have forgotten the minority and low-income voter.

Thus, in many minority communities statewide, there is a sense of loss and neglect, of broken promises and unfulfilled dreams. These individuals do not believe in governance; they are unable to see any solutions to their problems, or to understand that they must be part of any remedy. They become further and further disenfranchised until they no longer relate to or associate with the system.

This election provides an example of how bad things have become. The candidates have engaged in negative campaigning, flinging distortions at each other and neglecting the real issues of concern to voters. They should have been embracing all communities within the social, economic and political fabric of our society.

Various groups will jockey for political power and influence during the coming redistricting. In the past, Latino and other minority groups did not have the sophistication to be key players in this process of negotiation--but that is no longer the case. Latinos, African-Americans and Asian-Americans have begun to develop an exciting brand of coalition politics that will forever change the way we elect our representatives. This coalition must be part of the political scene of the future.

These circumstances are sobering, and I maintain a deep sense of hope that we can and will overcome this most serious challenge. But for the moment, the problems remain.

How will we educate the 5.4 million school children where one in six are immigrants, and one in four come from homes in which a language other than English is spoken? How can we ensure that the work force of tomorrow, composed, to a great extent, of minorities, is up to the challenges it must face? How are we going to ensure that we make ours an inclusive government--one that operates by consensus rather than division?

On Tuesday, we the voters will not have clear choices, and our first instinct could be not to vote. Ignore that instinct, and vote for the individual you think will best represent all the people of this state. Once that new governor is in office, we must demand the kind of leadership the citizens of this state deserve and, indeed, depend upon for a stable and productive future.