Democrats and Latinos

Szulc’s article I’m sure left a bitter taste in the mouth of many community activists.

I could not stop saying to myself, “See I told you so,” but harder to admit was that we were right. That the Democrats ignore the Chicano/Latino people is not anything new; this was the main rallying call in the Chicano movement of the ‘60s. And in fact it was one of the main reasons for the existence of the La Raza Unida Party. By 1970 the La Raza Unida Party was making such waves that not only the Democrats but all government agencies became concerned and set out on a campaign to make sure that La Raza Unida Party was not successful in its attempt to give Chicanos political power--what the Democratic Party was not giving them.

The reason that we attracted so much attention was because Chicanos wanted real “political independence, and real democracy.” We wanted no more political manipulation by the Democratic Party; they used our votes but did not care about our plight. It was this very fact that made Chicanos realize that the only solution was our own political party, thus La Raza Unida.

Cecilia Munoz, of the National Council of La Raza, was correct in saying that our participation in the Democratic convention only “reflects the overall attitude toward Latinos” (of which Chicanos are over 60%, my note).

It is incredible to perceive that after 144 years of Anglo-American colonization and occupation, which resulted from the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848, that La Raza is not only a stranger in its own land but still invisible to most of the society.

For us as was mentioned before, it is hard to admit that we were right, but the Democratic and the Republican parties don’t take notice of us, but more than that they don’t care. Some may think that an appointment here or there may be enough, (but) that is a little too late.

The decade of the ‘80s proved to be nothing more than “a beer commercial for our people”; it is our duty to make the ‘90s more significant.

XENARO G. AYALA, National Chair

Partido Nacional, La Raza Unida

San Fernando