Navarrette on Humility

* In response to “This Mexican-American Won’t Defer to Liberalism’s Demands of Humility,” Opinion, Oct. 24:

As a 100% assimilated so-called “Mexican-American,” methinks that Ruben Navarrette doth protest too much. He has obviously felt the slings and arrows of prejudice.

He has the means with which to attain exemplary renown--a Harvard sheepskin and a talented pen. What glorious tools! I wish I had them. They would serve the cause better than affirmative-action tirades. True to today’s generation, he may feel that being a hero takes too long. Perhaps he’s right.

Still, there’s a lot to be said for exemplary types. They can possess humility without being subservient. If humility is not Navarrette’s strong suit, there’s always the revenge of living well.

WILLIAM G. MIR

Woodland Hills

* Yes, it’s time for this generation of Mexican-Americans to flood Wall Street firms, the media and all of corporate America. Hooray for Navarrette’s essay.

I’m tired of hearing such words as, humble, passive, silent and grateful applied to La Raza. Yes, Cesar Chavez is a hero and the United Farm Workers a politically correct group to work for, but it’s time to move beyond--much beyond. It is OK to criticize heroes. No more deference, fellow Mexican-Americans. It’s time to stand up and be bold. Too many doors have been shut in our faces and we’ve walked away quietly. I’m one Latina who won’t do it anymore. I’m tired of Mexican-Americans not being heard (listened to but not heard) and portrayed so seldom and then mostly inaccurately in the media. It’s time for equal representation across the board.

Now is the time for our generation to move in a new direction--a bold and brazen direction of non-deference to the status quo. It hasn’t worked, it won’t work.

Thanks to Navarrette for challenging me even further in my endeavors as a new generation Mexican-American. I hope others will see his essay as a challenge for change and growth.

MARIA J. REYNOSO III

Los Angeles