Thousands of Latinos March in Washington

In what organizers called a “new beginning” for Latino civil rights in this country, thousands of Latinos marched and rallied Saturday to press their demand that they be considered equal partners in America.

“The Latino community has contributed to the well-being of the United States,” Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) told a cheering crowd at a park within shouting distance of the White House. “We have fought in every war.”

But politicians who picture Latinos as illegal immigrants responsible for social ills “are going to destroy our community,” he said. “We are Latinos who need to unify ourselves. We are Americans too.”

His statement was greeted with a prolonged roar from the crowd of 20,000 to 30,000 people who rallied at the Ellipse park south of the White House for several hours after marching 2 1/2 miles from a minority neighborhood north of the presidential residence.

The U.S. Park Police, after the controversy surrounding the crowd estimate for last year’s “Million Man March,” refused to estimate attendance at the rally. No problems were reported.

Organizers had hoped for 100,000 marchers but were nevertheless giddy over the festival atmosphere that permeated the event.

“Where else can you see Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Cubans and South Americans together?” asked Juan Jose Gutierrez, the Los Angeles activist who spearheaded the effort to stage the Washington march and rally. “This is a great beginning.”

Some Latinos who thought they knew a lot about themselves were surprised at the diversity of the assembled crowd.

“Look at all these [Latin American] flags,” marveled 25-year-old Jesus Martinez, who teaches social studies at South Gate High School. “I’m a teacher and I don’t even know some of those flags.”

The only elected politician of Dominican descent in the United States, New York City Councilman Guillermo Linares, told the crowd: “This is a new day for Latino Americans . . . when Dominicanos can be side by side with Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Central Americans!”

Others said the rally reminded them of the 1960s.

“But this is better, way better,” said Manuel Ochoa of Chicago. “Fighting for Chicanos is one thing, but this is something new. It’s on a broader scale.”

To emphasize the contention that Latinos might be different but still are Americans, the rally began with the U.S. national anthem--sung by the Colo de las Americas, a New York City choral group, in Spanish and Denny Mershman, a young girl attending the rally, in English.

*

The centerpiece of the march and rally was a platform of seven demands, which organizers said must be adopted by Congress to ensure full Latino participation in this country. They are: human and constitutional rights for all; equal opportunities and affirmative action; free public education for all; expansion of health services; citizen police review boards; labor law reform and a $7-per-hour minimum wage; and a streamlined citizenship program and an extension of amnesty for those who illegally entered the United States before 1992.

When there was anger at the rally, it was largely directed at California Gov. Pete Wilson, who championed Proposition 187 as part of his reelection effort two years ago.

“California si, Wilson no,” was a common chant along the march route on 16th Street.

Television personality Geraldo Rivera denounced Wilson and called Proposition 187, which would deny most government educational and health benefits to illegal immigrants, “full of hate.”

Some observers behind the scenes wondered whether the absence of most high-profile Latino celebrities and politicians might lessen the impact of Saturday’s event.

Pastor, who is head of Congress’ Hispanic caucus, didn’t think so.

“I know they are not here, but they are here in spirit,” he said.

Organizers preferred instead to emphasize the grass-roots aspect, noting that Latino community workers from New York, Arizona and Texas were among the parade of speakers who addressed the rally.

Although others were invited, Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) was the only Southern California politician who appeared in Washington.

Gutierrez, executive director of the One Stop Immigration and Education Center in Boyle Heights, and other Los Angeles-area activists began planning the Washington demonstration three years ago during the heated campaign surrounding Proposition 187.

The march’s seven demands were featured at Los Angeles rallies and demonstrations organized by Gutierrez.

One such event, staged in the closing weeks before the 1994 general election, drew about 70,000 people to downtown Los Angeles to rally against Proposition 187. The measure was overwhelmingly approved by state voters, but a Los Angeles federal judge has delayed much of its implementation.

Some Latino critics of the Los Angeles march said Mexican flags flown during the demonstration played into the hands of supporters of Proposition 187 by creating the image that marchers’ allegiance was to their nation of heritage rather than to the United States.

The huge turnout of that rally--one of the largest in the city’s history--buoyed hopes for future demonstrations, but that success has been hard to match.

One “call to action” march last year in Los Angeles, which organizers said would attract 40,000 to 50,000 people, drew only 1,500. Other events also drew little attention.

But some marchers Saturday said the number of participants at any particular rally or demonstration is irrelevant.

“To me, it doesn’t matter if 5,000 or 500,000 show up,” said Rodolfo Acuna, Cal State Northridge Chicano studies professor. “The thing important is to participate. I am going to participate in the life of my community. And this march is part of the life of my community.”

*

Although planning began three years ago, major media organizations did not give much coverage to the event until the last two weeks.

Volunteers were still scrambling at the last minute to spread the word about the march and the charter buses that would take marchers to Washington.

Some of those from East L.A. who decided to go by bus had to wait through the night Tuesday before finally leaving Los Angeles for the grueling cross-country ride. The number who boarded the bus in Los Angeles was much lower than organizers had projected.

Saturday’s call to combat immigrant-bashing especially appealed to college students, who turned out in large numbers bearing signs of institutions from Stanford University to Wellesley College.

In a scene that some said could only occur at a Latino unity gathering, marchers supporting the Zapatista Indian movement in Mexico, which has been fighting Mexican government policies, happily gathered for photos near where the members of the Tijuana municipal drum and bugle band rested. “An arm of the Mexican government next to the Zapatistas,” sighed one organizer. “Only in America.”

For the six busloads of Angelenos who came across the country for the march and the rally, the experience was worth the discomfort of getting there. Never mind that one of the buses broke down in Tennessee and that hotel space in Washington was extremely tight.

“It’s been wonderful, and I’m glad I came,” said Rosalinda Campillo of Monterey Park.

Two sisters, Patricia and Laura Melchor of Bell Gardens, managed to squeeze in quick side trips to several tourist attractions.

“We had to run all the way back from the Lincoln Memorial in order to catch the rest of the rally,” Patricia Melchor said.