La Raza Cheers Gore, Asks ‘Where’s George?’ at Meeting

They cheered his Spanish, jumped up when he demanded better schools and snickered at oblique references to the absent Texas governor when Democratic presidential front-runner Al Gore regaled the National Council of La Raza on Wednesday.

Punctuating his speech with serviceable Spanish, Gore said: “I am here because you know well that I like and respect the Latino community!” Stressing education and family bonds, he attacked the GOP tax cut bill being considered in the Senate as irresponsible and repeatedly told the audience in Spanish: “Nuestras familias merecen lo mejor--our families deserve the best.”

Attended by about 15,000 people, the annual gathering of the nation’s largest Latino civil rights group showcased both grass-roots and national Latino leaders. Sensitive to the community’s growing clout, presidential candidates Gore and Republican Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both made appearances.

Republican front-runner George W. Bush--feared by Democrats for his relative strength among Latino voters--had declined his invitation to the meeting, citing longtime vacation plans in Maine. Though mild at first, disgruntlement at his decision seemed to peak Wednesday, as La Raza members assessed the convention’s highlights. Attendees, some wearing “Where’s George?” stickers, voiced special pride in the group’s activist stance, which included a report on hate crimes and a call for a one-week boycott of TV networks for their near-exclusion of minorities in major roles.

The initiatives’ national scope reflects the new assurance and the numbers of La Raza’s membership, said Raul Yzaguirre, the organization’s executive director and leader for more than 20 years. In 1978, 10 years after its birth, La Raza boasted almost 1 million members among its affiliates; now that number has climbed to 3 million. “There’s a sense of self-confidence that we can begin to deal with some of the critical problems we are facing,” he said in an interview.

Many of La Raza’s more than 240 affiliates, he noted, began as tiny grass-roots groups and now command big budgets and numerous constituents. One Houston affiliate project, the George R. Sanchez Charter School, for example, started as a mostly volunteer enterprise and today boasts a cafeteria, gymnasium and high school accreditation for several thousand students.

In a show of La Raza’s increased financial muscle, the group also announced formation of a $20-million community development bank initiative to spur affordable housing.

But the meeting’s most talked about events reflected the social and political hurdles faced by the nation’s 31 million Latinos. Often cited during the meeting were Latino dropout rates. Only 62% of Latino adults from 20 to 25 have completed high school, compared with 87% of blacks and 93% of whites.

The 60-year-old Yzaguirre’s career mirrors many of the changes in evidence at the meeting. The founder of a lucrative consulting firm, his presence pervaded the conference.

Growing up in the harshly segregated Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, his first grass-roots battles took place in his teens, against school discrimination and the absence of Latino teachers. For years, Yzaguirre said, it also was a struggle to assemble more than two or three Latino participants in meetings.

“Now,” he said, “I’m with a group that calls a meeting and 15,000 people show up.”

A walk through the convention center where that group assembled showed the striking variety of faces and cultures within the country’s Latino population. Dark and light, in jeans and chic business garb, many effortlessly alternated Spanish and English throughout the meeting.

Shepherding a group of at-risk students from Elgin High School in Illinois, teachers Angel Llavona, born in Puerto Rico, and Mexican American bilingual tutor Jose Peralez praised the leadership workshops their charges attended. They also voiced ire at Bush’s absence, a sentiment whose prevalence took La Raza chief Yzaguirre by surprise.

“The reaction has been much more strident than expected,” he said. “But upon reflection, forget for a moment that he’s a presidential candidate . . . this is the first time in its history that [La Raza] has not welcomed a sitting governor.”

Bush, who also missed the recent convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens, has been diligent throughout his campaign in stating his commitment to Latino voters, spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said.