In Search of the Mexican Martin Luther King

Latino leadership has taken a double loss this month. One on the political right, the other on the left. One on the East Coast, one here in the West.

The big void is everywhere in between.

This week came news of the death of labor leader Bert Corona, a die-hard activist whose career in community organizing spanned seven decades. Earlier, we witnessed the political suicide of conservative commentator Linda Chavez, who withdrew as a presidential cabinet contender amid controversy over harboring an undocumented woman in her home.

The philosophical gulf between these two national figures is as vast as the continent itself. Corona was an old-fashioned street organizer who championed the rights of immigrants and believed in community action through grass-roots groups like Hermandad Mexicana Nacional. Chavez operated high above both grass and roots as a former Reagan appointee who believed in the individual, opposed affirmative action and fought bilingual education through a group called English Only.

Corona died of natural causes. Chavez self-destructed.

Any loss can be an occasion to assess. Regardless of political preferences, Latinos might rightly ask themselves: Who’s left?

Unlike African Americans, Latinos have only one true national hero, Cesar Chavez, the farm labor organizer. But even Cesar’s influence faded as his movement waned. He died holding the line on old victories, a legend but no longer a player.

Meanwhile, another leader emerged but faltered. Former San Antonio mayor and rising star Henry Cisneros once had followers dreaming of a shot at the White House. But the prince of Latino politics turned into a frog after confessing that he lied to FBI agents about his payments to a former mistress. Cisneros, a former HUD secretary, was among those pardoned last week by former President Bill Clinton, an act that may clear his record but will never restore his standing.

Four down, one to go.

Outgoing Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, with Latino roots in New Mexico, did not escape unscathed from the Wen Ho Lee spy scandal, over the alleged sale of nuclear secrets to China. It was painful to watch this Latino, a former United Nations ambassador, defend an investigation tainted by the specter of racial profiling of a Chinese American scientist.

Well, who needs national leaders anyway?

Alfred Ramirez is pondering that question in Washington, D.C., where he runs the National Community for Latino Leadership (https://www.latinoleadership.org), a think tank devoted to nurturing and helping leaders.

Ramirez--who worked for Cisneros but declined to comment on his former boss--doesn’t see the need for a “go-to” leader, the handy spokesperson to whom reporters go for comment on Latino issues. Besides, says the East Los Angeles native, who could pretend to speak for a community that is so diverse, encompassing Mexicans and Republicans, Cubans and Democrats, Puerto Ricans and independents?

Latinos should look for new leaders in their own backyards.

The nation’s growing Latino community “will be one of the principal crucibles where leadership develops, emerges and finds accountability,” proclaims a new report from Ramirez’s organization. In this crucible called California, Latinos have emerged as leaders of the Legislature, candidates for mayor of Los Angeles and the avante garde of a revitalized urban labor movement.

Yet, there is virtually no data on what Latinos look for in their leaders, says Ramirez, son of a neighborhood barber. To find out, his agency polled 3,032 Latinos nationwide about leadership values they admire. Most said they want leaders who are honest, trustworthy and ethical. No surprise. But respondents also mentioned qualities that suggest a distinctive Latino perspective on leadership: communal, collectivist and people-centered.

“Like other groups, Latinos want their leaders to be competent, but not at the expense of compassion and community [service],” the report concludes.

To my dismay, only 28 respondents valued a leader’s communication skills. Inspired oratory is a lost art among Latino leaders these days. Where is the Mexican Martin Luther King Jr. who can lead people to the mountaintop, or even appear on a talk show?

Perhaps, he or she is among us already.

“Who’s to say there’s not that somebody right now somewhere who just hasn’t been tapped . . . somebody primed as we speak, but the call hasn’t come?” said Ramirez, whose research will continue with focus groups in Southern California in March. “Suppose we have, against the odds, some stellar individual already out there?”

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Agustin Gurza’s column appears Tuesday. Readers can reach Gurza at (714) 966-7712 or agustin.gurza@latimes.com