Silencio....silence....
Or almost silence here at DailyKos about Latinos/Hispanics, and this is something that has been worrying me for some time.
As we start a new year, and we examine the future of progressive politics, and of Democratic Party issues yet to be wrangled about, I thought I'd raise a question to readers here, and ask for your ideas about solutions.
I have spoken a bit here about coalition building, and recently there have been other diaries seriously considering those efforts, as well as discussions about how we prioritize our agendas. Notably in Morning Feature, as well as in other community diaries like Black Kos, SheKos and GLBT and Friends at Daily Kos there have been some serious efforts to enhance dialog.
However, one voice, or multiple voices, depending on how you frame it, has been noticeably absent here. Those of "Latinos", or "Hispanics" or "indigenous americans with Hispanic surnames" or "Caribbean-Americans of mixed Taino, African and European heritage" (Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Dominicans...among others)
I did a search through comments, and diaries and yes, quite a few people have made reference to "the upcoming debate on immigration reform".
There is a regular series posted here from the ImmigrationPolicyCenter which garners few tips, recs or readers, and since its posters are not here to comment or discuss, it falls quickly down the page, as other more contentious or subscribed to diaries and diarists take center stage. In a conversation last night with BlackKos editor Dopper, I raised this issue, and he mentioned the brief history of Latinokos, and sure enough I found it in the archives, many in diary rescue.
Immigration reform may well be the next "hot button" issue, from the pov of elected officials and the media. But let me point out that a majority of Latinos in the US are not immigrants, and that Spanish speaking people have been here on this continent since before the United States was formed. According the the results of every study I am aware of, immigration reform is not the top priority issue for Latinos, though it is being framed that way. Not saying it isn't important. (Will say more about this below)
Given that the census bureau has predicted a future US landscape in which "minorities" will become "the majority" in less than a generation due to population gains made by Latinos, I think it behooves us as progressives, to examine our coaltion, our outreach, the dearth of voices here; and what we all can do to improve the status quo.
This is not just a "Daily Kos problem". A cursory search this morning of "google news" using keywords like Hispanic, Latino, Cuban-American, Mexican-American etc garnered pretty sparse results, with the exception of a variety of sports items. However, one, or two articles did attract my interest, and I thought I would share them. In case you may have an answer to my query, like "well, Latinos aren't on the net", you may find this interesting
From the Dallas News:
Report shows 'dramatic' rise in number of Latinos using Internet
Latino adult use of the Internet nationwide gained 10 percentage points from 2006 to 2008, surpassing the rate for black adults and closing the gap with whites, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
The leap for Latinos is "pretty dramatic," said Gretchen Livingston, senior researcher for the Washington, D.C.-based research organization focused on Latino issues. "They're still lagging behind whites, but I was stunned by the increase."
The report found that 64 percent of Latinos used the Internet last year, up from 54 percent in 2006. In comparison, the rate for whites was 76 percent (vs. 72 percent in 2006) and for blacks it was 63 percent (vs. 61 percent in 2006). Pew did not break down the data by state or metro area.
Latino online users are growing faster than the overall U.S. online audience, according to Internet research firm comScore. It says that more than 20 million unique Latino users account for 11 percent of Americans online.
From the article I followed links to the study it referenced at the Pew Hispanic Center:
Latinos Online: Narrowing the Gap
Another article which popped up was in The NY Times, referencing the recent elections in NY City:
For First Time, Minority Vote Was a Majority
Much of the focus on the results of last month’s New York City elections was on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s small victory margin, despite the more than $102 million he spent to secure a third term. But the elections also produced a seismic political shift that so far has gone largely unnoticed: Black, Hispanic and Asian residents made up a majority of voters in a citywide race for the first time.
That turnout is a milestone in a city where minority groups make up both a majority of the population and a majority of those eligible to vote. The transformation of the electorate also signals the growing political importance of the city’s diverse tapestry and the challenges that citywide candidates will face as they strive to stitch together successful voting blocs. "Legal immigrants are exploding in population and are increasingly registering" once they become citizens "and are now voting," said Bruce N. Gyory, a political consultant. "All the room for growth in the electorate is amongst Hispanic, Asian, biracial and black New Yorkers."
The new benchmark has helped minority candidates win prominent offices in larger numbers. Since 2000, William C. Thompson Jr. has been elected the city’s first black comptroller, Helen M. Marshall has been elected the first black borough president of Queens, and John C. Liu, elected last month to succeed Mr. Thompson, has become the first Asian-American to win citywide office. "You’ll see even more diverse candidates in the future," Mr. Thompson said in an interview last week.
But this section of the article was to me even more important:
In November’s election, 46 percent of the voters identified themselves as white, 23 percent as black, 21 percent as Hispanic and 7 percent as Asian, according to exit polls by Edison Media Research.
...Still, Mr. Gyory said, "that Hispanics constituted 21 percent of the electorate with no Hispanic running citywide exploded conventional wisdom that Hispanics only vote with a Hispanic in a race for citywide office."
Coalition politics in play.
So what are issues confronting Latino/Hispanics in the US, and where do they/we make common cause?
The National Council of La Raza
website has a listing of key topic areas they document and organize around:
Advocacy and Electoral Empowerment
Education
Civil Rights and Justice
Community and Family Wealth-Building
Farmworkers
Health and Family Support
Immigration
How then do we as bloggers, activists and organizers make better connections and linkages in the weeks, months and years ahead to include Latinos in our efforts?
Recently Latinos in Social Media held a conference in Washington DC. Present at the conference were several panelists who have participated in Netroots Nation.
The organization has been diaried about here:Latinos In Social Media Heritage Tour but scrolled by with almost no comment, and six tips.
Where are other progressive Latinos in the blogosphere?
The Daily Kos blog roll does include The Sanctuary, atpromigrant.org
Other places around the net include; La Frontera Times,El Machete: The Unapologetic Mexican, Mi blog es tu blog,Vivir Latino,Adventures of the Coconut Caucus, and US-Puertoricans.org, (where I write from time to time). This is by no means a complete list, and I hope that those of you familiar with other sites will post links.
Granted, no one can drag Latinos here, and get them to post diaries. We have Kossaks here already who come from a wide variety of Latino/Hispanic backgrounds, or who are doing organizing in communities with large Latino populations. Their numbers, from what I can tell, are few. The discussions here on issues of race, racism and privilege have centered on black-white for the most part, but there is a vocal AA presence here, which makes a difference. We have attempted in Black Kos to cover some Latino/Hispanic/Caribbean news items, as part of our series, but that is insufficient.
I have said for some time, as we look ahead to not only future election cycles (like the possibility of tipping Texas blue)that we need to wake up and smell the cafe con leche.
What are your thoughts about this?