mikea@WINFIRST.COM
Establish a new latino party, really? Why is it whenever
an issue doesn't go our way as promptly as desired, some clock-watcher always
says it's time to radicalize into a separate party? And why would the author of
the Hispanic American voter article below compare our situation to farmers? And
even if a latino party were to be formed wouldn't it be a matter of time before
that party would split itself into another separate latino party and another,
and another...? an example of a party split happened just several months ago
during memorial day remembrances; chicanos on lared-l honored the heroism of
chicano veterans who served their country and still other lared-l chicanos took
a separate approach throwing rocks not only at these same veterans but at our country
as well. How would the latino party Ms.
Givens envisions stand on everyday issues such as: recreational use of
marijuana, abortion, gay marriage, snowden's claim regarding nsa snooping,
over-regulated Hispanic businesses, the word god in the pledge of
allegiance, bombing militant Islamic
terrorists, nafta, etc. I don't believe
a separate latino political party would be any more effective in bringing
attention to immigration reform than exists today; if anything, this ethnic
party might create an impression that reform is strictly a separate ethnic
matter and not a mainstream concern. ronald reagan like him or not achieved
comprehensive immigration reform after his sixth year in office; he did it by
negotiating this reform as a mainstream issue important to the entire country
and not just something to appease the latino community; he even included
powerful mainstream business people (capitalists) at the negotiation table. How
badly do we want immigration reform? viva la raza .
-----Original Message-----
From: Foro de comunicacion
para Latinos del suroeste de los EEUU [mailto:LARED-L@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET]
On Behalf Of Valenzuela, Angela
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2014 9:32 PMTo: LARED-L@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET
Subject: [LRL] Time for a Latino Political Party?
Interesting read from a colleague here at UT.
Angela Valenzuela
Time for a Latino
Political Party?
Frustrated Hispanic-American voters might strike out on
their own. Then what?
By TERRI E. GIVENS
October 02, 2014
In the late 1800s, disgruntled farmers in the Midwest and
South decided they could no longer support the Democratic or Republican
Parties. Neither of the major parties was responsive to their concerns amid
crop failures and falling prices during a recession, so the farmers decided to
throw their weight behind an upstart, the Populist or People's Party
White and black farmers joined together, even in the South, to support
candidates who called for the federal government to provide credit and
financial support during a time of low crop yields and economic downturn. They
succeeded in electing
governors, congressmen and hundreds of minor officials
and legislators, primarily throughout the Midwest. The party was geographically
concentrated, which allowed them to focus their efforts to elect congressional
candidates.
The Populists lasted only a few years as an independent
entity, but their success clearly got the attention of the mainstream parties.
Most important, it had a lasting impact on policy, even beyond the issues
pushed by the farmers. Many of the Populists' demands
became law by the 1920s-including the direct election of U. S. senators, the
development of a progressive federal income tax and the availability of
short-term credit in rural areas.
Latinos in the United States are now confronting a
dilemma similar to the one faced by the farmers. A recent Gallup
poll
indicates that the number of Latinos ranking immigration as a top issue doubled
since the first half of this year. Yet Latinos have been forced to endure
bitter disappointment from a Democratic president who has broken many
immigration promises, in no small measure because the Republican-led House of
Representatives refuses to act on immigration reform in Congress. The
president's decision to defer deportation of newly arrived children-a decision
announced just five months before the 2012 presidential election-increased
enthusiasm for Obama among Latinos; 71 percent of the record 11.2 million Latinos
who turned out to vote cast their ballot for Obama.
Many of them are now deeply disappointed. The
president-who had campaigned in 2008 on a pledge to reform the immigration
system-again promised to make the issue an early and top priority during his
second term. Congress stymied those efforts, so Obama pledged to take executive
action-only to delay it until after the midterms. No wonder a new Pew Research
Center
poll
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/09/23/hispanic-democrats-are-really-down-on-their-partys-immigration-efforts/
shows that a majority of Latino voters think the Democratic Party is doing a
poor job on immigration, and a different recent survey indicates substantially
dampened enthusiasm
http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2014/09/08/did-dems-miss-an-opportunity-for-latino-mobilization/
for Obama and the
Democrats among Latino voters because of inaction on immigration reform. Even
as the president tried to smooth over differences this week at an appearance
before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus annual gala, some frustrated Latino
activists
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/after-obamas-punt-maybe-latinos-should-sit-election-out-110728.html?ml=m_b3_1#.VBT83hYhD_y
are contemplating deliberately sitting out the midterm election to make Democrats pay a price at the polls.
Many of them are now deeply disappointed. The
president-who had campaigned in 2008 on a pledge to reform the immigration
system-again promised to make the issue an early and top priority during his
second term. Congress stymied those efforts, so Obama pledged to take executive
action-only to delay it until after the midterms. Now wonder a new Pew Research
Center
poll<http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/09/23/hispanic-demo
crats-are-really-down-on-their-partys-immigration-efforts/>
shows that a majority of Latino voters think the Democratic Party is doing a
poor job on immigration, and a different recent survey indicates substantially
dampened enthusiasm
http://www.latinodecisions.com/blog/2014/09/08/did-dems-miss-an-opportunity-for-latino-mobilization/
for Obama and the Democrats among Latino voters because of inaction on immigration reform. Because of their profound disappointment with the Democrats' inaction, some frustrated Latino activists
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/09/after-obamas-punt-maybe-latinos-should-sit-election-out-110728.html?ml=m_b3_1#.VBT83hYhD_y
are even contemplating deliberately sitting out the midterm election to make
Democrats pay a price at the polls.
But are these the only alternatives-stay home and sulk,
or accept the better of two bad options? Could it be time for Latinos to follow
the path forged by the disgruntled farmers? Or follow the model in Europe,
where third parties are fairly common?
In Europe, minorities and special interests often form
their own parties when they feel their issues are not being championed by
larger parties. This is most easily done in countries with proportional
representation
which allows more than one representative for each district and-unlike winner-take-all systems like most of the United States-allocate seats based on the percentage of votes garnered by each contender. In such a system, minor parties are often able to gain enough support to win seats in legislatures. Examples include Basque nationalists in Spain, as well as Green and far-right parties across Europe. In places like Britain that have majoritarian systems with single-member districts, geographically concentrated parties like the Scottish National Party are able to win seats in Parliament. Even here in the United States, the occasional small party or independent can win a seat, including in the U.S. Senate. (One example: Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who caucuses with Democrats.)
As relative newcomers, immigrants often don't have the money or other resources needed to start a new party. Far-right party leaders, on the other hand, tend to come from existing parties and have a built-in support network.
Indeed, in Europe's multi-party system, it has been
anti-immigrant far right parties that have taken hold. We have an analogue in
the Tea Party
in the United States. Yet the Tea Party is not truly a separate party-at least
for now, it is a faction within the Republican Party that has managed to set
the agenda on issues like immigration.
By and large, majoritarian electoral rules like ours
produce two-party systems. There is no hope in the foreseeable future that
those rules will change and that means that small parties, like the Populist
Party, inevitably disappear or, like the Libertarian<http://www.lp.org/> and Green
Parties,
remain on the fringes of a system dominated by the two major parties.
Still, there are some reasons-42 million of them, to
start with-to think that a Latino party could be different. Various ethnic
groups have historically wielded a great deal of influence within political
parties, particularly at the local and state levels. The German-American
Alliance, the Ancient Order of Hibernians
("the oldest and largest Irish Catholic organization in the United
States") and the Immigrant's Protection League all mobilized against the
restriction of immigration
in the early 20th century. Latinos also have an important advantage which
supports the idea of starting a separate party: They still tend to be
geographically concentrated in such states as California, Florida and Texas
which allows them to focus their efforts, like the Populist party did in the
1890s.
Another relevant historical example is the Mississippi
Freedom Democratic Party
(MFDP).
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_mississippi_freedom_democratic_party+/
Fifty years ago Fannie Lou Hamer appealed to the conscience of the Democratic Party, asking for the Democratic National Committee's credential committee to recognize their delegation in place of the all-white Democratic delegation from the state.
The leadership came to a compromise and agreed to seat
two members of the delegation, but the white delegation walked off and wouldn't
accept the compromise. Nevertheless, the example set by the MFDP would have a
clear impact on the Democratic Party in the South going forward. Despite the
prospect of losing white support in the South, the Democratic Party supported
civil rights legislation and gained the support of a majority of black voters.
An ethnic party did arise in the United States in the
late 1960s as the Chicano Movement organized and called for a third party to
focus on self-determination for Mexican-Americans. The main focus of organizers
was in Texas, where La Raza Unida
party won seats on city councils, school boards, and even ran a candidate for
governor in 1972 and 1978. However, the party's support declined as party
activism slowed in the late 1970s.
Hispanic Americans are in a better political position
today than either the MFDP was five decades ago or even La Raza Unida was in
the '70s. In terms of representation, there is the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, and the 113th Congress has a record number of Latino elected officials
with 35 representatives and three senators. Most of these representatives are Democrats, and the immigration issue has been a high priority, as evidenced by the scathing criticism recently lobbed at the president by Representatives Raul Grijalva
http://grijalva.house.gov/news-and-press-releases/grijalva-slams-delay-for-executive-action-on-immigration-reform/
(Ariz.) and Luis Gutierrez
https://gutierrez.house.gov/press-release/no-delaying-tactics-executive-branch-action-immigration-after-election
(Ill.). Organizations
utive-branch-action-immigration-after-election> like the National Council of La Raza
the Mexican American
Legal Defense
and Education Fund and a variety of pro-immigration organizations have lobbied
for immigration reform and deportation relief. How long will it be before such
groups grow exasperated with the Democrats' failure to move these issues forward?
A Latino party might even help solve the biggest obstacle
to greater political clout-boosting turnout. At the time of the last midterm
election, data from the Pew Research
Center
shows, Latinos chalked up a sharp increase in the number of eligible voters, while the number of actual voters is increasing more slowly. Also, as Pew notes, "even among eligible voters, Latino participation rates have lagged behind that of other groups in recent elections." For example, 31.2 percent of Latino eligible voters said they voted in 2010, compared with nearly half of white eligible voters and 44 percent of black eligible voters. An independent Latino Party or a cohesive Latino bloc within an existing party that focused on the issues most important to Latinos could spur increased participation-and thus more political clout.
The smartest approach in the short run might be for
Latinos to work within the existing party system, even as they continue to
organize and swell their ranks within the electorate. In the
long-term-especially if Democrats and Republicans continue to disappoint-they
will need to assess their potential for working together as a voting bloc and
whether this could lead to support for a party. Is this a long shot? Yes, but
it's better than sitting on the sidelines or waiting for others to act. How
long will it be before Hispanic-Americans' patience runs out?
Terri E. Givens is associate professor in the Department
of Government at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Legislating
Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe, with Rhonda
Evans Case. Her website can be found at
and she is on twitter @TerriGivens.
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/is-it-time-for-a-latino-political-party-111558.html#ixzz3FQfO7du4
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