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Few hold leadership roles, all have dreams
By DOUG DAVIS
dougdavis@dnj.com


They are an integral part of the fabric of daily life here, they have the same hopes and dreams of a better future like everyone else, yet their presence among the movers and shakers in Rutherford County is conspicuously absent.

Like every other segment of the population, the county's Hispanic community is booming. But look around and you will find few Hispanics in leadership roles. None hold an elected position, and there are no Hispanics among the 90-plus names on the Aug. 3 ballot.

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"Culturally, they are not accepted here," said Juan Orozco, fleet-services manager for the city of Murfreesboro, who supervises 12 people. "In order to give them opportunities, you have first got to culturally accept them."

The son of two Mexican immigrants, the 42-year-old Orozco moved here from Los Angeles, where he was an air traffic controller for 16 years.

"Hispanics are accepted in California," he said, explaining that one of his sisters is a vice president of a bank in California and the other sister is a radiological technician there.

Many Hispanics coming to Rutherford County, he said, are in hourly, blue-collar positions such as carpenters, roofers or landscapers.

"They are coming here because they can make $8 per hour minimum," he said. "They will eventually rise to (a higher) level, but right now you just have an influx of workers."

Anne Henslee, membership coordinator of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, said that organization of more than 2,000 members currently has only one Hispanic member, a restaurant owner.

"Typically it's hard for restaurant owners to get involved because our events are geared around the times they are the busiest," she said. "(Because of the language barrier), it is harder to explain what we do."

Ramon Cisneros of Franklin, owner and publisher of the biweekly Middle Tennessee newspaper, La Campana, said time is the answer.

"It will take a little while for the (white-collar) leaders to start emerging," he said. "In Nashville, there are already Hispanics in the banking and insurance industries, and a lot of corporations are trying to hire bilinguals to serve this market. It is happening in Franklin and Murfreesboro."

"Most immigrant workers are young men who come here to help their families; the percentage bringing their wives and family are few," said Sherry Rivera, a social worker with the Domestic Violence Center and Fields of Boaz.

She spoke at a recent Read to Succeed seminar on the subject at Patterson Park Community Center.

It's hard enough for those on their own to try and make ends meet, but even more of a challenge for those who bring their families with them. Not only are they coping with the challenges of raising children, paying the mortgage and earning a living, they are learning a new language and a new culture.

Jose and Graciela Ramirez and their four children moved into a home they purchased near Mitchell-Neilson Elementary in Murfreesboro 13 months ago.

Jose Ramirez is a groundskeeper at Cedar Crest Golf Course, where he is nicknamed "Chuy" (pronounced Chewy).

"I love Chuy Ramirez; he's a hard worker," said Larry Reasonover, Jose's supervisor. "He is one of the most knowledgeable and hardest working guys in the business."

Ramirez picks up on things pretty quickly, according to his boss.

"Jose Ramirez could probably construct his own golf course," said Reasonover.

Ramirez, 36, helped to build the Mona Road golf course in the 1990s. You can still find him on a bulldozer or other course equipment most any day there.

"I learned to speak English at work," said Jose Ramirez. "I try to learn every day."

Graciela Ramirez does not speak English quite as fluently, but understands it pretty well. Both agree adjusting to the new language is their biggest challenge, and that signs in both English and Spanish are helpful.

Their daughter, Yazmin, 14, is bilingual and helps with translation. She and her brothers, Alberto, 6, and Jose Jr., 11, speak English to one another and to their father. The two oldest children were born in Mexico.

Graciela Ramirez wants to learn to speak English better.

"But I want my (boys) to not forget how to speak Spanish," said the 37-year-old, through her daughter's translation. She said the same goes for 1-year-old Manuel, her youngest child.

Jose Ramirez worked in California, hanging Sheetrock, while his family remained in Mexico. He returned to a town outside of Guadalajara for a year and worked on a cattle farm before he brought his family to Tennessee 10 years ago.

"I don't like raising my family in California. There are a lot of gangs and drugs (there), " he said.

Yazmin Ramirez said she enjoys visiting family in Mexico every couple of years, but she wouldn't want to live there. The teenager enjoys talking to her friends on the phone and watching TV.

Jose Jr., enjoys playing video games. Alberto likes to watch TV and videos.

"Tennessee is 108 percent better," Jose Ramirez said. "It's like the country here, not a big city."

After years living in first a mobile home and then an apartment, the family enjoys living in its own three-bedroom, one and one-half bath home. They are even talking about adding on another room to the house.

National attention to immigration laws has fueled debate, and prejudices, toward Hispanics across the country. While many Hispanics have seemingly flaunted immigration laws in order to take advantage of a better way of life, many, many more are striving to obtain legal citizenship and want to pay their share in taxes.

It's a hot-button topic among virtually every candidate vying for state and federal offices. The debate has made local Hispanic communities reclusive and their members suspicious.

The Daily News Journal attempted to interview a number of Hispanic families for this article, but many of them refused. One family agreed to an interview, but then asked that the information not be used, saying they did not want to have their privacy invaded. The father of the family said he was in the country legally.

"I would say the reason some are reluctant to talk to you is because they are not here legally, and they are afraid of being reported," said Juan Orozco.

Ramon Cisneros, the publisher of the area's Hispanic newspaper, agreed. He said up until six months ago, Hispanics were on a "honeymoon" in the United States.

"Recently, with the attention to illegal immigration, there has been a lot of conflict," he said. "It is going to affect legal Hispanics. No one walks around with green cards in their hands. People have a tendency to put us all in the same bucket."

Orozco added: "Until you apply for residency or citizenship, you are going to be viewed as a temporary employee. You have to make this your home, not just a temporary residence."

Cisneros was born in Venezuela but became a U.S. citizen five years ago.

"It is a great thing," he said. "But the exam is extremely difficult. People say many Americans would not pass it."

Francisco Javier Martinez moved to California from Guadalajara, Mexico, 10 years ago. He and one of his brothers worked in the construction business with one of their uncles.

One of Martinez' friends from Guadalajara, Felipe Santos, lived in Murfreesboro and worked for La Siesta Mexican Restaurant on Greenland Drive. It was at Santos' encouragement that Martinez moved here.

Martinez got a job at the Greenland Drive restaurant as a dishwasher. Within four months he had been moved to the grill.

"My mother used to cook in Mexico, and I used to watch," said the 30-year-old, who admitted the restaurant actually provided most of the training he needed for the new job.

Six or eight months later, he returned to Mexico to marry a neighborhood sweetheart he had dated for three years. After the wedding, Celia Martinez, now 29, came to America with her husband.

"I was sad for my mom and dad (who are still in Mexico)," said Celia Martinez, one of five children. "I miss my family but I like it here because it is quiet, and we are together as a family."

Javier Martinez worked his way up at La Siesta Restaurant. When he came back to the United States with his new bride, he became a waiter.

"I didn't know any English and was trying to do the best I can," he said, laughing. "But for me it was best to practice."

He said his wife reads and writes English better than he does. Celia speaks Spanish to her children in the home.

He now is a manager of the restaurant on Sam Ridley Parkway in Smyrna.

Javier Martinez admits one of the hardest parts of adjusting to life in the United States is being away from his brothers and his mother.

"People like to visit families on the weekends," he said. "That's what I like to do."

Guadalajara is the second most-populated city in Mexico.

"All the homes are close together," said Javier Martinez. "You know your neighbors. Yards are in the front but not on the sides."

The family bought a home in Evergreen Farms subdivision in Murfreesboro a year ago.

Celia Martinez and her husband have been married nine years and have three children. The youngest one is only 2. Both parents would like their children to go to college someday.

"I would like to be an elementary (school) teacher," said Celia.

But for now, she and her husband think it is best for her to stay home and care for her children, who range in age from 2 to 7. All of them were born in the United States.

Javier Martinez said it took a year for him to get his first work visa to come to America. He was able to renew it a couple of times and then he obtained his green card and has residency. He has his sights set on applying for citizenship.

"In our country, there is more corruption (in law enforcement), more organized crime and drugs," he said.

Celia Martinez would also like to remain in the United States and to also become a citizen here.

Javier Martinez said signs in Spanish in the Nashville Airport would be helpful when his brother, who doesn't speak English, visits.

"But if we are going to live here, we have to speak English," he said.

The Ramirez family is in the United States on a work permit, and one day the parents hope to become citizens here.

"It's not right for them to come here illegally, but they must live somewhere," Graciela Ramirez said.

Jose Ramirez has a high school education and his wife a sixth-grade education. He said in Mexico his family wouldn't be able to have what it has here.

"There is more education for the children (here)," said Graciela Ramirez. "You didn't earn as much money to be able to go to college in Mexico. As long as my children want to go to college, we will try to send them, because the more education, the better their future."

— Doug Davis, 278-5152



Originally published July 23, 2006