Thread: Hispanic rights group meets in Philadelphia

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... 153359.htm

Posted on Sun, Jul. 17, 2005



Hispanic rights group meets in Philadelphia Speakers called for a greater political role and urged companies to woo the growing community.

By Adam Fifield
Inquirer Staff Writer

The rising influence of Latinos in the United States is becoming difficult to ignore, U.S. Rep. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) told a luncheon crowd of more than 1,700 yesterday at the Convention Center.

"Our community is awakening, and it is growing and it is participating in every sphere of American life," said Menendez, one of the country's senior Hispanic officeholders.

But noting that only 47 percent of Hispanics voted in the last presidential election - compared with 60 percent of African Americans and 67 percent of whites - Menendez called for greater participation in the political process.

"Electing Hispanics to public office cannot be our final goal," he added. "Our goal... must always be improving and empowering our community... and tearing down the barriers to advancement."

The congressman's message resonated in the convention center's ballroom and echoed a central theme of the annual four-day conference of the National Council of La Raza, a major Latino civil-rights and advocacy group.

The event, which began yesterday and concludes Tuesday and is expected to attract 23,000 people, will also feature Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D., N.Y.) and the governor of Puerto Rico, Anibal Acevedo-Vila, tomorrow, and on Tuesday, Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean and Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman.

"It's a great chance for people to learn about issues that affect the Hispanic community and to partner with the Hispanic community," said La Raza president Janet Murguia.

Latinos now exceed African Americans, accounting for about 14 percent of the U.S. population, according to 2004 estimates by the Census Bureau.

Founded in 1968, La Raza is a network of community organizations and leaders who fight discrimination and alleviate poverty among Latinos in the United States, partly by lobbying in Congress and statehouses.

The La Raza annual conference last met in Philadelphia in 1998.

The year's convention features free workshops on health, immigration reform, homeownership and financial planning for nonprofit organizations.

A bustling free expo yesterday showcased Latino-owned and operated businesses and nonprofits and included booths from such companies as Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Toyota.

Virginia Rosario, who was operating a booth for National Hispana Leadership Institute, based in Arlington, Va., said companies would benefit from reaching out to the fast-growing Latino community.

"Who will be the future homeowners? Who will be buying cars? All of that needs to be taken into account," Rosario said.

Lorraine Lee, vice president of Chicanos Por La Causa, an Arizona-based advocacy and social services group, told the luncheon crowd that Latinos still encounter xenophobia.

"In every single corner of this country, people are looking at us and saying, 'Where did they come from?' " Lee said. "Just talk to us. It's not complicated."

Lee added that those participating in the convention had come to Philadelphia "because we are Americans with a strong American voice."

Some of those attending said they had come to network or to have a good time. Others said they were drawn by a message of creating more opportunities for Latinos.

"We are not here to compete with other ethnic groups," said Marisa Martineau, an executive assistant at a Virginia-based Latino advocacy organization. "We're here to build bridges to pursue common goals of justice."

Menendez is full of crap and living in a fool's paradise. An estimated 3 out of 4 Latinos in this country CAN'T vote (legally) because they are criminal aliens. Also, the only reason why Latinos outnumber African Americans is because of the same reason.

If we had a government that was serious about enforcing it's laws then banks, car dealerships, credit card companies and all manner of commercial capitalism wouldn't feel comfortable extending credit to criminal aliens from any country because they'd know that they could be deported at any time.

And who do you think will pick up the tab when the bank loses out on a mortgage foreclosure because they banked on somebody not getting deported? A legal citizen who owns a home through the same bank.

They are ALL full of crap!! They are con artists, abusing a 501 C 3 tax exempt organization to violation our US Immigration, US Labor, and US Civil Rights Laws.

The outgoing President of National Council of La Raza, Raul Yzaguirre is on the committee that wrote that stupid piece of garbage called the North American Community....the plan to end our Nation and free the Globalists to rule the world with no checks or balances. With America, there is no check or balance against the evil corporate greed of these people and their companies who care nothing for America, nothing for the American People, and nothing for Mankind.

This organization is a legal farce, a tax farce, an agenda farce, and one of the most racist organizations in the history of the United States, IMHO.

They created a "race" from a "language" to steal benefits and programs designed specifically for Black Americans who were victims of discrimination and set-backs from a thing we called "slavery".

There is no greater evil than stealing from the weakest most vulnerable group in the United States through a fraud. Not one Hispanic was forced to come to the United States. Not one Hispanic was enslaved. Not one Hispanic is forced to speak Spanish. To create a minority equal to Black Americans on the basis of language as President Carter did in 1974 through the efforts and schemes and plots of the National Council of La Raza is the lowest form of Government Dung we've discovered thus far.