Thread: If you stay away, La Raza, it’s your loss

If you stay away, La Raza, it’s your loss
By BARBARA SHELLY


Come to Kansas City, La Raza.

Or … don’t.

Life will go on, whatever the National Council of La Raza decides regarding the scheduling of its 2009 convention.

Leaders have said the organization will withdraw its commitment to meet here unless mayoral appointee Frances Semler leaves the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners.

That would be unfortunate, but more so for La Raza than for Kansas City.

Any city will win some conventions and lose some conventions.

This city has weathered the loss of the annual FFA meeting, which drew 45,000 youths and adults. It will survive the cancellation of a one-time meeting of a national advocacy group, expected to draw about 10,000 visitors.

[b] It will even persevere if the NAACP relocates its 2010 annual meeting, as it has threatened to do in solidarity with La Raza.[b]

But let’s say you’re a citizen, somewhere in America, trying to sort out the voices in the clamorous debate on immigration. You want to hear what the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization has to say.

So you do a Google search, and you notice that La Raza moved its national convention in a snit over an appointment to a, um, parks board?

Suddenly, the venerable La Raza looks petty, just another group unable to see the forest for the trees. Maybe you’d better check out some other players. Maybe even the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps.

Let’s be clear. The Semler appointment was a mistake.

Had new Mayor Mark Funkhouser done his research, he would have learned that the rose club president who volunteered for his campaign was also active in a Minuteman group, which takes a stridently hard line against illegal immigrants and is radioactive to some of the city’s Hispanic leadership.

Once seated on the parks board, however, Semler’s most controversial move has been to join with the four other commissioners in vetoing an off-leash dog run in Sunnyside Park.

She hasn’t given Funkhouser cause to fire her from her unpaid job, on which she seems to be working industriously.

The people most critical of Semler’s appointment are longtime Hispanic leaders struggling to maintain their influence in a changing political landscape. What better way to boost their stature, at least in their eyes, than bringing the mayor to heel and producing the scalp of a Minutewoman?

These same leaders run local organizations that are affiliated with the national La Raza council. That’s how a convention estimated to produce several million dollars for the local economy became a bargaining chip.

But Funkhouser would be wrong to tie his actions to the wishes of an out-of-town group.

Lots of organizations hold strong opinions. Should the city renounce its policy on domestic-partnership benefits for unmarried employees because a church denomination won’t bring its convention here because of it? Hardly.

Kansas City’s attitude toward Hispanics and immigrants isn’t defined by a parks board appointee. The City Council hasn’t proposed restrictive ordinances governing housing and rentals, as some local governments have. The Police Department is rightly more concerned with public safety than people’s immigration status.

So come to Kansas City, La Raza.

Come and enjoy our reborn downtown and our fountains and our many fine shops and restaurants — some run by Hispanics who could not care less about who sits on the parks board.

Come and tell us about your ideas for immigration policies that are fair and nondiscriminatory, that keep families together, and that give hope to young people who dream of a college education and a better life than their parents had.

Come and remind us that immigrants have always done the hard work that has allowed Americans to enjoy prosperity that citizens of most nations could never fathom.

You might even make a convert of Frances Semler. Worth a try.

Or … stay away.

Kansas City would lose a convention. But you would suffer the greater loss, one of authority and respect.

Barbara Shelly is a member of the Editorial Board. To reach her, call 816-234-4594 or send e-mail to bshelly@kcstar.com.

http://www.kansascity.com/277/story/263913.html

Let’s be clear. The Semler appointment was a mistake.

Had new Mayor Mark Funkhouser done his research, he would have learned that the rose club president who volunteered for his campaign was also active in a Minuteman group, which takes a stridently hard line against illegal immigrants and is radioactive to some of the city’s Hispanic leadership.

I take exception to the author's assertion that the mayor's appointment of Semler was a mistake. The dissenting voices are calling out for diversity and tolerance. Yet they can't accept Ms. Semler because she has a view that is different from theirs.

AS I SEE IT: Don’t let park board appointment ruin KC’s progress
By CICI ROJAS

I am a former parks commissioner and Hispanic Chamber CEO, as well as a native Kansas Citian.

Therefore, it is with sadness and alarm that I observe the recent circumstances surrounding current park board member Frances Semler, the mayor’s response and the subsequent national reaction.

I am very proud of the work accomplished by the many past park boards. The boards represented diversity, inclusiveness and creative thinking. Funding was cut, but because of the park boards’ intuitive thinkers, new pathways to generate revenue were initiated.

The parks department has and always will be a major force in the economic well-being of the city. On a national scale, Kansas City is increasingly being seen as a city on the move, a progressive city that is setting the foundation for recruitment of business, entertainment and tourism opportunities.

In previous years, these attributes were viewed as long shots compared with larger, more diversely populated cities. Now, however, the city is finally on the cusp of larger-scale projects with the potential for tremendous economic impact.

Unfortunately, the recent dialogue regarding a park board member and her anti-immigrant activities have spurred two important groups, the National Council of La Raza and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to question our city’s commitment to diversity.

Although the City Council voices disapproval of the park board member’s actions, diverse organizations, nonetheless, question the city’s ability to collaborate. Most importantly our spirit of “America’s Heartlandâ€

Wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how dare a racist organization BLACKMAIL a city to do what IT wants....That is NOT how it is done.....She should keep her job....How dare an organization....any organization...think that it can come in to a city and just boss it around.... That is NOT how it works in this beautiful United States of America......

Comments after the above article, AS I SEE IT: Don’t let park board appointment ruin KC’s progress
By CICI ROJAS
~~~
September 10, 2007
On Semler and illegal immigration
How they get their way

Why should we be surprised when individuals like (9/7, As I See It, “Don’t let this ruin progress of KC on the national stageâ€