Thread: Message from La Raza...March 8, 2005...

NCLR NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA
National Office: Raul Yzaguirre Building  1126 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036  Phone: 202.785.1670  Fax: 202.776.1792  www.nclr.org

Tonight I would like to talk to
you briefly about some of the
issues I see facing the Latino
community and where I believe
we as a community need to
go. This is an important and
exciting time for the Latino
community. We have cemented
our position as the nation's
largest ethnic minority. We are
the fastest-growing consumer
market, experiencing exponential annual growth that
has put our combined purchases near the trillion
dollar – yes, trillion dollar – mark. And there has been
a great deal of attention to Latinos as the fastestgrowing
bloc of voters,having added two million new
voters in just four years.HISTORIC MOMENT, HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY
Interest in our community has never been higher and
the opportunity has never been greater for Latinos to
achieve political and economic empowerment – and
this is not just because the future of our community
rests upon achieving these objectives, but because
the future of America rests on the strengths and
successes of the Hispanic community.It is an honor to stand before you as NCLR’s President
and CEO. I am also grateful to my predecessor, Raul
Yzaguirre, for taking NCLR from a small, struggling
organization to the institution it is today.
Thanks are also due to scores of NCLR Board members,
affiliates, funders, and other supporters over the past
three decades for keeping us focused on our mission.
For me, that mission means ensuring that every Latino
has a real shot at the American Dream.
I know a little bit about the power of the American
Dream from my own personal experience. My
parents, Alfredo and Amalia, came to this country
more than 50 years ago with no money and barely a
grade school education.
But they worked hard and believed deeply in the
promise of this country, especially for me and my six
brothers and sisters. The values they instilled in us –
family, faith,community,hard work, love of country,and
sacrifice – helped us achieve that American Dream.
My brother Ramon graduated from Harvard Law
School. My brother Carlos and my twin sister Mary
are the first brother and sister in history to serve
together as judges on the federal bench. And I feel
blessed that my parents were able to see me at work
in the West Wing of the White House.
I know firsthand that the American Dream is real. I'm
not unique; I know many of you have your own
remarkable stories to tell. My personal mission, and
NCLR's mission as an organization, is to make that
Dream a reality for all Americans and for every
Hispanic family.WE NEED TO CHALLENGE AND WORK WITH EVERYONE
To fulfill this mission of bringing the American Dream
to everyone who is willing to work hard, play by the
rules, and commit him or herself to this nation, the
Hispanic community must be at the table when
decisions are being made.
We need to challenge everyone – the Administration,
the Congress, and both political parties – to help us
promote equal opportunity and invest wisely.
With so much at stake for our community, we don't
intend to stay on the sidelines. We will reach out to the
White House and President Bush, to both Republicans
and Democrats on Capitol Hill, and to the friends and
even the adversaries of the Latino community.
Some may not think this is necessary or the right
thing to do, but I respectfully disagree. We have too
much on the line. So we're here to participate. We
will listen and we will weigh in. We will offer our
ideas and we will keep an open mind. And we're
ready to get to work.
I'd like to talk to you briefly about what we need to
do and the areas we must address:
 First, you will see from the work of our honoree
Llano Grande Center what so many of you already
know: education is the key to the American
Dream. That is what ultimately led us to support
the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), especially
the provisions that, for the first time in history,
call for closing the achievement gap between
Latino and other students. NCLB holds great
promise but it is not a self-executing law. WeMOVINGTHE NATION FORWARD:
We must ensure that the resources required to
help Hispanic and immigrant students meet
tougher standards are universally available. We
must empower Hispanic parents to become true
advocates for quality education. NCLR will
work with the Administration, the Congress, the
states, local school districts, and the advocacy
community to close the achievement gap.
 Second, Hispanics have a major stake in the
outcome of the Social Security debate – both as
beneficiaries and as the workers who will be
playing a critical role in keeping this system viable
in the years to come. Latinos need to be engaged
in every aspect and at every point of this debate.
On the one hand, Hispanics who participate in
Social Security benefit from the social insurance
character of the system, something that it is
essential to retain. But a large proportion of
Latinos do not benefit from Social Security; for
these workers,we need to examine all reasonable
reform proposals. As far as I'm concerned,
everything should be on the table. We welcome
the opportunity to engage in this debate. Third, we believe that the current immigration
system is badly broken and needs to be fixed.
We need to do it in a comprehensive – not
piecemeal – fashion, and the only way to achieve
comprehensive immigration reform is in a
bipartisan manner. We are committed to working
with both sides of the aisle, with the President,
with Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy, and
others to enact effective, comprehensive, and
bipartisan immigration reform. Furthermore,we are committed to the proposition
that every Administration must have eminently
qualified people who also reflect America's
diversity. We will support efforts, regardless of
party or ideology, to increase representation of all
groups at all levels of government. That is why we
were proud to support the nominations of the first
Latino U.S.Attorney General and the first Hispanic
Commerce Secretary in the history of the United
States, and I commend President Bush for these
appointments.
 Finally, we intend to hold everyone in
government fully accountable for working with
our community to promote a more just society.
For example, we must challenge our elected
officials to make wise investments through the
federal budget. We need to make sure that our
nation's budget priorities are consistent with our
nation's values and ideals. We need to find a way
to sustain programs that have real impact on real
people: programs that help get farmworker
children out of the fields and into the classroom,
that help kids who might otherwise drop out of
school instead set their sights on college, that
allow families to become first-time homebuyers
and build wealth and assets, and programs like
Medicaid that help women and children get
critically-needed health care.And we need to ensure that our tax system is fair and
that it does not irreparably harm our ability to fund these
critical investments. In fact, this Thursday NCLR and its
affiliates will take all these messages to members of
Congress on Capitol Hill as part of our second annual
National Advocacy Day. We will be heard.
A NEW CHAPTER BEGINS
When I became President and CEO of NCLR in
January, a new chapter had begun in our
organization's history. We will continue to hold those
in positions of power and authority accountable for
their policies and their actions, but we also pledge to
hold ourselves equally accountable.
One way we will do that is by doing a better job of
telling our story so that we can do a more effective
job of telling our community's story. It is astonishing
to me, for instance, that some people can say we are
a "threat" to this nation, that we are resisting the
integration of Latinos into American society.The reality is that throughout our history NCLR has
supported our affiliates in helping Hispanics enter the
mainstream. Virtually every one of our multiservice
affiliates provides English-language classes, civics
courses, or naturalization assistance, and they can't
keep up with the demand.
We want to tell our fellow Americans about how this
country would not be the nation it is today without
two centuries' worth of contributions from millions
of Latinos to our economy, to our culture, to our
society, in peace and in war.
We need to let everyone know that America's most
cherished values – family, a strong work ethic,
sacrifice, faith, and patriotism – are the same ones that
my family and millions of other Hispanic families have
passed down from generation to generation.
If this evening's event marks a new era for our
organization, it is because we recognize that together
we can accomplish what we could never do alone.
This is an amazing time. We are at the dawn of a new
century and a new millennium. It is an historic time
for our organization, for our community, and for this
nation. I truly believe that we have a unique
opportunity to write a special chapter in history. My
hope is that history will record that we as a
community stepped up, that we reached out, that we
built the coalitions, the bridges, and the partnerships
which allowed us to move not only our community,
but an entire nation forward.
We have that opportunity – and this is our moment.
Thank you for your support and muchisimas gracias.

you mean no more frito bandidos? aww shucks!

This is outrageous. Bush is selling us out for votes. He can't even run again!!! Guess he is laying the groundwork for Jeb.

All this talk about how the Hispanics are crucial to the future of America and how they are going to build America rings incredibly hollow when you consider that they failed so miserably in Latin America. They elected corrupt governments, their economies are dismal failures. If they were so important to this country, why couldn't they create their economic miracle in Mexico?

They are importing their failures and the only result of increased immigration from Latin America will be to turn huge sections of the country into barrios. It is not a dream it is a nightmare.

I am not speaking of all mexicans. My husband is from mexico city and he is very educated. HOwever, outside of the city in the rural areas, education is not considered an importance. I Dont really want to use the word primative but 80% of the mexicans I have encountered have seemed very primative, chauvenistic, as well as macho. They dont like to think much. I am not saying it is all their fault. I do however feel like once they get here and they are not taking advantage of all the ways in which they could educate themselves, then I consider that primative. When I first started school, I was under the impression that most latin immigrants did what my parents did and buy english videos or listen to english lesson cd's. I mean I would think if they could pay a coyote $2000.00 dollars to smuggle them over, then why cant they buy a english lesson video set for like $200.00(that is a good one) Mexicans have always used the "I cant read excuse" I find it kind of funny how they can read spanish forms when they are signing up for welfare. I mean, my parents would have never sent me to school unprepared. It mean there kids are getting educated for free to be bilingual. YOu would think that as parents that they would want to learn english with their kids. I ask mexicans I knew in school why there parents did not speak english. They will usually say she can't learn. They would also say that noone makes them study english at home. In fact, most children of illegal latino immigrants are prohibited from speaking english at home. I have seen my younger sisters husband(guatamalan primate) scream at my neice for speaking english. I hate that guy. Luckily she is very smart. She is not allowed to associate with anglo kids They keep her in the house all day and she is like 9 years old and weights 110lbs. Her father is an example of the obviously racist central american. He is a moron too. LOL! Believe me, if he were illegal I would be on the phone with the I.N.S.. My sister would be so much better off but she feels like she can't do any better.

Sonali, if all immigrants were legal and were like you, I would say increase the quotas.

I am sorry about your moron brother-in-law. Racism and stupidity know no bounds, they are universal.

Best of luck to you and your family.

My brother Ramon graduated from Harvard Law
School. My brother Carlos and my twin sister Mary
are the first brother and sister in history to serve
together as judges on the federal bench. And I feel
blessed that my parents were able to see me at work
in the West Wing of the White House

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