Old Civil Rights Groups Missing-in-Action

As Immigrants Hit the Streets

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Hispanic Media at the Forefront of Protest March: News Report, Eduardo Stanley

Editor's Note: As a groundswell of immigrant rights activism spreads across the country, the old-guard black civil rights movement is dragging its feet, writes Earl Ofari Hutchinson, an associate editor at New America Media and the author of "The Crisis in Black and Black." -- New America Media, Mar 27, 2006

LOS ANGELES--The great irony in the gargantuan march of hundreds of thousands in Los Angeles and other cities for immigrant rights is that the old civil rights groups have been virtually mute on the explosively growing movement. There are no position papers, statements or press releases on the Web sites of the NAACP, Urban League or SCLC on immigration reform, and nothing on the marches.

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) hasn't done much better. It has issued mostly perfunctory, tepid and cautious statements opposing the draconian provisions of the House bill that passed last December. The Sensenbrenner bill calls for a wall on the Southern border, a massive beef-up in border security and tough sanctions on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. The Senate Judiciary Committee will wrestle with the bill this week.

Only nine of 43 CBC members initially backed the liberal immigration reform bill introduced by CBC member Sheila Jackson Lee in 2004. The lone exception to the old guard's mute response on immigration-related issues was their lambasting of Mexican President Vicente Fox last May for his quip that Mexicans will work jobs that even blacks won't.

The silence from mainstream civil rights groups and the CBC's modest support for immigrant rights is a radical departure from the past. During the 1980s, when immigration was not the hot-button issue it is today, the Caucus in 1985 staunchly opposed tougher immigration proposals, voted against employer sanctions for hiring illegal immigrants and opposed an English-language requirement to attain legalization. That was an easy call then. Those were the Reagan years, and Reagan and conservative Republicans, then as now, pushed the bill. Civil rights leaders and black Democrats waged low-yield wars against Reagan policies.

In 2002, the NAACP made a slight nod to the immigration fight when it invited Hector Flores, president of League of United Latin American Citizens, to address its convention. The NAACP billed the invite as a "historic first." But it was careful to note that immigration was one of a list of policy initiatives the two groups would work together on. That list included support for affirmative action, expanded hate crimes legislation, voting rights protections and increased health and education funding. There is no indication that the two groups have done much together since the convention to tackle these crisis issues, and that includes immigration reform.

The CBC and civil rights leaders tread lightly on the immigrant rights battle for two reasons. They are loath to equate the immigrant rights movement with the civil rights battles of the 1960s. They see immigrant rights as a reactive, narrow, single-issue movement whose leaders have not actively reached out to black leaders and groups. Spanish language newspapers and radio stations, for instance, drove the mammoth march and rally in Los Angeles. Their fiery appeals to take action were in Spanish, and many of the marchers waved Mexican and El Salvadorian flags.

Black leaders also cast a nervous glance over their shoulder at the shrill chorus of anger rising from many African-Americans, especially the black poor, of whom a significant number flatly oppose illegal immigrant rights. But illegal immigration is not the prime reason so many poor young blacks are on the streets, and why some turn to gangs, guns and drug dealing to get ahead. A shrinking economy, sharp state and federal government cuts in and elimination of job and skills training programs, failing public schools, a soaring black prison population and employment discrimination are the prime causes of the poverty crisis in many inner city black neighborhoods. The recent studies by Princeton, Columbia and Harvard researchers on the dreary plight of young black males reconfirmed that chronic unemployment has turned thousands of young black males into America's job untouchables.

Yet, many blacks soft-target illegal immigrants for the crisis and loudly claim that they take jobs from unskilled and marginally skilled blacks. Black fury over immigration has cemented an odd alliance between black anti-immigrant activists and GOP conservatives, fringe anti-illegal immigration groups and racially tinged America-first groups.

Historians, politicians and civil rights activists hail the March on Washington in August 1963 as the watershed event in the civil rights movement. It defined an era of protest, sounded the death knell for the near century of legal segregation and challenged Americans to make racial justice a reality for blacks. But the estimated million that marched and held rallies for immigrant rights in Los Angeles and other cities dwarfed the numbers at the March on Washington. If the numbers and passion that immigration reform stirs mean anything, the judgment of history will be that it also defined an era, sounded the death knell for discrimination against immigrants and challenged Americans to make justice and equality a reality for immigrants, both legal and illegal.

The battle over immigrant rights will be fought as fiercely and doggedly as the civil rights battle of the 1960s. That battle forever altered the way Americans look at race. The immigrants rights battle will profoundly alter the way Americans look at immigrants. The silence of civil rights leaders won't change that. But there is no better time than now to end that silence.

Source: Pacific News

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To the Streets! Hispanic Media at the Forefront of Protest March

News Report, Eduardo Stanley, Translated by Elena Shore,
New America Media, Mar 27, 2006

LOS ANGELES, Calif.— It was the biggest protest in the city’s history, according to the local police department. More than half a million Latinos took to the streets Saturday, March 25 wearing white t-shirts, carrying signs and waving American flags, along with flags from their native countries including Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru.

On small stage on the corner of Broadway and Second Street, surrounded by huge speakers, cables and audio mixers, Spanish DJs kept up the crowd’s spirits, giving non-stop information and advice.

“We can’t see the flags. Where are all the flags?” called one of them over the speakers; and in response tens of thousands of flags waved in the air, above a river of white shirts that covered more than ten blocks of Broadway and extended in neighboring streets beyond.

The DJs were part of a campaign in which California’s Spanish media outlets played a pivotal role.

They helped to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people against HR 4437, introduced by Wisconsin Republican James Sensenbrenner, and approved Dec. 16 by the House of Representatives in a vote of 239 to 182. Now in the Senate, the bill would criminalize undocumented immigrants—who total 11 million people in the United States—and punish those who help them, such as social workers or religious groups. In addition, the bill calls for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“At the beginning, about ten groups wanted to organize the protest in Los Angeles,” says Noé Hernández, an immigrant rights activist from the Central Valley. “Then they invited members of the Spanish press, and everything changed.”

According to Hernández, while organizations were prolonging their talks and negotiations, radio DJs decided to broadcast a call directly to the community. As more Spanish radio stations joined the movement—including stations in cities across California—they helped mobilize people across the state.

But in keeping with the march’s climate of anonymity, community and solidarity, the DJs on the stage did not identify which stations they were from. Organizations also kept their names out of the spotlight. The crowd itself dressed in white shirts as a symbol of peace and unity.

Well-known DJ “Eddie” Sotelo, known as El Piolín, launched an intensive broadcast campaign about immigration while mobilizing people to participate in the march. His radio show, produced in Los Angeles and aired nationally by Univision, is one of the most popular among Spanish-speaking listeners.

“El Piolín did an incredible job, he did various interviews and never failed to stress the importance of the march for the dignity of our community,” says Hernández, who was interviewed by El Piolín before the protest. “He also interviewed one of the ‘Minutemen’ and I think this convinced people to participate more than anything because that man insulted Latinos and said we should all be deported, even him, El Piolín!”

“Lots of people started calling the radio station asking for information about the protest, so we decided to do something,” says Diana Miramontes, DJ and programming assistant for KLOG 98.7 FM in Merced. “We interviewed an activist to explain the bill HR 4437 and we broadcast information about the march.” The number of calls about the protest increased, including one person who offered a free bus and was looking for a licensed bus driver to drive down a group of people.

“We invited people to participate,” Miramontes says with sincerity. “As a Latina I believe it was the right thing to do. A lot of people will suffer if this law is passed.”

Hernández says other local stations in the Central Valley conducted interviews with immigration activists, allowing a large segment of the population to have access to this information.

In Los Angeles, Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión published various articles in the days leading up to the protest. The day before the march, it published an extensive article with details for those interested in participating.

The headline on the front page of La Opinión Saturday, March 25 was “A las Calles!” (To the Streets!).

Spanish TV stations Telemundo, TV Azteca and Univisión helped mobilize people to go to the protest in Los Angeles in a campaign similar to that of 1994 when Spanish TV stations played an active role in protesting Proposition 187 in California.

In Fresno, the day before the march, a reporter on Univision announced what time and where people should meet to drive down to Los Angeles. The reporter even offered advice about the long drive, reminding viewers to check their cars’ oil and antifreeze before making the trip.

“Thank you DJs for awakening my people,” read a large sign carried by Aniceto Polanco, an immigrant from de Guerrero, México. “I want to thank the Spanish media,” she says. “They did a great job.”

“I found out about this through the radio. I remember the DJs saying that we have to wake up, we have to participate for our own good and the good of our families,” says Adrián López, who traveled from Madera to Los Angeles with his family. He says he is grateful for the role Spanish radio played. “They were right. Now I hope the politicians take note.”

Source: Pacific News

posted 29 March 2006