May 14, 1999
By Julio C. Calderon
Perhaps I am getting cynical. Maybe it comes with age, and experience, and for those of us who tail in the political realm, it happens sooner. This is certainly true when one's political work is in the furtile soil of the Latino community... soil rich and full of promise. It is also a concern to non-Latino political interests. It is a concern to friend and foe.
The Latino vote was energized and mobilized to the polls in record numbers in 1998. Many political analyst have said that Latinos and African Americans were galvanized because of former Gov. Pete Wilson and propositions 187, and proposition 209 in 1996, followed by proposition 227 in 1998. But these propositions were not the glue that bound these ethnic groups. It was proposition 226 that was the catalyst—it brought the labor unions into the fray.
The unions needed numbers to successfully defeat Wilson's anti-union proposition. The millions of dollars, alone, unions had for campaigns would not have been without the numbers at the polls. They were successful in bringing out the Latino and Afro American voters by reminding them of Wilson's anti-minority propositions. However, during campaigns against these anti-minority propositions, union money was not there, affirmative action and immigration were not their issues.
Raoul Lowery Contreras sends out a warning to Latinos about a "new" proposition 187 for the 2000 elections. He wrote in a opinion piece in La Prensa San Diego "California cop: License, Registration, Green Card! Me: No!," that "A group of reactionary, white supremacists in Los Angeles will submit an initiative for the next statewide ballot in March that will convert local cops into immigration officers." The proposition that may appear under the name "The Local Immigration Officer Training Act" would by-pass state law prohibiting local law enforcement from cooperating with the immigration officials.
Contreras points out that the organization behind this drive is made up of Whites and "conservative Blacks" in Los Angeles to give it a non-racial look. What he doesn't point out is that the authors of this proposition studied the election results in 1994's prop. 187. AfricanAmerican voters voted in favor of prop 187 in the 65 to 70 percent range. 65 to 70 percent of AfricanAmerican voters are not conservatives. Latino voters stood alone against prop 187 for the most part. The anti-prop 187 campaign was able to mount a minimal, badly planned, campaign against it on television because of the help from the California Teacher's Association (CTA).
African American politicos and voters are not friends of Latinos. This is where my cynicism comes in. We have a difficult time choosing our political friends, even when we elect our own. Gov. Gray Davis was going to end the era of "wedge" issues--well--here we are again. And again, perhaps it's my cynical political nature that leads me to believe that Davis's inaction on closing the book of prop. 187 has encouraged this group to take another crack at Latinos. Perhaps its the willingness of so many prominent Latino organizations coming to Davis' defense on this issue that is adding fuel to these people's ambitions.
The African American support of prop. 187 and this new proposal isn't a surprise. African American politicians are seeing their districts changing colors from Black to Brown. They are sitting on political powder kegs as their districts reach populations of 65 and 75 percent Latino. For African American politicos it is a matter of survival. At any given time, Latinos could field a candidate for seats opened by of term limits. While the liberal elements of the Democratic Party would do anything possible to maintain the few African American seats, there will come a charismatic Latino with money and run against them. This becomes a greater possibility as more and more of those who are here with green cards become citizens.
Given these facts, one would think that the Latino political leadership and the Latino scribes who blame these propositions and their passage, as the work of "conservatives," would awaken to the realities of politics—the politics of race. Numbers alone should teach us that when it comes to "controlling" the political growth of the Latino community, the only real allies we have are in the Asian community, because they too, understand the preservation of culture, language, traditions that are foreign to White and Black Americans.
Controlling the Latino influence in the State Legislature is a concern of the powers that control the Democratic Party. They have been tip-toeing around the Sleeping Giant, knowing that they vote Democrats, but never understooding its philosophical nature. Will it be liberal or conservative, and can we keep it under control? Latinos are too independent, so much so, they can't agree on one leader, not even one organization lead them.
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante has exemplified this independence by opposing Gov. Davis's actions, or rather inaction, on killing prop. 187, and doing so vociferously and publicly, in a very visible manner.
When the euphoria of the Latino successes in 1998 wore off, I came out of my giddiness, and a read flag was raised by my cynical side said—backlash. The resources put into the 1998 by unions worked, but they also resulted in a significant number of Latinos being elected to the State Legislature. Hell, even four Republican Latinos were elected, along with a Lt. Governor with the potential for becoming governor.
If this new form of Prop. 187 reaches the ballot, can the Latino community expect Gov. Davis to rile against it, not if his backing away from his 1998 campaign promise to close the book on prop 187 was based on the reality that 60 percent-plus of the state's voters passed that initiative. Davis is an expert on studying poll results and acting upon them. If this proposition reaches the ballot next year, he will not be able to shelve in mediation." And that 60 percent-plus will be watching closely.
Our "friends" in the Democratic Party were part of 1994's 60 percent-plus vote on 187. Blamming only "conservatives" and is numerically unrealistic. If conservatives and Republicans were 60 percent of the registered voters, Dan Lungren would be in office, Assembly Minority Leader Scott Baugh would be the Speaker, and Senator Ross Johnson would be the Senate Pro-tem. The blame or credit for the passage of 187 goes to the moderate voters of the state, and liberal African Americans... friends of the Latino community.
Unions won't spend as much on the Latino vote. They won't because the Davis Administration is giving them control of the Department of Industrial Welfare that oversees the Labor Commissioner's Office and the Industrial Welfare Commission that regulates overtime and hourly wage issues... Friends of the Latino community?
The Latino leadership in the Legislature is divided, some are lining up behind Davis, trying to save his support in the Latino community, by giving a Brown voice to his reversal on the major promise to Latinos during the campaign. Instead, leaders like Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa are co-authoring bills that advance the Gay and Lesbian agenda... these are not Latino issues.
So why am I so cynical? Perhaps its because I know that in politics the second victim, behind truth—is principle. Few legislators and Latino organizational leaders, like Lt. Gov. Bustamante oppose Gov. Davis on this issue... on principal. Of course, the cynical side of me jumps up again... will Bustamante's meteoric political campaign fizzle out because of his principles?
The bastard child is the one ignored; the one whose promises are broken, the one spoken to in private and ignored at family reunions. So has the Democratic Party treated Latinos.
(Julio Calderon, publisher of "Calderon Newsletters" e-mail latsac@aol.com)
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