Mexican community a political safety net

Mexican Community A Political Safety Net
by Rodolpho Carrasco
Saturday, August 15, 1998 in San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group
(Rodolpho Carrasco is associate director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif. and a columnist for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Check out more articles by Rodolpho Carrasco here.)

In the past month it has come to light that candidates for public office in Mexico have treated Los Angeles as a campaign stop. Mexicans living in the U.S. send enough money and influence back home to attract the attention of candidates in distant places like Oaxaca (near the bottom of the Mexican map, from where an estimated 200,000 Angelenos hail). These Mexicans in America cannot vote in Mexican elections. But Mexican politicians can't ignore people whose cash provides a vital, nongovernmental safety net - feeding families, building homes and roads, even opening schools.

This news comes at a time when many Californians are scrambling to understand the strength of the Mexican immigrant community. Charitable organizations like World Vision International (in Monrovia) and World Vision USA in Seattle are learning to tap this strength, as internal analysis shows that a large percentage of donations for its Mexico programs comes from immigrant Mexicans. American politicians in Latino-heavy neighborhoods must cater anew to an ethnic group that almost single-handedly passed a bond to rebuild crumbling East L.A. schools.

However, the specter of politicians from Mexico glad-handing for votes throughout our metropolis touches a deeper nerve altogether. I've heard murmurs of frustration over the airwaves and in coffee bars regarding this development. California became the Proposition State because the majority of its native-born people have not figured out what to do with an ever-growing Mexican presence. These forays of Mexican politicians onto U.S. soil appear to some as an egregious violation of U.S. sovereignty, never mind that candidates for public office in Israel have campaigned in New York for years.

But where some see crisis, I see an opportunity for much-needed dialogue about the Mexican presence in the San Gabriel Valley and greater Los Angeles. A Mexican politician's campaign stop in Los Angeles should include public forums to which U.S. residents of all types are invited. These forums would include lots of time for questions and answers.

I, for one, would like to know a few things:

Does the candidate recognize that each Western Union cash wire sent by a Mexican immigrant to Mexico carries a prayer for "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?"

How would the candidate feel if American-style democracy - which hundreds of thousands of new American citizens of Mexican descent have chosen - bloomed within Mexico's borders?

Will the candidate fight until a competitive free market - for which Mexicans in America have endured great abuse to claim as their own - is the norm south of the border?

These and similar questions seem fair to ask a foreign politician campaigning in the United States.

But Mexican candidates are not the only ones who should be held accountable at such forums. Americans with questions to ask should be prepared to answer questions ourselves. We who love call-in shows, anonymous e-mail and the pointed finger should at some point have to account in public for what we think. That is, after all, the strength of a democracy.

There are a number of things I would like to hear forum attendees. Do people who voted for Proposition 187 still think it is a good idea? Have we taken in more Mexican immigrants than we can handle? Is a large Mexican presence good or bad for Southern California?

Since I'm itching to ask both Mexican candidates and American citizens some hard questions about the Mexican presence in Los Angeles, let me put up or shut up by answering a hard question put to me recently. The question: If I could choose, would I choose to be born and raised in Mexico or in California?

My answer: My mother Felisa escaped poverty in Aguascalientes, Mexico in 1950 by obtaining a green card and coming north to work in an L.A. garment district sweat shop. She gave birth to me at L.A. County General Hospital, the Ellis Island of the West, and I thank God I was born in California.

Had I been born and raised in Mexico, chances are that I would have never had the educational opportunities I've taken advantage of, the personal liberties I take for granted, the career choices I yearn for, and the health care I cherish.

That's my answer. Any other questions?

Let's all welcome Mexican candidates the next time they come campaigning in your neighborhood or in nearby Los Angeles. There is less to fear than there is to gain. Don't wait to be invited. Just show up at one of their meetings with a list of questions and exercise your freedom of speech. And in the spirit of democracy, be prepared to answer some questions yourself.

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