by José de la Isla

HOUSTON – Forget presidential politics. The real debate might be taking place outside that arena. And a good thing, too. The dumbed-down, lightning-fast, popular vanity answers by presidential aspirants might be irrelevant.

In August, Wall Street Journal deputy editorial page editor, Daniel Henninger, brought up an important concern about the times we live in. The header boldly read, “The Death of Diversity.”

He reported that Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam, author of the bestseller “Bowling Alone,” claims after 30,000 interviews in 41 U.S. communities, “People in ethnically diverse settings don’t want to have much of anything to do with each other.”

This doesn’t sound very promising for those who believe we can all not only get along but thrive when real and imagined barriers come down.

That typically happens when our social networks (called “social capital”) do their job and provide economic and cultural security. But that type of solidarity seems to go down when immigration is up.

Henninger, who otherwise appears to be sort of middle-of-the-roadish, has a definite spin on all this. He thinks advocates for campus, corporate and media diversity “gave short shrift to assimilation” and elevated “differences” to another category by challenging the old ways in court.

Because the diversity issue (ethnic, race, gender, sexual orientation) was unnerving, “little wonder the immigration debate is riven with distrust.”

I disagree with Henninger’s perspective. He seems to want to shoot craps with loaded dice. He wants change by willingly take the gains, but not if his interests risk losses.

Diversity issues, at least since the 1970s, have been about fairness standards. Why should all citizens pay for higher education when their own kids don’t stand a chance there, or how fair are glass ceilings for our educated, well qualified daughters?

Pitting diversity concerns with immigration movements implicitly looks at social change from a xenophobic point of view. It makes the traditional populations seem as if they are under jeopardy of some kind because they might feel they are losing power.

In fact, Robert Putnam says in the fi rst line of his scholarly paper that new ethnic and social heterogeneity pose both challenges and opportunities not just in the United States but in most advanced countries. In this changing of the guard, especially in Western Europe, the traditional networks to find a job, get a mate, raise children, enjoy status and even have prominence within their circle of acquaintances is changing.

Simply put, Putnam says ethnic diversity will increase substantially. In the short to medium term, immigration and ethnic diversity will challenge the established social solidarity. In other words, “different” people will be trying to get into our networks or will be forming networks of their own.

So far, so good. But now comes Pat Buchanan and others with another interpretation. They wrongly claim Putnam says greater diversity causes greater distrust in our country. Imagine that!

The increasing lack of trust researchers have reported since the 1960s happened because of immigrants of the 2000s.

Remember your brother-in-law who borrowed $1,000. The reason you mistrust him is because of immigrants.

Conveniently misunderstanding what Putnam says misleads the country about an important insight.

Yes, “bonding” within social groups becomes less solid in the face of diversity and immigration. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot of “bridging” with nontraditional groups. That’s why Putnam says immigrant societies dampen the negative effects of diversity by constructing new, more encompassing identities. Negative-oriented people, like Buchanan, will never get it. They can only look at a situation and think about what was “lost.” They can’t see all the new gains.

Or as Putnam puts it, the main challenge is “to create a new, broader sense of we.”

Now of those running for president, which candidate is enough of an intellectual to understand the big picture and lead us there instead of scaring us?

[José de la Isla, author of “The Rise of Hispanic Political Power” (Archer Books, 2003) writes a weekly commentary for Hispanic Link News Service. E-mail joseisla3@yahoo.com]. © 2007

by Edward J. Mc. Elroy

As a former social studies teacher, I am always amazed at how a nation’s history repeats itself and­ how many among us fail to acknowledge it. Take the United States at the turn of the 20th century. That’s when our country experienced one of its major influxes of newcomers. Waves of immigrants made their way to our shores. Soon, many of the children enrolled in ourpublic schools had come from such faraway places as Italy, Poland and Russia.

Through it all, U.S. public school met the challenges that come with serving diverse student bodies. Indeed, our nation prospered and became stronger because of it.

Turn the clock forward a hundred years. Our public schools are again being asked to meet the challenges that come with a rapidly growing and diverse population. Granted, the majority of today’s public school students are U.S.-born, but an increasing number of them have family roots in Latin America — countries like Mexico, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador — and elsewhere.

Given the pace of technology and the realities of a dynamic society, the needs of these students are just as pressing as those of their early 20th-century counterparts. Meeting those needs must remain a top priority. We have been here before and we rose to the task. We must do so again.

Thirty years ago, Latino students comprised a relatively modest percentage of this country’s pre-K through 12th-grade student population. By 2005, one out of every five of our public school students was Latino. By 2025, Latinos are expected to account for one-quarter of our school-age population. These are immensely important figures, which portend not just new challenges, but, just as in the early 20th century, new op6portunities for tomorrow.

Despite some signs of academic progress, educational indicators for Latino students continue to lag. Latinos have lower than average rates of academic achievement and some of the lowest college enrollment and post-secondary attainment levels. They also have some of the highest dropout rates in the nation.

Most egregiously, those statistics have remained virtually unchanged for the past 30 years. Without considerable improvements and thoughtful investments, too many of our Latino students will not be adequately prepared to participate fully in our democracy or in the global and technologically advanced economy of the 21st century.

We must improve the educational outcomes for these students. We can do so by focusing on access to well-designed programs that cover the gamut from early childhood through college education.

We also must promote research-based information on effective instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse student populations and implement stronger professional development programs for the teachers and staff who work with these students.

High-quality resources (such as ColorinColorado.org, a free Web site developed by the AFT and the PBS affiliate, WETA) can help focus attention on effective instruction, increasing parental and community outreach, and serving those Latino students who are learning English.

In addition, we should promote adult education and innovative parent involvement programs that focus on collaboration with teachers and other school personnel.

To serve Latino students at all levels, we also should strengthen dropout and gang prevention initiatives, while working with parents and improving student attendance. High-poverty schools should receive more college counselors and provide more information about higher education, financial aid and other post-secondary options.

Finally, we must expand support for federal and state legislation (such as the DREAM Act) that allows undocumented students to attend college.

Ultimately, the implications are as simple as they are significant. Our economy, our infrastructure and our democracy — the continued success of our nation as a whole —rests on the public education system that serves the majority of students in the United States. Latino students, and the education professionals who serve them, are a major part of that system. Our country will not thrive without the active participation of every segment of our society.

Admittedly, shaping a better tomorrow will not be easy. But, working together, we can make success possible for every student. Indeed, we can bring greater prosperity to our entire nation. We’ve done it before.

[The author is president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Address comments to him care ofjzapata@aft.org. The AFT represents 1.4 million pre-K through 12th-grade teachers; paraprofessionals and other school-related personnel; higher education faculty and professional staff; nurses and healthcare workers; and federal, state and local government employees.] © 2007

by Marvin J. Ramirez

Marvin J. Ramirez

While the residents of the Atlantic Coast zone of Nicaragua gather its more than one hundred dead persons, while thousands are left homeless at the loss of their homes by the devastating hurricane Félix, very few have organized in the San Francisco Bay Area to coordinate help for the victims.

According to Nicaraguan Education Secretary Miguel De Castilla the school year is practically lost in the Autonomous Region of the North Atlantic Ocean (RAAN), because the hurricane Félix affected 90 per cent of the schools of the zone of disaster, leaving them without roof, while the furniture was destroyed.

Twenty per cent of the schools remained completely destroyed.

At press time, it was reported that the number of dead left by hurricane Félix ascended to 168, according to preliminary information offered by the authorities.

In the Bay Area, up to this moment, it had not been confirmed about any organization that was making the effort to organize help in the community.

It was known at the last hour that the musical team  Los Ramblers would be organizing a musical charitable event in the Club Roccapulco next Sunday, Sept. 16, where local musicians would take part voluntarily. Then someone  said there would be one on Sunday, Sept. 23 at Cafe Cocomo, in San Francisco.

Days after hurricane flog the zone, the ex-consul of Nicaragua, Auralila Beteta, wrote to El Reportero expressing her worry at the absence of any initiative from local Nicaraguans to assist their countrymen during this misfortune.

“I must show you my dissatisfaction for the inertia of our countrymen here, including the official representation of the Nicaraguan government. Three days happen already passed nobody doing anything yet, ” said the ex-diplomatic official.

“What a sadness causes all this to me. I asked my children (to help) and sent a donation to the Red Cross so that my droplet of love comes to this desert of poverty, pain and defenseless our community on the Atlantic Coast.

The representative of UNICEF in Nicaragua, Debora Comini, said that the biggest worry there are the indigenous communities, located to the north of the country and that they are more isolated.

“These populations lack infrastructure to be protected from the wind and the intense rains,” the official said.

Considering the coincidence of the date of the disaster with the celebration of Independence Day, the organizers of this event, especially the representatives of the most affected Central American countries, must re-focus their goals of the native celebration, conducting a massive fund-raising and material support during the week that is left before the Independence event.

A human touch will offer the opportunity to the community to create solidarity, get involve and to contribute with the most possible help.

by Juliana Birnbaum Fox

Exhibition at Mission Cultural Center from Aug. 31 to Sep. 28

The Bridge to Biotech program at City College of San Francisco is accepting applicants for fall semester classes through August 31. Instruction began August 15. CCSF’s Bridge to Biotech provides a rigorous and engaging introduction to biotechnology. Bridge participants are generally work-ready within a year of starting, as students learn essential laboratory skills while strengthening the math and language skills that they will need for success. Job placement assistance is provided to program graduates.

For more information about starting the Bridge to Biotech program, please visit the College’s website at www.ccsf.edu/biotech.

Dia de los Muertos Altar Contest

The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts begins the celebration of El Dia de los Muertos with a Call for Entries for the Altar Competition. This year’s theme is Hearts and Souls, a time to honor cultural tradition as we remember those close to our hearts and important to our lives. There will be a $500 award for the Best Traditional Altar and $500 award for the Best Contemporary Altar.

We invite all members of the Community and Bay area artists to submit an entry for this year’s “Hearts & Souls” Altar Exhibition. Installation of Altars will begin on Oct. 9th until Oct. 23rd. For additional entry details and entry form please visit our website:missionculturalcenter.org.

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Art Award Reception and Fundraiser

The 30th Anniversary Gala Awards In Excellence Ceremony will honor seven individuals and one organization that have contributed to Latino arts and culture in the Bay Area. Artistic Performances will include The ArgenTango Dancers and Andanza Spanish Arts. The Fundraiser will be held on Friday, September 7th, from 7 to 11pm at the Green Room of War Memorial Performing Arts Center at 401 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. Make your reservations today by using the link below or by stopping by the Center’s Box Office located in the Heart of the Mission at 2868 Mission and 24th Streets. Tickets are $125 per person, or $75 for a non-profit representative. For more information call 415-821-1155, our RSVP 30th Anniversary Hotline, or emailrsvp@missionculturalcenter.org.

The 5th Annual Salsa Festival de Novato

Celebrating Hispanic Cultural Heritage Month, the 5th Annual Salsa Festival in Novato, (15 miles north of San Francisco) includes everything from salsa recipes and contests to hot salsa music and dancing. The Festival, held on Grant Avenue in downtown Novato, will be open 10 am to 6 pm. and admission and parking are FREE. Close to 75 food, craft, retail and non-profit booths will be out, local restaurants and salsa makers will dish up samples of their signature salsa recipes, and salsa lessons will be offered. For festival information call 415.456.9379 or visit www.salsafestival.org.

Leland Avenue Street Fair

Visitacion Valley will host a family-friendly street fair with music, food, and an offering of products and services from 10 – 4 on Sunday, September 9th. A children’s area with activities will be set up, and the fair will stretch from Leland Avenue to Bayshore Boulevard. The 2nd Annual Fair is part of a community initiative to strengthen the neighborhood bring more business to local merchants.

by Andy Porras

What’s next, Rudy? Selling us the Brooklyn Bridge?

GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has promised a Southern group that he will end “illegal immigration.”

We have news for him and anyone else who thinks “illegal immigration” can be stopped.

It can’t.

Could this land afford the consequences? Hey, remember that the business of the United States is business. And the business of U.S. business is profit. By whatever means necessary.

Tack on disparity in global living standards. The chief cause of immigration is economic. Where are you gonna go when our worker-well runs dry? Anywhere, baby, and everywhere.

“Disgusting.” That’s the word white folk use to describe the tasks immigrants perform daily at a typical chicken processing plant in Southern states.

Is anybody out there in white America interested in taking a calf apart after it has been slaughtered in a typical beef processing plant? Or how about mixing assorted animal manure in huge outdoor tanks for feeding the fruited plains.

Don’t throw up, not yet. Aha, but can you do without a fried chicken dinner or a tender T-bone steak? Ask Rudy or any of his former wives if they’d do the tasks President Bush describes as “jobs Americans don’t wish to perform.”

The majority of us don’t approve of tsunamis, either, but can we stop them?

When U.S. residents (of all colors) talk about immigrants stealing jobs away from citizens, you can bet your last peso they’re not referring to jobs at Tyson’s or Swift’s. Almost everything we ingest on a daily basis will have an immigrant imprint on it – from fruits and veggies to meats and dairy products.

There is mucho dinero to be made in hiring immigrants, legal or otherwise – and from several countries, not just the Spanish-speaking ones.

Immigrants have become the perfect work models for many U.S. corporations. They seldom complain, they are extremely reliable and honest, too. The fear of being deported is so great that they force themselves to brandish an unusually strong work ethic.

Frequent and lucrative best describes illegal immigration. Coming herewithout an offi cial invitation will not end.

Go to your favorite video outlet, Rudy, and check out “A Day Without Mexicans.”

The message of this simple flick is clear: End immigration today and mañana you ain’t got most of the stuff you need to make it through the day. No breakfast burritos, no Marías to take care of junior or iron your favorite button-down oxford shirt, no fresh OJ.

Oh heck, you know what we mean. Stealing our jobs?

If there’s honor among thieves, imagine the deference among immigrants?

But don’t forget the problem of magnet “illegal employers” who continue to hire unauthorized workers. In 2005, Wal-Mart agreed to pay $11 million to settle a federal investigation that found hundreds of illegal immigrants cleaning its stores.

Wal-Mart used subcontractors and claimed it was “unaware that they were employing illegal immigrants” as janitors.

In December 2006, in the largest such crackdown in U.S. history, federal immigration authorities raided Swift & Co. meat-processing plants in six states, arresting about 1,300 immigrant employees.

Because Swift uses a government Basic Pilot program to confi rm whether Social Security numbers are valid, no charges were filed against it. Company officials questioned the program’s ability to detect when two people are using the same number.

Tyson Foods has also been accused of actively importing illegal labor for its chicken-packing plants.

A jury acquitted the company after evidence was presented that Tyson went beyond mandated government requirements in demanding documentation for its employees. Tyson also used its enrollment in the Basic Pilot and EVP programs (voluntary employment eligibility screening programs) as part of its defense.

Then there is the dishonor among those hired to protect our borders, especially the Mexican frontier.

Corruption thrives along the cactus curtain.

Wikipedia notes that in September 2005, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service reported 2,500 cases of its employees facing misconduct charges involving exchanging immigration benefi ts for sex, bribery and infl uences by foreign governments, with another 50 such cases re-ported weekly.

Any way you look at it, Rudy, curbing illegal immigration is a tough row to hoe. The bridge deal is probably more doable.

(Andy Porras is pub-lisher of the Sacramento  area bilingual monthly Califas. He may be reached at califasap@yahoo.com). -c 2007