July 31, 2005

Open Letter to Our African American Sisters & Brothers

Note: Peoples of color are being hurt more than ever today, thanks to the “Permanent War on Terrorism” and the War at Home. It therefore seems more important than ever to build alliances between our peoples who have similar struggles for liberation from povery and racism, for peace with justice. This Open Letter is offered in that spirit.

The media have been full of it this year, with such headlines as “Hispanics Now Largest Minority,” “America’s Ethnic Shift”..”Latinos pass blacks unless you count black Latinos”…”Hispanics Pass Blacks…” We even hear late-night TV host Jay Leno ‘joke’ to his musician (a Black man) that since Latinos are now the largest minority--not African Americans--he and the musician are minorities together.

As Latino/a teachers, activists, community people, students, artists and writers, we stand fiercely opposed to anyone making those statistics a reason to forget the unique historical experience of African Americans, the almost unimaginable inhumanity of slavery lasting centuries, the vast distance that remains on their long walk to freedom. We cannot let whatever meager attention has been given to the needs of Black people up to now be diminished by those new statistics.

In the Latina/o community we will combat the competitiveness that could feed on those headlines and blind some of our people to the truth of this society. We will combat the opportunism that is likely to intensify among Latino politicians and professionals.We celebrate the unique resistance by African Americans over the centuries, which has provided an inspiring example for our communities as shown by the Chicano movement of 1965-75. We affirm the absolute necessity of standing with you against racist oppression, exploitation and repression—the real axis of evil--and of supporting your demand for reparations.

Latinos/as who may find it hard to see beyond their own poverty, their own struggles against racism—which are indeed real--need to think about one simple truth. Only solidarity and alliances with others will create the strength needed to win justice.

Those newly announced statistics emphasize difference and pit brown against black like athletes racing against each other in the Oppression Olympics. But other numbers show how much we share the same problems of being denied a decent life, education, health care, all human rights. In times of war, look who fights and dies for the U.S. out of all proportion to our populations: Black and brown people.

To put it bluntly: we are both being screwed, so let’s get it together!

History makes the message clear. It is worth recalling a major reason why George Washington—the invader who wasn’t our Great White Father any more than yours—became president. He made a name for himself by successfully using the tactic of Divide and Conquer against different native nations and tribes. Divide and Conquer, later Divide and Control, has sustained White Supremacy ever since. It will continue to do so unless we cry out a joint, unmistakeable, thunderous NO.

That will not be easy. Our peoples have different histories and cultures, together with great ignorance about each other. Competition for scarce resources, from jobs to funding for university departments, can be real. Latinos/as do not always see how in a nation so deeply rooted in racism, they may have internalized the value system of white supremacy and white privilege.

As Latinos/as, we are committed to help build alliances against our common enemies. We oppose the divisiveness encouraged by statistics about who is more numerous than who. As activists, we urge our community to support Black struggles and to fight together at every opportunity for our peoples’ liberation. As educators, we work to teach about both Black and Brown history, and our past alliances. As men and women, we can never do too much to assert our common humanity across color lines.

Last, but hardly least, Latinas/os are a very diverse people with many different nationalities and histories. We also have various roots,. In particular, we should recall that more Africans were brought to Mexico as slaves than the number of Spaniards who came, as can be seen by the all-African villages in Mexico today. The African in us demands proud recognition.

SIGNATORIES

Dr. Rodolfo Acuña, historian and author, Calif. State Univ., Northridge CA
Juan Carlos Aguilar, Program Director, Solidago Foundation, Northampton MA
Gloria Anzaldúa, writer, scholar, spiritual activist, Santa Cruz CA
Ricardo Ariza, director, Multicultural Affairs, Creighton Univ., Omaha NE
Frank Bonilla, Prof. UC Riverside & Prof. Emeritus, Hunter College, NY NY
Roberto Calderon, Assoc. Prof. History, Univ. of North Texas, Denton TE, Antonia Castañeda, Assoc. Prof. History, St. Mary’s College, San Antonio, TE
Marta Cruz-Jansen, Assoc. Prof., Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton FL
Raoul Contreras, Assoc. Professor Latino Studies, Indiana Univ. NW, Gary IN
Kaira Espinosa, San Francisco State University student, activist, San Francisco CA
Estevan Flores, Exec. Director, Latino/a Research & Policy Ctr, Univ. of Colorado, Denver, CO
Bill Gallegos, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Los Angeles, CA
César Garza, Grad. student, Loyola Univ., Chicago IL
Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales, Professor, Dept. of Chicano Studies, UC Santa Barbara CA
Francisco Herrera, community singer, activist, San Francisco CA
Jacque Larrainzar, musician and civil rights activist, Puerto Rico
Aya de León, writer, performer, activist, Berkeley CA
Emma Lozana, director, Centro Sin Fronteras, Chicago IL
Jennie Luna, Ed.M., teacher, danzante, activist, New York NY
Roberto Maestas, Exec. Director, co-founder, El Centro de La Raza, Seattle WA
Frank Martín del Campo, President, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, San Francisco CA
Elizabeth (Betita) Martínez, author, activist, teacher, San Francisco CA
Adelita Medina, free-lance journalist, New York, NY
Roberto Miranda, Editor-in-chief, Spanish Journal, Milwaukee, WI
Carlos Montes, Board President, Centro CSO (Community Service Center), Los Angeles CA
Richard Moore, Executive Director, Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Albuquerque NM
Cherríe Moraga, author and playwright, San Francisco, CA
Aurora Levins Morales, writer, historian, educator, organizer, Berkeley CA
Ricardo Levins Morales, artist, educator, organizer, Minneapolis MI
Estela Ortega, Dir. of Operations, co-founder, El Centro de la Raza, Seattle WA
Joe Navarro, school teacher, poet, activist, Hollister CA
José Palafox, PhD candidate, U.C. Berkeley, CA, filmmaker
Eric Quezada, Housing activist, San Francisco CA
Raúl Quiñones-Rosado and María Reinat-Pumarejo, Institute for Latino Empowerment, Caguas, Puerto Rico
Marianna Rivera, Educator, Zapatista Solidarity Coalition, Sacramento CA
Dr. Julia E. Curry Rodriguez, Asst Prof. San Jose State University, San Jose CA
Victor M. Rodriguez, Assoc. Prof., Calif. State Univ., Long Beach, CA and Crossroads Ministry board member
Graciela Sánchez, Exec. Dir., Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, San Antonio TE
John Santos, musician, author, educator, founder of the Machete Ensemble, Oakland, CA
Renée Saucedo, activist-attorney, director Day Labor Program, San Francisco CA
Olga Talamante, Executive Director, Chicana/Latina Foundation, Pacifica CA
Luis (“Bato”) Talamantez, human rights activist, former political prisoner, poet, San Francisco CA
Piri Thomas, author, poet, activist, Albany CA
Dr. Mercedes Lynn Uriarte, Professor of Journalism, Univ. of Texas, Austin
Leonard Valdez, director, Multi-Cultural Center, Calif. State Univerity, Sacramento CA

The letter was prepared by Elizabeth Martíinez (longtime activist, author and director of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice) in consultation with Phil Hutchings (last Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, co-founder of the Institute and currently an Oakland, CA activist.)

Send comments or suggestions to the Institute in San Francisco at i4mrj@aol.com.

Posted at July 31, 2005 11:07 PM

Comments

We must work together.

Posted by: Arcela Nunez-Alvarez at April 27, 2006 07:23 PM