Coalition or Competition - Latino and African American communities

Videoconference examines the relationship between the Black and Latino communities

WASHINGTON -- As the national political atmosphere shuns programs like affirmative action and bilingual instruction, African Americans and Hispanic Americans are continuously being short-changed in regards to education. But many wonder if the two groups will be able to unite in order to improve their tactical situation concerning education policy, or if they will clash and spar over issues like the allocation of federal funds, as they did during the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Those questions and more were duked out here last month in a live videoconference sponsored by Black Issues in Higher Education. CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa and Radio One personality Joe Madison hosted the two-hour debate that yielded some frank and insightful comments from panelists and audience members.

Dr. Rick Turner, dean of the office of African American affairs at the University of Virginia says that on his campus, he sees African American and Hispanic students arguing more than they come together.

"You have students struggling and squabbling over issues that are really meaningless when you look at the entire picture," he said. "There are some common issues that students should be able to look at.

"The fact that you can't go from kindergarten through the 12th grade and be a person of color and come out liking yourself [is part of the problem]," he continues. "Without that kind of understanding of the issues, we are doomed to squabble and be in competition more than coalition."

Hinojosa pointed to common problems in the Black and Latino communities -- like high drop-out rates, high incarceration rates for young men, and teenage pregnancies -- and asked, shouldn't these mutual problems we confront yield a mutual alliance?

Dr. Henry Ponder, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), and Roger Campos, vice-president of government relations for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), agreed that the ability of both groups to work together was proven during the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. (see Black Issues, Nov. 12, 1998)

"What happened this fall really has helped us move," Ponder said.

And most panelists agreed that it is the responsibility of Black and Latino leaders who have the power to negotiate to foster opportunities to do so. They worried, however, that Blacks and Latinos at the bottom of the social and economic spectrum in the country are being left out.

"For those who are trapped at the bottom because of segmentation of the labor market, we see increasing competition and hostility," says Margaret Montoya, a law professor at the University of New Mexico. "We need to pay attention to what is happening to communities of color in the inner cities. Both Brown and Latino students are being pushed out of schools."

Dr. Madelaine Marquez, director of the Center for Innovative Education at Hampshire College, chimed in that part of what sets back Black and Latino students in the effort to unite is attacks on orientation programs for people of color. She says that White students in New England have complained about the special adjustment programs and they have consequently been discontinued at many campuses.

Others thought it was important to point out promising alliances. Two University of Maryland students from the audience cited an instance where Black, Latino, and Asian American students have joined together to fight racism and attacks on ethnic studies at their school.

"That same slave ship stopped off at different places," says John Best, a youth organizer from New York, "but we all came from the same place."

COPYRIGHT 1999 Cox, Matthews & Associates
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