Op-ed Spotlight
An Open Letter to African-Americans from Latinos
by Elizabeth Martinez
Special to the NNPA
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 poverty and racism, for peace with justice. This Open Letter is offered in that spirit.
Comments or questions about the Open Letter are very welcome. To contact its sponsors, see the note at bottom of the letter.
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 United States 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, unmistakable, 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, California State University, Northridge
Juan Carlos Aguilar, program director, Solidago Foundation, Northampton, Mass.
Gloria Anzaldúa, writer, scholar and spiritual activist, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Ricardo Ariza, director, multicultural affairs, Creighton University, Omaha, Neb.
Frank Bonilla, professor, University of California-Riverside and professor emeritus, Hunter College, N.Y.
Roberto Calderon, associate professor, history, University of North Texas, Denton
Antonia Castañeda, associate professor, history, St. Mary’s College, San Antonio, Texas
Marta Cruz-Jansen, associate professor, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton.
Raoul Contreras, associate professor, Latino Studies, Indiana University-NW, Gary.
Kaira Espinosa, student activist, San Francisco State University, San Francisco
Estevan Flores, executive director, Latino/a Research & Policy Center, University of Colorado, Denver
Bill Gallegos, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Los Angeles
César Garza, graduate student, Loyola University, Chicago
Yolanda Broyles-Gonzales, professor, Chicano Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara
Francisco Herrera, community singer and activist, San Francisco
Jacque Larrainzar, musician and civil rights activist, Puerto Rico
Aya de León, writer, performer and activist, Berkeley, Calif.
Emma Lozana, director, Centro Sin Fronteras, Chicago
Jennie Luna, teacher, danzante and activist, New York
Roberto Maestas, executive director and co-founder, El Centro de La Raza, Seattle
Frank Martín del Campo, president, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, San Francisco
Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez, author, activist and teacher, San Francisco
Adelita Medina, free-lance journalist, New York
Roberto Miranda, editor-in-chief, “Spanish Journal,” Milwaukee, Wis.
Carlos Montes, board president, Centro Community Service Center, Los Angeles
Richard Moore, executive director, Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, Albuquerque, N.M.
Cherríe Moraga, author and playwright, San Francisco
Aurora Levins Morales, writer, historian, educator and organizer, Berkeley, Calif.
Ricardo Levins Morales, artist, educator and organizer, Minneapolis
Estela Ortega, director of operations and co-founder, El Centro de la Raza, Seattle
Joe Navarro, school teacher, poet and activist, Hollister, Calif.
José Palafox, doctoral candidate and filmmaker, U.C.-Berkeley
Eric Quezada, housing activist, San Francisco
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, assistant professor, San Jose State University,
Victor M. Rodriguez, Crossroads Ministry board member and associate professor, California State University-Long Beach
Graciela Sánchez, executive director, Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, San Antonio, Texas
John Santos, musician, author, educator and founder of Machete Ensemble, Oakland, Calif.
Renée Saucedo, activist-attorney and director Day Labor Program, San Francisco
Olga Talamante, executive director, Chicana/Latina Foundation, Pacifica, Calif.
Luis “Bato” Talamantez, human rights activist, former political prisoner and poet, San Francisco
Piri Thomas, author, poet and activist, Albany, Calif.
Dr. Mercedes Lynn Uriarte, professor of journalism, University of Texas, Austin
Leonard Valdez, director, Multi-Cultural Center, California State University, Sacramento
The letter was prepared by Elizabeth Martínez, longtime activist, author and director of the Institute for MultiRacial Justice, in consultation with Phil Hutchings, last chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and co-founder of the Institute and currently an activist in Oakland. Send comments or suggestions to the Institute in San Francisco at
i4mrj@aol.com.
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Open Letter from Latinos to Blacks
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