super!…

exellent…

Ugh, I liked!…

You need more rest i think…

disagree…

I think for comparison’s sake, the examples of President-Elect Obama and Governor Jindal might be more fruitful to pursue. Recently, I read an article about this particular comparison in Gambit Weekly. The article is linked here:

http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A47375

Although the article makes no mention of the effect that Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath may have had on Governor Jindal’s campaign, the author nevertheless makes a compelling argument about why race was not a factor in Jindal’s campaign. He simply ignored it. Whereas Barack Obama has embraced all of his heritage–both black and white–Bobby Jindal has ignored essentially ignored his own. Personally, I think that Mr. Jindal’s extreme is not the solution; if anything it adds to the problem. However, he is a politician who used a political strategy to get elected. Certainly Mr. Obama has embraced his heritage, but nevertheless he has not highlighted it, which I think is also not the way to address the race dialogue.

But then again, how else can anyone get elected to state-wide office in Louisiana without essentially ignoring the race issue? Mr. Cao certainly benefitted from the fact that his election was within the confines of “diverse” New Orleans. Had Mr. Cao run for an office state-wide there is little evidence that leads me to believe that he would have been victorious. Although I was not exposed to much of his campaign, my impression is that he never ignored the fact that he is Vietnamese. On the contrary, in his victory speech he highlighted the fact and further, he even chose to include his support for all his constituents, no matter their race, creed, etc. I must concede, that was a savvy political strategy for this campaign, but one that would hold up in, say, a governor’s race? Not in Louisiana. Not now, unfortunately.

So what about Latinos in Louisiana? Raf, you are correct in highlighting how electing Governor Jindal and Rep. Cao does not point to an integrated Louisiana, but I agree that it does give us a glimpse and hope for the future. Latino leadership in Louisiana is sorely needed to effect representation and political change. The reality is that Latino leadership in the region is not visible. Could that be that Latinos in the Deep South are arguably the most assimilated in the country? Is assimilation in this region a result of conscious deference or a necessity to prevent from being marginalized? Although most would like to think it is the former, I have mostly observed the latter taking place. Latinos, like any other group, do not want to be targeted or ostracized. We just want to live our lives peacefully. Many of us came to this country seeking that peace and stability that is not found in our home countries, but at what price? The price of being ignored politically?

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