http://latinolanow.org/latinola-speaks/2008/11/time-to-fulfill-mkl-jrs-dream/ Latin American voices observe and comment from New Orleans Fri, 18 May 2012 14:21:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 http://latinolanow.org/latinola-speaks/2008/11/time-to-fulfill-mkl-jrs-dream/comment-page-1/#comment-39 billknecht Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:37:57 +0000 http://latinolanow.org/data/?p=261#comment-39 ERACE ASKS: AFTER THE ELECTION, WHAT NOW? Now that Barack Obama has emerged from the long and arduous election of 2008 as the President-Elect, some of us might well rest now and be content with the scourge of racism being largely addressed. Not a smart attitude, we at ERACE would maintain. Indeed, now that the election is over, the task of bringing the races together to work and live harmoniously and successfully is being challenged more than ever. An increased number of racial incidents have recently been reported in various parts of the country, including St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, where a Ku Klux candidate was allegedly murdered for refusing to complete her initiation. There has been a sharp rise in the number of hate groups in the past 5 years, mostly related to an anti-immigrant sentiment. Racial tension is still very much alive. During the campaign, Barack Obama told the public that a national conversation on race needs to take place among Americans. That is precisely what ERACE as an organization has been doing since its founding in 1993 in New Orleans, and what it will continue to do with what we believe to be greater and greater effectiveness. Chapters based on our model have been established in other parts of the country and even overseas. Interest continues to be generated in our methods of the “national conversation.” We have developed an ERACISM forum that works in which individuals of different cultures can express themselves in peeling away the layers of racial misunderstanding while maintaining a safe environment that such a potentially emotional interaction requires. So, as always, we are making our organization and its members and methods available to any facet of government, civic organizations, schools, and the public, in general. Please join us in this endeavor with open minds and hearts. www.eracismneworleans.org (504) 866-1163 ERACE ASKS: AFTER THE ELECTION, WHAT NOW?
Now that Barack Obama has emerged from the long and arduous election of 2008 as the President-Elect, some of us might well rest now and be content with the scourge of racism being largely addressed. Not a smart attitude, we at ERACE would maintain. Indeed, now that the election is over, the task of bringing the races together to work and live harmoniously and successfully is being challenged more than ever. An increased number of racial incidents have recently been reported in various parts of the country, including St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, where a Ku Klux candidate was allegedly murdered for refusing to complete her initiation. There has been a sharp rise in the number of hate groups in the past 5 years, mostly related to an anti-immigrant sentiment. Racial tension is still very much alive.
During the campaign, Barack Obama told the public that a national conversation on race needs to take place among Americans. That is precisely what ERACE as an organization has been doing since its founding in 1993 in New Orleans, and what it will continue to do with what we believe to be greater and greater effectiveness. Chapters based on our model have been established in other parts of the country and even overseas. Interest continues to be generated in our methods of the “national conversation.” We have developed an ERACISM forum that works in which individuals of different cultures can express themselves in peeling away the layers of racial misunderstanding while maintaining a safe environment that such a potentially emotional interaction requires. So, as always, we are making our organization and its members and methods available to any facet of government, civic organizations, schools, and the public, in general. Please join us in this endeavor with open minds and hearts. http://www.eracismneworleans.org
(504) 866-1163

]]> http://latinolanow.org/latinola-speaks/2008/11/time-to-fulfill-mkl-jrs-dream/comment-page-1/#comment-38 rio_viejo Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:51:06 +0000 http://latinolanow.org/data/?p=261#comment-38 We cannot have integration until we stop separating ourserlves. The moment you say African American you are already furthering the divide. We are all Americans. I dont want to call you African American, or Hispanic American or Asian American (really, I mean, Asian can mean so many different things it really doesn't say anything). So, integration begins with the individual. Stop seeing yourself as separate, and then you'll realize we are ALL. It's very simple but sometimes it becomes a difficult subject to grasp. The common goal of the Hispanic American should be to stop being called Hispanic American. We cannot be a nation of hyphenated Americans. All these separations must first disappear in our own mind so that then we can move on. I'm glad Obama is our first black president, but he definitely is not the first American president. Look at it that way. It's common sense. By choosing to identify ourselves as something other than Americans, we will continue to give life to the divide, and THAT is what we have to fight. We cannot have integration until we stop separating ourserlves. The moment you say African American you are already furthering the divide. We are all Americans. I dont want to call you African American, or Hispanic American or Asian American (really, I mean, Asian can mean so many different things it really doesn’t say anything).
So, integration begins with the individual. Stop seeing yourself as separate, and then you’ll realize we are ALL. It’s very simple but sometimes it becomes a difficult subject to grasp. The common goal of the Hispanic American should be to stop being called Hispanic American. We cannot be a nation of hyphenated Americans. All these separations must first disappear in our own mind so that then we can move on. I’m glad Obama is our first black president, but he definitely is not the first American president. Look at it that way. It’s common sense. By choosing to identify ourselves as something other than Americans, we will continue to give life to the divide, and THAT is what we have to fight.

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