Antonio is back on the ballot, will Latinos give him another chance?
The contours of the gubernatorial race have begun to sharpen. This is an important race, California has become the focal point of leadership for the resistance. California also is the richest and largest state in the nation with a $2.3 trillion dollars economy. The state is not only "the forefront of most of the modern-day innovations. but it also leads the nation in social policies and political discourse." Two Republicans and many well-known Democrats are vying to replace termed-out Governor Brown. In California's top-two primary system, the top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation will advance to the general election that will be held in November.
"25% or 5.2 million of all voters in California live in Los Angeles County. A 47.5% plurality of this county is Latino voters." This might be the reason why former Mayor Villaraigosa is polling better than he did three or six months ago. Latinos might have started flocking to him.
In the last poll, it appeared that Mayor Villaraigosa might be heading for the general election as he is behind by two or three points from Lt. Governor Newsom, the leading candidate. It is within the margin of error and people in Newsom's camp must be concerned.
California Democratic Party held its convention this past weekend and a consensus for an endorsement couldn't be reached for a candidate in the governor's race. Although this gubernatorial race looks like it is neck and neck, Villaraigosa only got 9% of the delegates' support. Nevertheless, if Newsom and Villaraigosa eventually make it to the general election, it would be an interesting election. Candidates have faced problems with ethics and fidelity in the past. With a couple of exceptions, so far, all candidates have been cordial to one another. But comes the fall, it is expected that the gloves will come off and mud will start flying.
First time I heard Antonio Villaraigosa speak, I said wow, this man clearly is once in a generation leader. Charisma in abundance, a great speaker, a compelling life story and sterling-fighting-for-justice credentials. He also used to be a former union organizer and ACLU president. He spoke from the heart and he passionately made the case for progressive policies and closing the gap of the profound inequities that existed in the distribution of resources. His charisma and enticing and capturing smile substituted the lack of erudition and poetry in his speeches. Subsequently, he inspired hope in many people, me included.
Some history here for context, the former mayor emerged in the political firmament in the 1990s. The time when Latinos in Los Angeles were demanding more inclusivity in the conversations of power. Los Angeles was becoming browner and those in positions of power in the different institutions that comprised LA were not being receptive to the new demographics. A turning point in LA's civic landscape took place when a Latino by the name of Miguel Contreras was elected to lead the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. This house of labor had been resisting change and was oblivion of the new immigrant workers. Contreras not only shook off labor and provided a new vision but he also made the house of labor a political powerhouse. Former Mayor Villaraigosa was very close to this labor leader.
A Latino winning the mayoral race in 2005 was a radical change in the city's civic landscape. Villaraigosa marched into city hall waving a flag of diversity that demanded more voices to be included in this city's leadership. These demands were rooted in the realities on the ground, Latinos have reached a critical mass in the city and their needs were often being neglected. The passage of Prop. 187 in the 1990s made our community realized that we could no longer stay on the sidelines-we needed to agitate and organize our community in order to acquire political power. It was a new day in L.A. We started becoming citizens and started registering to vote and radically changed our civic institutions.
Mayor Villaraigosa has cheerleaders who love him to death and he also has detractors who dislike him with the same passion that his supporters love him.
His detractors see him as a finger-to-the-wind politician who blatantly chooses his own self-interest at the expense of the collective interest of the community. "Yes, the man didn't do much for Latinos, he sold-out," his detractors vehemently argue. Those progressives on the left were utterly disappointed because Mayor Villaraigosa didn't use the power of the offices he had held to advance more substantive progressive policies for the poor. Specifically, policies on housing, where he was expected to do more.
After Mayor Villaraigosa left city hall in 2013, he revealed during a recent gubernatorial debate hosted by Univision that when he was broke. Hence he needed to work. He immediately went to work for the corporate capitalists and became a millionaire. While consulting for corporate people, Mayor Villaraigosa accepted shady gigs like the one for Herbalife which he publicly defended as being a good ethical company after it was reported that the company had been fined $200 million dollars by federal regulators for using pyramid scheme business fraudulent models that targeted and bilked humble Latino immigrants.
His supporters, on the other hand, argue that man is not perfect and he did what he could within the circumstances. This group of supporters focuses on the policies that the former Mayor shepherded while being a mayor and Speaker of the Assembly. And they point out some of the following achievements: Proposition R which raised $40 billion to improve public transit would not have been possible without Mayor Villaraigosa's leadership. He was also instrumental in bringing crime down in the city that eventually attracted billions of dollars for new developments. And when it came to the environment, the man rolled up his sleeves and dealt with environmental problems head-on. He spent some political capital took on business groups that saw "clean trucks" as an unnecessary expense needed to carry out business in Los Angeles. He demanded these trucks to be used by Los Angeles Port know for being a major source of pollution in LA and other cities located nearby.
It is true his supporters claim, Mayor Villaraigosa might have given the finger to teachers' union. And, deservedly so, teachers have lost perspective of their mission which is to educate our children. They have failed the most needed students in our communities of color. Any change to our schools was rejected by waving the "privatization" flag and accusing those proposing the change of working for charter schools, these supporters claim without blinking. These supporters see a display of leadership when Mayor Villaraigosa stood up to the teachers' union.
They also claim that, while being a mayor, Villaraigosa was a powerful ally for other labor unions that were organizing poor people in this city. They alluded to the role he played in helping poor people working as security guards to join a union. He is credited with making the case to building owners to allow security guards to join a union. He also led the charge to expand "living wage" for hotel workers working close to the Airport, his supporters said.
Latino elected officials call themselves "progressives," But they also like to win elections and know that poor folks are politically unorganized and don't vote. Consequently, they see their self-preservation linked to corporate interest. They need these powerful corporations ' political contributions to stay in power. Of course, occasionally these corporate democrats would drift into progressive land and pursue progressive policies, e.g., free first-year community college education, "The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)," driver licenses for "illegal" immigrants, mandatory Chicano Studies for high school students, etc.
Thank you for reading.
Chamba Sanchez
02-26-2018
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Sources Consulted.
Cadelago, Christopher. "The truth behind Villaraigosa’s Herbalife gig and Newsom’s precious metals." Sacramento Bee 26 Jan. 2018. Web. 20 Feb. 2018.
Drier, Peter "LA Magazine's Failure: Irresponsible Journalism." Huffington Post: Media 27 June 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2018.
Garofoli, Joe. "California Democratic Party shocks Dianne Feinstein by not endorsing her." San Francisco Chronicle 25 Feb. 2018. Web. 25 Feb. 2018
Lacabe, Margarita. "The Reports of the Death of Chiang’s Campaign are greatly exaggerated." California Super-progressive anti-Corporate Political Activists 13 Feb. 2018. Web. 24 Feb. 2018
Leibowitz, Ed. "Villaraigosa’s Lasting Legacy: You Fail Sometimes." Los Angeles Magazine 10 April 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2018.
Marinucci, Carla. "Poll: California governor’s race a toss-up." Politico 8 Feb. 2018. Web. 22 Feb. 2018.
Mehta, Seema. Phil Willion. "Former aide to Gavin Newsom speaks out about their affair while he was San Francisco mayor." Los Angeles Times 7 Feb. 2018. Web. 23 Feb. 2018.
Menezes, Ryan. Maloy Moore. "In the race to become California’s next governor, fundraising favors one candidate." Los Angeles Times 5 Jan. 2018. Web. 24 Feb. 2018.
Skeels, Robert D. " Villaraigosa: The Myth of The Progressive Mayor." LA Progressive 5 July 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2018.
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Photo credit: Paula Abdul and Antonio Villaraigosa at the Ceremony Honoring Los Angeles Lakers' Owner Jerry Buss with the 2,323rd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA. 10-30-06. Pic was obtained from Bigstock. The former mayor was on top of his game here.
"Hollywood not Brown Enough" Do Latinos Care?
That time of the year, the 90th Annual Academy Awards is about to happen again. There is also that usual annual conversation about Hollywood not broadening the circle of opportunities in the acting categories for minorities. So much for Hollywood being a bastion of liberalism.
There are those who argue that "competition" is not only in the best interest of the arts but said "competition" makes actors and actresses better. Additionally, these defenders of the status quo assertively claim that "talent," not ethnicity should be the primary consideration in awarding Oscars. Furthermore, they claim that it is silly to protest about Hollywood lacking diversity. Hollywood is driven by money and it shouldn't engage in any exercise of affirmative action, they further argue. They also stated that giving awards based on one's color of the skin will utterly destroy excellence. Why professional basketball a sport where players are overwhelmingly male and black is not being called out? They ask.
Of course, the counter-argument for the opinion above is that diversity is profoundly important for the stability of any pluralistic society. It is not only consequential for making democratic institutions stronger but diversity also validates said institutions. Pluralistic societies enjoy stability as people respect and feel more represented seeing people like them running institutions that serve them
When it comes to the acting categories, Latinos actors and actresses are overlooked in this town. We should use our economic power to demand more opportunities for our talented actors and actresses. Yes, 23% of the moviegoers are Latinos. That is, almost in 1 in 4 of these filling those movie theaters is a Latino.
Comedian Chris Rock wrote an essay back in 2013 for the Hollywood Reporter, in which he courageously wrote: "Forget whether Hollywood is black enough. A better question: Is Hollywood Mexican enough? You're in L.A, you've got to try not to hire Mexicans." Yes, this is sadly true. And when Latinos are hired they play characters usually reinforcing offensive stereotypes.
Those running Hollywood studios unbelievably think that having Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, and Sofia Vergara presenting at the Oscars is enough for Latinos. This is so offensive. Latinos, in this industry, desperately need more opportunities. Sofia Vergara has literally humiliated Latinos with all her idiotic comments whenever she is on stage. This woman appears to sadly believe that the only way to survive in Hollywood is to humiliate herself and mocks our community {click here to watch her presenting on stage}.
Another attempt to give Latinos a false sense of representation in Hollywood was this recent film, "Coco." Lee Unkrich, a movie director who came up with this well-through-out idea about an animated film on an important cultural day among Latinos: "El Dia de Los Muertos." He knew, without Latinos, the studio was not going to be able to sell the film to Latinos. Hence he recruited a Latino co-director, largely all voice Latino cast, and a whole bunch of sell-out Latino consultants. It is not clear how animated characters can be equated with real Latino beings. Yes, this movie about recognizing a Latino's story while laughing all the way to the bank. What is truly needed is the recognition of our talented Latino actors and actresses by giving them more opportunities. Viola Davis got it right, "The only thing that separates people of color from anyone else is an opportunity.”
Some statistics here in order to get some perspective of what is the issue at hand; there are about 54 million Latinos here in the United States, approximately 18% of the US population. Any study shows that Latinos have been making great strides in politics. Yes, Latinos have accumulated some political powers. And economically speaking, Latinos' purchasing power has gone up significantly. We went from having a purchasing power of $495 billion in 200o to almost $1,6 trillion last year. Have some strides been made? Yes. But in light of the 54 million Latinos living in this country, we are still grotesquely underrepresented in many institutions. A recent study done in the school of communication at USC shows that Latino characters in Hollywood is a meager 3.1% despite us being 18% of the population. 
Whenever conversations take place about race in Hollywood, the substance of said conversations is usually about opportunities for African-Americans. Deservedly so, African-Americans are more organized for filing grievances for black actors and actresses. Unlike Latinos in this country, African-Americans have national leaders that coordinate protests throughout the nation. Many times these protests have forced those in positions of power to come to the table and negotiate. Latinos need to borrow a page from this playbook and demand more opportunities from those who run studios in Hollywood.
According to the Census, the population of African-Americans is about 13.4 or approximately 39 million. And the number of Black characters in Hollywood is about 13.6. Evidently, African-Americans have done a very good job of forcing the elites from Hollywood to provide more opportunities to blacks actors and actresses. Latinos don't have national leaders that could unite the different factions among Latinos. Indeed, Latinos neither have a Jessie Jackson, Cornel West, or Al Sharpton to mention a few nor Latinos have robust civil rights organizations to militantly ask the question justice.
In 2015 and 2016 African-Americans accused Hollywood of not being "Black enough." Rightfully so, After two years of harsh and well-deserved criticism over "back-to-back slates of all-whites nominees" for the Oscars. Things radically changed in 2017, this year was a year that people of color in Hollywood celebrated. Seven minority actors got nominated and six of them were blacks. Did that fall from the sky? Of course not. Leaders in the African-American community were successful in organizing and agitating their members in their community. They were in the streets protesting and calling out racist Hollywood.
There is that saying that we, Latinos, just care for immigration. And that this is the only issue that we get us animated to hit the streets. Yes, it appears so. We don't have movements such as "Brown lives matter," or "Hollywood is not brown enough." Even when many Latinos are killed yearly in the hands of law enforcement people and Hollywood utterly ignored brown people. There is so much need for agitating and organizing our community. L.A. County, coroner's data shows that in the last eight years half of all people killed by police were Latinos. In 2015, Gardena police department was forced by a judge to release a video where Ricardo Diaz Zeferino who was unarmed was killed by officers from this city. The media covered it but there was literally no protest other than family members demanding justice.
The struggle is real, Latinos are very complex and difficult to unite. We are the fastest minority group growing in this country. And we are facing profound challenges dealing with poverty, education, housing and lack of opportunities in Hollywood. We clearly need to re-align our mainstream image that we just march and protest for immigration reform. We have to do the hard work of organizing and agitating our community. We have the economic and political power that can be utilized to advance a broader Latino agenda.
Thank you for reading.
Chamba Sanchez
2/01/2018
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Sources consulted.
Barnes. Brooks. "After #OscarsSoWhite, Hispanics Seek Their Hollywood Moment." New York Times 21 Jan. 2018. Web. 25 Jan. 2018.
Buckley, Cara. "The Oscars and Race: A Stir Over Rules to Change the Academy." New York Times 27 Jan. 2017. Web. 26 Jan. 2018.
Moreno, Carolina. "The Oscars Are Happy To Recognize Latino Stories, But Not Latino Actors." HuffPost-Latino Voices 18 Jan. 2018. Web. 1 Feb. 2018.
Santa Cruz, Nicole. Ruben Vives. Marisa Gerber. "Why the deaths of Latinos at the hands of police haven't drawn as much attention." Los Angeles Times 18 July 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.
Smith, Stacy L, Marc Choi, et al. "Inequality in 900 Popular Films: Examing Portrayals of Gender, Race,/Ethnicity, LGBT, and Disability from 2007-20016." USC School for Communication and Journalism July 2017. Web. 1 Feb. 2018.
Riley, Janelle. "Oscars: Record Six Black Actors Nominated, Diversity Improves After Controversy." Variety 24 Jan. 2017. Web. 27 Jan. 27 2018.
Rock, Chris. "Chris Rock Pens Blistering Essay on Hollywood's Race Problem: "It's a White Industry." Hollywood Reporter 3 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2018.
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Photo Credit: Photos above came from Bigstock