Leaders from American Jewish and Hispanic communities last week spent two days
discussing ways to work together to make sure that minorities have a say in this
country's future.
"It is now time to go beyond the intellectual steps" and move into the action
phase, Henry Cisneros, director of CityView and former U.S. Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development, told a group of 70 people who gathered in Washington
March 20 and 21 to talk about joint advocacy between the two groups.
"We need to step right up there" and make sure their combined voices are heard
on such topics as immigration, education, economic empowerment and Israel,
Cisneros said.
Both the Jews and Hispanics, many of whom said they have never been inside a
synagogue, seemed to agree that the national scene will improve for both groups
if the 50-million plus Hispanics speak out on issues important to Jews and the 6
million Jews in America are there speaking out for Hispanics.
The joint advocacy was organized by the American Jewish Congress' Latino and
Latin American Institute. The time was ripe for this in light of President
Obama's re-election and the part Hispanics played in the vote, said Dina Siegel
Vann, director of the institute.
The group "explored together what areas we could work together on" both in
America and abroad, she said. The two days were spent discussing immigration
reform, philanthropy, foreign diaspora-homeland relations and coalition
dynamics.
Participants also went to Capitol Hill for a private dinner with members of the
Latino-Jewish Congressional Caucus, which has about 25 members.
It is important to show this country that the two groups can work together and
succeed. Then, Cisneros said, much can be accomplished.
Cisneros said Hispanics have a natural predisposition to side with Jewish and
Israeli causes, noting that both groups are considered underdogs and both "go
back a very long way in our communities."
Hispanics proudly join the army and have earned "more medals than any other group
per capita," Cisneros said, adding he believed they would willingly do what is
necessary to help Israel. "They are real people put in peril for America's
interest, and I know that includes the interests of Israel."
David Harris, AJCs executive director, said he was "very impressed" to hear
that. "It should speak volumes for all of us."
Harris said many of the causes Hispanics hold dear also are important to Jews.
"For us, freedom is everyone's business, and no one is truly free or equal until
we all are." As Jews, "we are taught to pursue justice" and that all people are
created in God's image, Harris said.
Also, he noted, as Hispanics move up and hold high positions in America's business
and political scenes, Jews and Hispanics will "increasingly become neighbors and
colleagues," he said.
The future of the 12 million undocumented workers living in America needs to be
addressed far beyond whether they become legal on a fast or slow track, speakers
at the conference agreed.
Cisneros wondered, "How do we borrow the Jewish cultural imperative on education
in which rabbi itself means teacher?" He noted that Hispanics have high dropout
rates and low acceptance to college rates.
It is to everyone's advantage to help or the Hispanic youth "will be a drag on
American society," he said.
Harris said Jews can teach about the role of a minority group in America. "We
were minorities in our old countries and are minorities here. This has
conditioned us to understand how one fulfills the role of a minority" while
living with a majority culture.
Hispanics should follow the Anti-Defamation League, which "has a wonderful track
record of immediately attacking" any antiSemitic remark, Cisneros added.
Hispanics need to shoot down stereotypes as soon as they hear them, he said.
"If people see Latinos as maids, then how do they come to terms with [Supreme
Court Justice] Sonya Sotomayor? If people see Latinos as gardeners, how do they
come to terms with" Hispanic members of Congress and business leaders? he asked.
America should look at the "demographic realities" that show young Hispanics are
helping this country grow, unlike other countries whose populations have become
stagnant. Hispanics "are the workforce of the future" and the military, Cisneros
said. "They are, in many, many ways, the salvation of America."
When the undocumented workers become legal, "there will be a huge economic
impact," Cisneros said, adding that he said "when, because it is going to
happen." Then the 12 million legal Hispanics will be able to work and rent their
own homes rather than living several families in one apartment. At the same
time, they will need to learn English, financial literacy, nutrition and how to
succeed in school, he said.
Harris and Cisneros led a 35-member delegation to Mexico City last November in
cooperation with the Comite Central of the Mexican Jewish community. The group
met with then-President elect Enrique Pena Nieto, Archbishop of Mexico City
Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Mexican policy experts and embassy officials from the
United States and Israel.
