Transcript Latino Organizations and Leadership

Latino Organizations and
Leadership
Chapter 8
Examination of Voting and Elections
• Progress has been made:
– Increasing Latino electoral and other modes of
political involvement.
• The past decade:
– Latinos have shown gains in:
• Educational attainment, household income, & higher
rates of naturalization.
Mobilization
• Organizational Mobilization & Leadership
– Can play positive roles in increasing Latino political
involvement.
• Mobilization:
– Can take form of continuous efforts to activate Latino
community
– As well as responses to external movements
» i.e. Anti-immigration initiatives
» & Proposals to eliminate bilingual education
Political Capital=Political Resource
• Increased individual political capital can:
– Position a person to join & be active in
organizations
– Develop communication skills,
– & become part of social networks that reinforce
becoming & staying active.
• Political resources a Latino can develop & obtain have
payoffs for organizational involvement along w/
leadership advancement.
Latino Political Participation
• Key ingredient in activating Latino
participants:
– Being asked to participate:
• Especially by “someone”
– Plays an important role in whether & how a person may
become politically active.
Mobilization “Force”
• Organizations:
– Can subsidize political involvement (reduce the
costs of participation) for individuals by:
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Providing information
Access to decision makers
Forums for discussions
& Potential benefits
– Employment, services, tax benefits, etc.
Latinos & Organizations: Historical
Origins
• Organizations:
– An aggregation of individuals w/ common
interests.
• For Latinos in U.S.
– Existence of Latino-based organizations served a
numbers of purposes & objectives.
Mexican American or Chicano
Organizations
• Much more is known about Mexican-origin organizations than any
other subgroup due to extensive research literature.
• Grouped by major purposes & goals:
– Mutual aid societies
– Cultural/home-community clubs
• Largely immigrant-based groups
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Adaptation-/adjustment- focused organizations
Civil rights & advocacy organizations
Social service providers or facilitators
Political organizations
Professional organizations
• Occupation related
– Community organizations
• Grassroots-based
Mexican American or Chicano
Organizations
• Higher expectations w/ longer standing sub-group
organizations
– For example, National Council of La Raza (NCLR) was
originally the Southwest Council of La Raza
• Original Goal: Reducing poverty & discrimination, along w/
improving opportunities for Mexican Americans
• Reformed Goal: Activities now target all Hispanics/Latinos
– Expanded geographic base:
• Arena more focused on Washington, D.C. & national issues
• Has expanded its chapters into the Northeast, Midwest, & South
– Policy Focus at National Level:
• Immigration Reform, social welfare-reform, & affirmative action
policies
Latinos & Organizations: Historical
Origins
• Important to understand the different bases from
which Latino organizations are formed.
– Box 8.1 pg. 125 presents general description of the
central elements found in Latino organizations.
– Key Components include the following:
• (1) membership base (2) primary organizational objectives or
goals (3) geographic base & focus of operation (4)
organizational structure & leadership (5) organizational
strategies & approaches (6) role of culture, class, & gender in
organizational development & (7) organizational resource
base & adaptations to pan-ethnic developments
Box 8.1 Latino Organizations
Organizational Dimensions
Organizational Aspects
Membership base
Mass or elite base (professionals), class based,
gender based
Goals/Objectives
Specific (material benefits, services, job
placement, etc.) or general (assimilation,
pluralism, equality, etc.), cultural maintenance,
social, civil rights
Strategies
Electoral, voting, lobbying, direct
actions/protests, coalitions, etc.
Organizational structure
Decentralized, local chapters, regional,
centralized, permanent professional staff
Geographic base
Local or citywide, neighborhood base, national
policy making, regional
Organizational resources
Membership dues, foundation grants,
federal grants/funds, litigation judgments
Leadership
Autocratic, charismatic, popularly elected,
bureaucratic, institutionalized, regularized
League of United Latin American
Citizens
• In the Southwest:
– Mexican American organizations formed around:
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Labor groups & unions,
Mutual aid societies,
Social clubs based on community of origin,
& groups that promoted assimilation into mainstream
American society.
– Example: League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC)
• Initial Goal:
– Promote the use of English, educational
achievement & opportunities, economic
opportunities (jobs & job training), & political
participation & access.
• The LULAC community:
– Did not include all Mexican-origin persons
– Social service activities were not limited to
citizens.
• Ex. Little Schools of the 400
League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC)
• LULAC politically:
– Saw itself as a nonpartisan policy advocacy
organization.
• Ex. Late 1940s & 1950s sought to eliminate segregation
of Mexican-origin children in Texas & California through
litigation
– Education consistently central issue for LULAC
» Access to higher education
» School financing for Latinos
» Efforts to generate greater scholarship awards
League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC)
• Central offices located in Washington, DC
– Organization gave executive director considerable
latitude
• Appropriate staffing allows engagement in national
lobbying on Latino issues
– Elements of LULAC:
• Nat’l office of sufficient staffing
• Sustained lobbying efforts
• National media attention
Immigration Reform & Control Act of
1986 (IRCA)
• Major reform bill sought multiple policy goals:
• Attempted to restrict legal immigration by establishing more fixed
annual admission ceilings
• Increasing border enforcement & staff to interrupt the flow of
undocumented migration
• Establishing criteria for an amnesty program for residing
undocumented persons (agriculture works & other workers/families)
• Sanctioning employers & monitoring the hiring of undocumented
workers
• As well as requiring proof of legal status for employment
– LULAC joins forces w/ NCLR, MALDEF, & Congressional
Hispanic Caucus to defeat & then significantly modify IRCA
• Continuous proponent of immigration reform since 2004
League of United Latin American
Citizens (LULAC)
• Organizational development:
– Adapted its scope
• Expansion to encompass issues of immigration, civil rights,
affirmative action, & bilingualism (in areas other than school
curricula)
– i.e. public documents, court proceedings
– Broadened its membership base
• Expansion to include noncitizens & all Latinos
• LULAC chapters formed in regions outside Southwest & in Puerto
Rico
– More involved at the national level
• Maintains decentralized organizational structure w/ localized
chapters & offices
• Holds annual national convention at which national officers &
policy decisions are determined
Civil Rights, Litigation, & Latino
Organizations
• Latino sociopolitical advancement via:
– Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund
(PRLDEF)
– Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(MALDEF)
• Civil rights & equal opportunities for Latinos have been the
jurisdiction/arena of both groups.
• Founded: Early 1970s
• Central objective:
– Protection under law & civil rights for Puerto Ricans & Mexicanorigin populations.
» Scope of both organizations now inclusive of all Latinos
Civil Rights, Litigation, & Latino
Organizations
• Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund
• Mexican American Legal Defense & Education
Fund
– Membership Base:
• Primarily attorneys
– Funding:
• Secure funding from foundation grants, legal fees &
judgements, fund-raising (private & corporate gifts).
Civil Rights, Litigation, & Latino
Organizations
• Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund
• Mexican American Legal Defense & Education
Fund
– MALDEF includes the policy area of immigrant rights
as part of its central mission.
• Primary areas of focus for both organizations:
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Educational equity
Equal employment
Voting rights
Equal housing opportunity
& Leadership development
Civil Rights, Litigation, & Organizations
• Both Latino litigation organizations:
– identify specific practices, locations, and plaintiffs:
• To pursue changes in current policies or seek the full
implementation of the law.
• Aspira v. New York Board of Education:
– PRLDEF raised the area of language rights & access to
bilingual education services & resources.
• Tyler v. Phloe:
– MALDEF challenged the area of free educational
access by undocumented school-age children.
Civil Rights, Litigation, and Latino
Organizations
• Voting Rights:
– PRLDEF & MALDEF have challenged election
structure of at-large districts since the 1970s
• (seeking district rather than at-large elections)
• At-large election system:
– Process whereby candidates do not run or get
elected from a specific part of the community but
compete city- or countywide.
Civil Rights, Litigation, & Latino
Organizations
• Voting Rights:
– PRLDEF & MALDEF have focused on redistricting
plans in order to increase Latino representation
• Promoting the creation of majority-minority districts
• Majority-minority districts:
– Political jurisdictions in which residents are
primarily minority (over 50% of the population).
Civil Rights, Litigation, & Latino
Organizations
• Nature & policy arenas of PRLDEF & MALDEF:
– Render them unsuitable for being mass-based or
grassroots driven organizations.
– Even though organizational structure is not massbased both organizations have ongoing ties w/
other Latino organizations & leadership.
– Such ties allow the legal organizations to:
• Be effective & strategic in determining which areas,
issues, & plaintiffs to work w/.
Exile Organizations: The Cuban
Community
• Number of Latino subgroups:
– Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Argentina, &
Uruguay etc.
• Can be viewed as incorporating an exile orientation &
organizational vehicles for influence & action.
– Political factors affect their decision to come to the United
States.
– However, political refugee immigration status is not
automatically accorded to persons from any Latin American
country but Cuba.
» Political refugee status is mainly case-by-case basis, proof
of imminent danger due to political beliefs & activities
serves as primary criterion for achieving such status.
Exile Organizations: The Cuban
Community
• Cuban community in the United States has
been characterized as an exile group.
– Community’s attention & energy focused on U.S.
foreign policy toward Cuba & Castro regime.
• Goals:
– Trade embargoes, establishment of Radio-TV Marti, continued
admission of Cuban immigrants as political refugees,
democratization of Cuba via the growth of civil society, & the
demise of Fidel Castro & his socialist state.
Exile Organizations: The Cuban
Community
• An example of an exile-oriented organization:
– Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)
• Founded in 1981, has numerous offices throughout the U.S.
• Actively promotes the self-determination of the Cuban
people & the dismantling of the communist Castro regime.
– Primary focus: Dismantle Castro Regime
» Since 1994 “wet foot, dry foot” policy, political asylum for
Cubans who are able to physically reach American shores.
• Since 2003, CANF has placed greater emphasis on programs
that promote expansion of an active civil society &
democratic values, or what is described as a “bottom-up”
strategy.
Exile Organizations: The Cuban
Community
• Other organizations focusing on U.S.-Cuban
policies are:
– Cuban Committee for Democracy
– Cambio Cubano
• Both are moderate in their orientation toward Castro’s
Cuba.
– Social Democratic ideology: Organizations see a more involved
role for gov. in providing jobs, housing, & bilingual education.
» Board members made up of Cuban academics
» Policy: Lean toward reconciliation & dialogue w/ Cuban
regime & open travel to Cuba.
Professional Organizations & Latinos
• 100+ groups focused on specific public policy
issues
– Membership largely consist of professionals
• Latino groups in the health-care/medical, legal,
academic, & business-related fields, religious
denominations, social welfare professions, unions
(Labor Council for Latin American Advancement)(Latino
constituency group w/in AFL-CIO), (United Farm
Workers of America) & education.
– Latino-based organizations are organized around a specific
policy arena such as: education, health care, social services, &
so forth.
Professional Organizations & Latinos
• Membership consists of Latinos active in these areas as
professionals, activists, & concerned citizens.
– For example:
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Hispanic National Bar Association
National Association of Hispanic Dentists
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
National Association of Hispanic Journalists
National Association of Bilingual Educators
– Describes itself as both a professional & an advocacy association
• National Association of Latino Elected & Appointed Officials
– Overall the above Latino organizations promote access,
participation, opportunity, mobility, & nondiscriminatory
treatment of Latinos & other minorities.
Latino Organizations w/in Political
Institutions
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC):
– Created in 1976
• Legislative organization within the U.S. Congress
• Founders’ Goals:
– Work w/ other groups both inside & outside Congress to intensify
federal commitment to Latinos
– Along w/ increase Latinos’ awareness of the execution & purpose
of the American political system.
• Primary Functions:
– Unite its members around a collective legislative agenda for
Latino interests
– Along w/ monitor executive & judicial policies that affect
Hispanics
» Ex. CHC had been advocating to fill Supreme Court vacancies
from a pool of several Latino federal judges.
Latino Organizations w/in Political
Institutions
• National Association of Latino Elected &
Appointed Officials (NALEO):
– Founded in 1976
• Nonprofit, nonpartisan organization created as a
vehicle for political empowerment for the growing
number of Latinos in public office.
– Provides assistance & training to elected officials at all levels,
along w/ research reports & discussions of policy relevant
matters.
» Annual conference serves as a meeting point for
establishing policy priorities & cementing working
networks among fellow public officials.
Latino Organizations w/in Political
Institutions
• Two more organizations focusing on the
political process are:
– The Southwest Voter Registration & Education
Project (SVREP)
– The Midwest Voter Registration & Education
Project (MWVREP)
• Both organizations have conducted voter-registration
campaigns
• And linked voting w/ policy preferences & outcomes
Latinos at the Grass Roots:
Community-Based Groups
• Grassroots organizations are:
– Locally based
– Cover a wide range of electoral & non-electoral
political activities
• Targeted to local institutions & issues
• Many activities non-electoral & involve noncitizens
– By their nature, grassroots groups are local in orientation, &
their longevity depends specific issues & situations.
Latinos at the Grass Roots:
Community-Based Groups
• The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF):
– Founded by Saul Alinsky (1971)
• Developed an approach, structure, & general philosophy of
organizing have-nots for purposes of securing political & economic
power.
– Mr. Saul Alinsky
• Active in African American neighborhoods (Midwest & East)
– Integral to any Alinsky-based organization:
• Components of a professional:
– Full-time organizer
– An umbrella organization to incorporate already existing groups in the
neighborhood
– Direct action & confrontation tactics
– Multipurpose & concrete goals
– & An active membership base
Latinos at the Grass Roots:
Community-Based Groups
• The Community Services Organization (CSO):
– Located in Southern California
• 1st Alinsky-style organization in which Latinos were
involved as organizers & neighborhood activists.
– Latino leaders such as Edward Roybal, Cesar Chavez, &
Dolores Huerta were organizers trained by Fred Ross (full-time
Alinsky organizer assigned to the CSO).
• Issues such as:
– Voter registration
– Housing & landlord problems
– & Poor schools were the focus of CSO political actions
Latinos at the Grass Roots:
Community-Based Groups
• Community Organized for Public Services
(COPS):
– Emerged in San Antonio, Texas during late 1960s &
1970s
• Response to rising utility rates & inadequate drainage
infrastructure on the heavily Mexican American west
side of the city.
– COPS successfully involved previously less active westsiders
w/ positive, tangible outcomes.
» Organization becomes a political force in San Antonio
» Expands its base in other cities in Texas & Los Angeles
(United Neighborhood Organizations)
Conclusion
• Key aspects related to organizations include:
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Goals & their breadth or range
Constituents & their characteristics
Resources & sources of assets
Strategies & methods
Leadership styles, selection, & accountability
& areas for action.
• Organizational life for Latinos is active & has
become more evident at the national level.
• The role of organizational leadership is central to
effective Latino political involvement.