Latino Voter Registration Drive in Sacramento

Service Employees International  Vice President, Eliseo Medina, speaks to  a crowd of over 100 on the Capitol Steps in Sacramento  on August 17, 2010, as they complete phase I of the campaign,  For our Families: Todas A Votar.

The campaign organized by several unions including SEIU, the California Teachers Association, and others  traveled to by bus to some 9 cities in the state,  from San Diego to Sacramento to initiate a the voter registration  campaign in each of these areas.    

   In Sacramento Assembly Speaker Perez and some 8 members of the Latino caucus joined labor and religious groups to welcome the caravan to the state capitol. 

 In cooperation with unions and community groups, the campaign will be  providing offices and registration efforts  in each of the 9 cities in targeting thousands of new Latino voters.

"For Latinos, the election of 2010 is more than just  choose one candidate or another, it's about taking a role  active, more than ever, in decisions that affect  our families and create a better future for our

children and grandchildren, "said Eliseo Medina, vice president

of SEIU. "We have the potential to influence the elections and  Now this is where our voices must be heard.”

Latino Voter Registration Drive

 Sacramento LATINO VOTER REGISTRATION RALLY 

Tuesday, August 17^th at 5 PM
State Capitol, West Steps All are invited. Bring a friend !

The goals of the Cambiando California…un voto a la vez are:

·         To bring people together and focus on the necessity that all eligible Latinos are registered and, where possible, are absentee voters

·         To generate enthusiasm among Latino voters, instilling confidence that they have the power to change California by voting in November.

Participants in the Sacramento event include labor and faith-based community organizations and elected officials; CTA, SEIU, CSEA, Progressive Alliance, and more 

For more information, please contact Lino Pedres at 916-498-9505 or Arturo Laris at 916-927-9772 ext. 228.

Fiorina campaign seeks to segment the Latino vote

Carly Fiorina is running for Senate in California  against Barbara Boxer. I came across an ad on La Jornada ( a Mexico City left newspaper). It linked to a Latino focused web pages  for Fiorina.

The campaign must recognize the significant new energy and unity  in voting among Latinos is California produced by the Republican bruha  in Arizona over SB 1070, the Arizona equivalent of California’s Proposition 187 of 1994.  Seeking to segment the vote is a good idea if you are a Republican campaign manager.

The campaign page features lots of smiling family members, presumably Latinos.  It is light on responding to key issues.

There is among Latino voters a traditional split, liberal on economic issues but more conservative on social issues. The  polling differences on these issues are cited on the web pages.   The Fiorina web page works this split with skill.  It focuses on  traditional marriage, anti abortion, and is linked to a severe assault on LGTB issues.

Here is the web page: Carly Fiorina campaign video; targeted at Latinos.

http://www.tusvalores.com/

She wants you to vote your values.

Note, it is put up by AmericanPrinciplesinaction.org a very conservative group.  This raises an interesting question. 

Did Americanprinciples coordinate with the Fiorina campaign ? The Tus Valores Campaign is an independent expenditure of American Principles in Action, a 501(c)(4) organization.

The group  is permitted, as a result of the Supreme Court Citizens United  decision, to make independent communications that support the election or defeat of federal candidates, but doing so may trigger FEC reporting obligations. Once certain spending thresholds are met, they  would be required to report both the expenditures to make these communications and the donations

(including the identity of the donors) that were earmarked to support these expenditures.

There certainly are differences within the Latino community over issues of immigration. Most polling show Latinos in favor of a comprehensive approach to immigration including allowing those already here to gain eventual citizenship.  Over 5 million of the estimated 11 million undocumented people here have U.S. citizen children.  Dividing these families is unacceptable in most Latino communities as it is with the Catholic church.

Since this issue is front and center, then what does the Fiorina campaign say about immigration on these pages?  Only, “Carly Fiorina showed her resolve in support of common-sense immigration policies during the Republican Primary and represents a real opportunity to pass a reform bill.”

That is, Fiorina, in a campaign targeted toward Latinos, says she is in favor of immigration reform. Even John Mc Cain, Arizona Governor Brewer, and Pete Wilson say that.  The issue is , which reforms? To favor the Republican routes to reform, including the support for the Arizona law, and now support for amending the U.S. constitution to ban citizenship to certain children born here would offend the very voters she is trying to capture.  So, candidate Fiorina  is silent.

And, she doesn’t say where she stands on the current Republican campaign to extend the Bush tax cuts for the super rich.  Republican Senators have blocked efforts to hire teachers and police, to extend health care, to provide stimulus jobs, but they are in favor of protecting the Bush era tax cuts of the super rich.

Note, the SusValores page is linked to several groups including the National Organization for Marriage, which is promoting this campaign to fire an administrator in the Obama department of education over his writings on the LGBT community.

http://www.expeljennings.org/

Why is Latino and Asian History left out of California History Textbooks?

"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. "
Cesar Chavez. Nov.9, 1984.

Textbooks in California are selected by the State Board of Education based upon recommendations of their Curriculum Committees and the state frameworks and standards, in this case the History /Social Science Framework for California Public Schools.
The framework is revised each 7 years. The framework, along with the standards, provides the guidelines for what is to be taught and what is to be included in the history and social science textbooks in California. In 2009, the History /Social Science Framework is up for re consideration.
It is urgent that the History-Social Science Framework be revised to provide an accurate history of the contributions of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos and Asians to the history of the state and of the nation. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the 1950’s. It was written in 1986 by senior scholars, they in turn were educated in the early 1970’s or before. It is substantially out of date.
The view of history that won out in California was crafted by neoconservative historian Diane Ravitch and supported by Paul Gagnon and former California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig, among others (Cornbleth & Waugh, 1995). Gary Nash of UCLA was a participant in the later effort to establish national history standards.
The 1987- 2005 Framework expanded African American, Native American, and women’s history coverage but remains totally inadequate in the coverage of Latinos and Asians. The only significant change between the 1985 and the 2005 adopted Framework was the addition of a new cover, a cover letter, and additions of photos such as of Cesar Chavez . Latinos currently make up 48.1 percent of California’s student population and Asians make up 8.1 %.

The dominant neo conservative view argues that textbooks and a common history should provide the glue that unites our society. Historical themes and interpretations are selected in books to create unity in a diverse and divided society. This viewpoint assigns to schools the task of creating a common culture. In reality, television and military service may do more to create a common culture than do schools and books.
Conservatives assign the task of cultural assimilation to schools, with particular emphasis on the history, social science, and literature curricula. Historians advocating consensus write textbooks that downplay the roles of slavery, class, racism, genocide, and imperialism in our history. They focus on ethnicity and assimilation rather than race, on the success of achieving political reform, representative government, and economic opportunity for European American workers and immigrants. They decline to notice the high poverty rate of U.S. children, the crisis of urban schooling, and the continuation of racial divisions in housing and the labor force. In California they decline to notice that Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and Latinos as well as Asians contributed to the development of this society.
This consensus conservative viewpoint history dominates textbook publishing in California , but these partial and incomplete histories do not empower students from our diverse cultural communities. By recounting primarily a consensual, European American view, history and literature extend and reconstruct current White supremacy, sexism, and class biases in our society. When texts or teachers tell only part of the story, schools foster intellectual colonialism and ideological domination (Cornbleth & Waugh, 1995).
As citizens of California we have an opportunity to insist that California history, and the nation’s history, be accurately taught in the schools. The process begins with revisions to the History/Social Science Framework for California Schools. The other way to achieve this long overdue revision is to pass legislation requiring revision. We should not be writing history by passing legislation. Rather, the History/Social Science Framework Committee should perform the tasks of revision with care. Their first meeting is Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009, in Sacramento.
More to come on this topic.
Duane Campbell

Latino History left out: Testimony

Testimony; May 9, 2008.
Focus Group on the History-Social Science Framework for California Schools.

Dr. Duane Campbell, Professor of Education. Cal. State University –Sacramento.
I have been teaching Methods of Teaching History and Social Sciences for 35 years, and supervising student teachers using the Framework.

It is urgent that the History-Social Science Framework be revised to provide an accurate history of the contributions of Mexicans, Mexican Americans, Latinos and Asians to the history of the state and of the nation. The current Framework reflects the historiography of the 1950’s. It is substantially out of date.
The 1987- 2005 document expanded African American, Native American, and women’s history coverage but remains totally inadequate in the coverage of Latinos and Asians—both significant population groups in the development of history of the West. The only significant change between the 1985 and the 2005 adopted Framework was the addition of a new cover, a cover letter, and additions of photos such as of Cesar Chavez (For a detailed analysis of this curriculum conflict, see Cornbleth & Waugh, 1995, and Campbell, 2004) . Latinos currently make up 48.1 percent of California’s student population and Asians make up 8.1 %.
By 2003, major national organizations and legislatures have recognized a need to substantially revise preparation of young people for citizenship. The Civic Missions of Schools project said:

History classes should help young people acquire and learn to use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives. Competent and responsible citizens:

1) Are informed and thoughtful; have a grasp and an appreciation of history and the fundamental processes of American democracy; have an understanding and awareness of public and community issues; and have the ability to obtain information, think critically, and enter into dialogue among others with different perspectives. “
The Civic Mission of Schools. (http://www.civicmissionofschools.org) The Carnegie Corporation.

In a society as diverse as California, the need for history and an understanding of public issues must be inclusive rather than exclusive. We should re write the History-Social Science Framework so that all of our students - members of the California’s diverse communities- recognize their own role in building our society and economy.

The just published Democracy at Risk by the Forum for Education and Democracy says it well, “ The welfare of our nation rests heavily upon our system of public education. We strive to provide all of our children with equal access to a high-quality, free education because we know that without it, our democractic way of life will be at peril. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “ If Americans desire to be both ignorant and free, they want what never has been and whill never be. “ Indeed, it is our democratic system of governing, based upon the twin pillars of equal rights and responsibilities , which requires we have a system of public education” ( Darling-Hammond and Wood, 2008). (http://www.forumforeducation.org/)
The California History-Social Science curriculum is not sufficient unless it prepares all students for democracy. Current efforts in history and in civics education are not sufficient because they do not include the substantive necessity of bringing all of our young people to the table of democracy. (Parker, 2003)
California should be leading the way in preparing our young people for civic life. We are not. Instead, we are currently restricted by the out of date and substantially limited History-Social Science Framework. The Framework should be updated to include scholarship developed since 1980.

Media and Technology
In the 9th. grade electives, a course should be added on the creation, development and use of media and technology as communication tools and as political instruments. California, the home of Silicone Valley, is not bringing our students into the current era.
Every California student, every school, should have access to the skills to use technology and to access the vast media world around us, from libraries, to data bases, including Youtube and others. Henry Jenkins of MIT in an important paper written for the MacArthur Foundation in 2006 says,

“Educators must work together to ensure that every American young person has access to the skills and experiences need to become a full participant ( in our democracy), can articulate their understanding of how media shapes perceptions, and has been socialized into the emerging ethical standards that should shape their practices as media makers and participants in online communities….
Fostering such social skills and cultural competencies requires a more systemic approach to media education in the United states. Everyone involved in preparing young people to go out into the world has contributions to make in helping students to acquire the skills they need to become full participants in our society.” (Jenkins, 2006)
Technology is already changing our world and our schools. A revised History-Social Science Framework provides an opportunity for all California students to join in this development rather than be left behind by a new form of tracking where the middle class and the elite students have technology, and the students of color and language minority students have electronic worksheets and test preparation drill material. All students need to learn the skills of locating relevant information and evaluating information and media resources .

Dr. Duane Campbell,
campd@csus.edu

Author, Choosing Democracy: A practical guide to multicultural education. ( 3rd. edition. Merrill, Prentice Hall. 2004)

Project on Democracy and Political Participation.
Cross Cultural Resource Center.
Department of Bilingual/Multicultural Education.

Large Latino Vote gave Clinton the victory

Clinton Win in California Larger Than Polls Predicted Because of Huge Latino Turnout

By Frank D. Russo
The California Field Poll released on Super Bowl Sunday before Super Tuesday’s presidential primary had a 2 point spread between Hillary Clinton at 38% of the vote and Barack Obama at 36%, with a pretty large 18% of likely voters being undecided. The actual results being tabulated right now, with 96.7% of the precinct votes counted and perhaps as many as 2 million vote by mail votes and other not yet tabulated, have a 9.5% spread with Clinton getting 51.9% of the vote and 42.4% voting for Barack Obama.
...The single biggest difference in the makeup of the electorate was the 20% share of voters Field expected to be Latino and the 29% share reflected in exit polls. Major news organizations use the same data in these exit polls on California and you can read them on CNN’s site.
Latinos in California voted overwhelmingly for Clinton and accounted for a greater segment of the vote. Also, if you look at the exit poll data and compare it with the Field Poll, blacks which were expected to be 12% of the vote in the Democratic primary (a reasonable assumption since although they are 6% of the state’s population, they are mostly Democrat) only turned out at a 6% share of the vote.
Read the entire article at California Progress Report.

Latino Teacher reduces dropouts

Good story on a local teacher, and a graduate of our Bilngual /Multicultural Education Dept. at CSU-S.

http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=24644
Young Teacher Helps At-Risk Youth Find Pride from the Past
Written for the web by Ayesha Thomas, Multimedia Producer

The town of Greenfield is ripe with farms, fields of tomatoes, chiles and lettuce – picked by a large migrant farm community. Tucked away in the Salinas Valley of Monterey County the town has limited education resources. The high school drop-out rate is high. For many of the youth, there are limited avenues to get out of Greenfield.

For Martin Ramirez though, one word opened his world wide open. Throughout high school Ramirez ran with gangs.

"All of my friends are either dead, locked up or in jail," said Ramirez.

But now his life is much different. Today he is a teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, a profession he never even considered.

"Never entered my mind because I was driving teachers crazy when I was in school," said Ramirez.

But one of his teachers noticed the young man didn’t only have street smarts. Mr. Dean Willingham had a heart-to-heart with Ramirez when he was 18. He simply told him he had "potential."

"Nobody had told me that. Truth is I didn’t even know what potential meant. I was 18 years old and I said 'potential?' I go, 'What does potential mean?'"

He quickly learned the definition and with Willingham’s help he decided to put that potential to the test. He applied and was accepted to American River College. In the fall of 2000, Ramirez piled his belongings into his car and headed up 101-North from Greenfield to Sacramento.

Ramirez would be the first in his family to go to college. And despite the opportunities that lie ahead, he admits his dreams were still small.

"All I wanted was a little certificate to work in a front office. I remember the counselor Mr. Ruedas asked 'Why? why do you want to do that?'"

Manuel Ruedas works at ARC with students on developing their education and career goals. He says it’s not uncommon for first-generation students to fail to fully understand what they can do with a college education, mostly because they’re the first in their families to pursue an education.

"They need role models. They need to see their peers achieving academically so they can follow the same path," Ruedas said.

Ramirez found his role model in Dolores Delgado-Campbell a professor at ARC.

"I started meeting him in my Mexican-American history class. And I befriended him because he was a really nice young man. And he looked eager," said Delgado-Campbell.

Ramirez not only took a liking to his new mentor, but the subject matter she introduced him to.

Learning about his Mexican ancestors inspired Ramirez. He felt all Latinos could benefit from their history. So he buckled down, hit the books and learned all he could. He then went to Delgado-Campbell and asked if there were classes where he could learn to teach the history about his ancestors.

Delgado-Campbell and Ruedas both recommended he go to CSU Northridge. After he graduated from ARC with honors that is where he went. Ramirez majored in Chicano and Ethnic studies.

After graduating from Northridge with honors, Ramirez made his way back to Northern California to attend Sacramento State’s Multi-Cultural/Bi-Lingual Education program.

The director of the program Duane Campbell (husband of Dolores Delgado-Campbell) says training minority educators and administrators such as Ramirez is essential in helping to close the achievement gap.

"Having a Hispanic president of the college doesn’t necessarily lead to more Hispanic graduates," said Campbell. However, he says if minority students see other people of color achieving success academically and professionally, they will be encourage to believe they do belong in college, and they can graduate.

Ramirez takes that knowledge with him each time steps foot on the campus of Luther Burbank. "We need more educators of color," Ramirez says. "If the student sees someone that looks like them and can relate to them every single day...that person is telling them look, look at me,look at you. You can do it."

During school hours, Ramirez teaches a world history, economics, and Latino/Latina leadership class. After hours, his classroom transforms into special hub where he takes time to mentor students having a hard time in and outside of class.

Ramirez believes the extra hours it takes to mentor students is well worth it. Occasionally, Ramirez will bring in yearbooks and graduation photos from some of his younger family members who have graduated from college. He hopes when his students see the pictures that they can envision themselves one day walking around a college campus.

"They don’t know anyone there and they don’t know anyone telling them they can make it there. And I believe repetition and examples helps them to make an action plan for themselves." said Ramirez.

His students have taken a liking to Ramirez’ style. Watching him interact with them, you can see how they look up to him as not only as a respected authority on their culture, but also a big brother and for some even a father-figure. At one meeting Ramirez sits down with two students to catch up on what’s going on in their lives. Elisabeth Starr catches him up on her activities at her church and softball.

Before she met Ramirez she didn’t believe she would live to see her 17th birthday. Starr admits she got into fights at school and had a hard time staying focused. However, learning about her Mexican history has given her a new perspective on her education.

"We had to fight to be in school. So now that we have a choice to be in school it made me really think. They fought hard back in the day for us, so I should make it mean something and be here," said Starr.

For Ramirez, he believes all schools should make it a point to teach students something valuable about their own cultures.

"Students need to be taught things that relate to them. We’ve been taught the same history over and over. We need to teach them a little bit about their own history," Ramirez said. "I guarantee you we’ll have less problems in the classroom."

Created: 2/19/2007 11:49:50 PM
Updated: 2/21/2007 8:07:12 AM

Anti Latino bigotry and L.A. Schools

this blog has argued against the take over of L.A. Unified Schools by the Mayor. (See prior posts)
A court has blocked the take over.
However, here you can read a report and then read the comments by readers. It sounds like the S.O.S. crowd.
Duane Campbell

http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/2006/12/lausd-wins-first-legal-round-against.html