Extract: Picking
a Battle Over Shortage of Farmworkers
As some winter crops may be left to rot, farm advocates lobby for
immigration reform.
By Jerry Hirsch, Times Staff Writer, December 5, 2005
Sent by Ricardo Valderde RValverde@ochca.com
The farmers who grow most of the nation's winter vegetable crop say they
won't have enough workers - legal or otherwise - to harvest all the
produce when the season hits high gear next month.
Growers in the winter farm belt that stretches east from California's arid
Imperial Valley to Yuma County in Arizona will fill barely half the 50,000
field hand positions needed to gather the region's tons of ripening
produce, according to Western Growers, a trade group whose members account
for 90% of the nation's winter lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and other
vegetables. "Come January, we could see lettuce rotting in the fields
because there will be no one to pick it," said Jon Vessey, who farms
8,000 acres near El Centro.
The effect on consumers, who rarely pay attention to the source of their
produce, is negligible so far. But Tom Nassif, chief executive of
Irvine-based Western Growers, said the squeeze threatened the continued
availability of American-grown winter produce and the U.S. jobs of
packers, farm equipment providers and industry suppliers.
The field hand shortage, also seen during other harvests this year,
underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform that includes an
"effective" guest worker program that gives foreign citizens
permission to work in the U.S. agriculture industry, Nassif said.
"Our crops are going to be harvested by a foreign workforce either
here or somewhere else," Nassif said. "So are we going to export
all the other jobs affiliated with farming just because we aren't willing
to have a guest worker program?"
"Our industry has always been honest about the fact that we have so
many illegal workers," Nassif said. "What we want is a mechanism
to have a legal workforce."
Disagreements over undocumented workers have divided Arizona's two GOP
senators. Sen. Jon Kyl wants to require those here illegally to return to
their home countries before applying for participation in a guest worker
program while Sen. John McCain has sided with farming interests and would
allow undocumented workers who participate in a guest worker program to
stay in the United States and apply for permanent residency or citizenship
after paying fines and satisfying other requirements.
Some farmers are raising what they pay to well above the minimum wage that
most of these jobs once brought. Vessey said he had increased his base pay
and his piece-work rate to $10 to $12 an hour, about the starting wage for
construction workers.
Elsewhere, farmers are offering bonuses of $50 a day for each full week
worked, Nassif said. And in the California portion of the winter growing
region, farmworker wages can approach $15 an hour depending on how quickly
individuals harvest. Many get health and other benefits through corporate
employers or a program operated by Western Growers.
But farmers say other market forces limit how high they can raise wages
and still stay in business. Foreign competition and the supermarket
industry consolidation are leaving growers with fewer buyers and less
leverage over what they can charge.
"People will do a lot of things before they work on the farm,"
said Bart Fisher, who has 2,000 acres of winter vegetables near Blythe,
Calif. "It is hard work and unattractive to most people." Vessey
recently was looking for workers to weed and thin his fields. He posted
openings for 300 temporary workers at the state Employment Development
Office in Calexico. "One person showed up and lasted half a
day," Vessey said. And this was in the heart of Imperial County,
which has a jobless rate of 17.6%, or 11,400 people, according to the
agency.
It's not just individual farmers who are having trouble finding workers.
Dole Food Co., which with annual revenue of $5.3 billion is among the
world's largest producers of fresh fruit and vegetables, is worried that
it might not have enough people to gather the 4,000 acres of lettuce it
grows in Arizona's Yuma County, Spot labor shortages last year kept the
company from harvesting all of its crop, said Eric Schwartz, president of
Dole Fresh Vegetables in Salinas, Calif.
Concerned that the situation has worsened in the last year, Dole has spent
"several hundred thousand dollars" leasing and refurbishing a
decades-old work camp in Yuma County where it hopes to house 285 guest
workers, Schwartz said. The move allows Dole to meet the requirements of
the government's current H2A immigration visa program, which requires that
employers house and feed the people they bring in.
"We've got to have labor to get our produce out of the fields,"
Schwartz said. Dole, which has 5,000 farm positions, still expects to run
as many as 500 jobs short. Schwartz said a confluence of trends had
contributed to the shortage, which also hindered the summer and fall
harvests of grapes and other crops in the San Joaquin Valley this year,
although less severely. Much of Dole's workforce in Yuma County and the
field hands for nearby farms commute from Mexico each day.
"There are a lot of hassles at the border," Schwartz said.
"It can take two hours to get across, and then they work hard for a
full day and have another two-hour trip. It just discourages a lot of
people." In prior years, groups of farm workers would travel
throughout California and the West, following the harvest from crop to
crop. But now they stay in one region and pick up other forms of casual
work at the end of the growing season. They aren't willing to travel as
much, especially to border areas where more patrols have increased the
chance that they could be caught and deported, growers say.
These trends are only going to get worse, farmers say, and that's why they
are pushing for a guest worker program even though it is politically
unpopular. "I get a lot of hate mail," said Nassif, who
was a deputy assistant secretary of State and ambassador to Morocco during
the Reagan administration. "People call me a traitor."
But, he asks, what can be more patriotic than assuring "America with
home-grown food?"
|
Extract: Most Mexican Immigrants in New Study Gave Up Jobs to Take Their Chances in
U.S. By Nina Bernstein, New York Times Published: December 7, 2005
Sent by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com
and Win Holtzman
A report about the work lives of recent Mexican immigrants in seven cities across the United States suggests that they typically traded jobs in Mexico for the prospect of work here, despite serious bouts of unemployment, job instability and poor wages.
The report, released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center, was based on surveys of nearly 5,000 Mexicans, most of them here illegally. Those surveyed were seeking identity documents at Mexican consulates in New York, Atlanta and Raleigh, N.C., where recent arrivals have gravitated toward construction, hotel and restaurant jobs, and in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Fresno, Calif., where they have been more likely to work in agriculture and manufacturing.
Unlike the stereotype of jobless Mexicans heading north, most of the immigrants had been employed in Mexico, the report found.
Once in the United States, they soon found that their illegal status was no barrier to being hired here. And though the jobs they landed, typically with help from relatives, were often unstable and their median earnings only $300 a week, that was enough to keep drawing newcomers because wages here far exceeded those in Mexico.
The survey found that the most recent to arrive were more likely to have worked in construction or commerce, rather than agriculture, in Mexico. Only 5 percent had been unemployed there; they were "drawn not from the fringes, but from the heart of Mexico's labor force," the report said.
"These are workers with no safety net," Mr. Kochhar said. "The long-run implication is a generation of workers without health or pension benefits, without any meaningful asset accumulation."
On the other hand, Mr. Kochhar and Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, said the flexibility of this work force was a boon to certain industries like home construction, an important part of the nation's economic growth since the last recession.
Among respondents to the survey, those who settled in Atlanta and Dallas were the best off, with 56 percent in each city receiving a weekly wage higher than the $300-a-week median. The worst off were in Fresno, where more than half of the survey respondents worked in agriculture and 60 percent reported earning less than $300 a week. The lowest wages were reported by women, people who spoke little or no English, and those without identification.
To some scholars of immigration, the report underlines the lack of incentives for employers to turn to a guest worker program like the one proposed by President Bush because their needs are met cheaply by illegal workers - and all without paperwork or long-term commitment.
"You can't plausibly argue that immigrant-dominated sectors have a labor shortage," said Robert Courtney Smith, a sociologist and author of "Mexican New York: Transnational Lives of New Immigrants." Instead, he said, the report and evidence of falling wages among Mexican immigrants over time point to an oversupply of vulnerable workers competing with each other.
The migration is part of a historic restructuring of the Mexican economy comparable to America's industrial revolution, said Kathleen Newland, director of the Migration Policy Institute, a research organization based in Washington.
The institute released its own report on Tuesday, arguing that border enforcement efforts have failed. Workplace enforcement, which has been neglected, would be a crucial part of making a guest worker program successful.
For now, Mexicans keep arriving illegally.
|
Collegians Get By Despite Illegal Status
Graduates of the school of hard knocks share tips for stretching dollars with other students who, like them, can't get financial aid.
By Sam Quinones, Times Staff Writer, December 11, 2005
Sent by Ricardo Valverde
In the life of an undocumented immigrant college student, finding creative ways to save money can be a job in itself, Luis Perez said Saturday at a conference to assist students like himself.
While attending UCLA and unable to get financial aid because of his immigration status, Perez went to all the student club meetings he could find because they served free food.
An immigrant from Guadalajara, Mexico, who grew up in Pacoima, he went to Asian American club meetings. He observed Ramadan with the Muslim Student Assn., fasting all day, then eating at night.
He often slept in the library and showered in the school's gym before finally renting a three-bedroom Westwood apartment with six other men. He checked out textbooks from the L.A. public library and kept them for the semester, preferring to pay the $20 late fee rather than the $500 it would have cost to buy the books.
The daily challenges to get through college "make you stronger," said Perez, 24, who graduated in June with a political science degree and wants to attend law school next fall. "We're forced to be creative. If you have a necessity, you'll find a way to work it out."
On Saturday, Perez was among those who helped organize a conference at Cal State Dominguez Hills to advise undocumented immigrant college students and their parents on how to pay for school.
In 2001, illegal immigrants like Perez were first allowed to attend state colleges and universities while paying in-state tuition, provided they had completed three years of high school in California. But federal law prohibits them from receiving government financial aid. So four years after the law's passage, paying for school is one of the biggest obstacles facing this new class of college students.
Those at the conference were told that money to pay for college can come in unorthodox ways.
Laura Barrerra, who was an aide to then-Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh, the legislator who sponsored the state law in 2001, said she knows of some high schools that have taken donations from businesses and funneled the money directly to graduating seniors who are undocumented so they could pay for college.
She urged them to seek scholarships from businesses. "You create your own opportunities," Barrerra said.
Undocumented students described dividing their lives between normal college student activities and striving to survive in ways that break the law. Those who could afford cars told of being careful to avoid driving recklessly, lest a police officer stop them and ask to see a driver's license they can't obtain.
Concentrating on studies can be hard under such conditions, they said.
"One day you could have a good job and classes are going well. The next day, you're fired and you're like, 'OK, how do I pay for next semester?' " said Carolina Cuoto, an illegal immigrant college student in her senior year at Cal State Dominguez Hills studying psychology and philosophy.
Cuoto, 24, said she was paid in cash for jobs at cleaners and a jewelry store, then obtained a phony Social Security number and founds jobs at a supermarket and a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant.
One day at the supermarket, her boss said he had good news and bad news: She was getting a promotion and a raise, he said. At the same time, her employers had discovered that she had a phony Social Security number, and if she couldn't fix the problem she'd be fired, which happened a few days later.
Cesar Perez, 24, no relation to Luis Perez, is an illegal immigrant studying at Dominguez Hills to be a teacher. To find work, he said, he had to buy a phony work permit on Alvarado Street near downtown L.A.
"Most of our decisions are based on our status," said Luis Perez, who opted not to finish a minor in ethnic studies because it would have required two more classes and he wanted to get his degree quickly.
Now, it's unclear whether he will be deported to Mexico or admitted to law school.
On Sept. 16 - Mexican Independence Day - government officials notified him and his parents that they would be deported. The government had discovered their illegal status when they applied for residency, Perez said.
He had been studying for his law school entrance exam by reading a prep book in the UCLA bookstore for hours every day to avoid paying for it.
He has taken the law school entrance exam anyway and is waiting for his test scores and for word from the federal government.
He's applying to law schools in the meantime, especially those, such as UCLA and New York University, that offer full scholarships.
"Deportation is the one thing we can't control," he said, "so the best thing we can do is put it on the back burner" and not think about it.
Besides, he's not worried, now that he's got his degree.
"They're not going to take away my brain if I get deported," he says. "I'm taking my degree with me."
|
Abstract: Lawyers fight gender gap By Jane M. Von Bergen
Inquirer Staff Writer, Oct. 25, 2005 jvonbergen@phillynews.com.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/12988473.htm?source=rss&channel=inquirer_business
Sent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net
Candace Centeno and Carolyn DiGiovanni were two of about 70 lawyers who gathered for a session titled "Reversing the Gender Gap in Law Firms: Why It's in Both the Law Firms' and Lawyers' Economic Interest and How to Make It Happen."
The impetus for the session came from statistics in a Pennsylvania Bar Association study that found that women hold less than 18 percent of partner positions, while filling 79 percent of the part-time lawyer positions. While most Philadelphia lawyers are men, more than half under the age of 35 are women. After that, women begin to leave the profession.
Looking for less pressure, women are leaving law firms for jobs as corporate lawyers. Flexible policies help in recruiting, especially for younger lawyers. Technology makes work at home possible. Even though law firms still have a "face time" culture, that is changing for men and women as more senior partners become adept with technology.
Centeno would like to be a part-time partner, with proportionate compensation. She has been with her firm for 12 years, eight of them part-time. She has tried cases, handled depositions, and been available at crunch time. "While I want to be a partner and I love my firm," said Centeno, whose husband is a partner in another law firm, "there is a sacrifice you have to make. You have to be willing to give that career ambition up."
Contact staff writer Jane M. Von Bergen at 215-854-2769 or jvonbergen@phillynews.com
|
High School Student Suspended For Speaking Spanish
Seny by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com
Spanish At School Translates to Suspension
By T.R. Reid, Washington Post,
December 9, 2005
Update: Superintendent Bobby Allen reversed the suspension within
hours of learning about it and apologized toZach Rubio.
OCRegister
KANSAS CITY, Kan--Most of the time, 16-year-old Zach Rubio converses in clear, unaccented
American teen-speak, a form of English in which the three most common words are "like," "whatever" and "totally." But Zach is
also fluent in his dad's native language, Spanish -- and that's what got him
suspended from school. "It was, like, totally not in the classroom," the high school junior said,
recalling the infraction. "We were in the, like, hall or whatever, on restroom
break. This kid I know, he's like, 'Me prestas un dolar?' ['Will you lend me a
dollar?'] Well, he asked in Spanish; it just seemed natural to answer that way.
So I'm like, 'No problema.' "
But that conversation turned out to be a big problem for the staff at the Endeavor Alternative
School, a small public high school in an ethnically mixed blue-collar neighborhood. A teacher who
overheard the two boys sent Zach to the office, where Principal Jennifer Watts ordered him to call
his father and leave the school.
Watts, whom students describe as a disciplinarian, said she can't discuss the
case. But in a written "discipline referral" explaining her decision to suspend
Zach for 1 1/2 days, she noted: "This is not the first time we have [asked] Zach
and others to not speak Spanish at school."
Since then, the suspension of Zach Rubio has become the talk of the town in
both English and Spanish newspapers and radio shows. The school district has
officially rescinded his punishment and said that speaking a foreign language is
not grounds for suspension. Meanwhile, the Rubio family has retained a lawyer,
who says a civil rights lawsuit may be in the offing.
The tension here surrounding that brief exchange in a high school hall reflects
a broader national debate over the language Americans should speak amid a wave
of Hispanic immigration.
The National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group, says that 20 percent of the U.S. school-age population is Latino. For half of those Latino
students, the native language is Spanish.
Conflicts are bursting out nationwide over bilingual education, "English-only"
laws, Spanish-language publications and advertising, and other linguistic collisions. Language concerns have been a key aspect of the growing political
movement to reduce immigration.
"There's a lot of backlash against the increasing Hispanic population," said
D.C. school board member Victor A. Reinoso. "We've seen some of it in the D.C.
schools. You see it in some cities, where people complain that their tax money
shouldn't be used to print public notices in Spanish. And there have been cases
where schools want to ban foreign languages."
Some advocates of an English-only policy in U.S. schools say that it is
particularly important for students from immigrant families to use the nation's
dominant language.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) made that point this summer when he
vetoed a bill authorizing various academic subjects to be tested in Spanish in
the state's public schools. "As an immigrant," the Austrian-born governor said,
"I know the importance of mastering English as quickly and as comprehensively as
possible."
Hispanic groups generally agree with that, but they emphasize the value of a
multilingual citizenry. "A fully bilingual young man like Zach Rubio should be
considered an asset to the community," said Janet Murguia, national president of
La Raza.
Zach's father, Lorenzo Rubio, a native of Veracruz, Mexico, has
lived in Kansas City for a
quarter-century.
Rubio, and is a U.S. citizen.
"You can't just walk in and become a citizen," he said. "They make you take
this government test. I studied for that test, and I learned that in America,
they can't punish you unless you violate a written policy."
"So I went to the principal and said, 'My son, he's not suspended for fighting,
right? He's not suspended for disrespecting anyone. He's suspended for speaking
Spanish in the hall?' So I asked her to show me the written policy about that.
But they didn't have" one.
Rubio then called the superintendent of the Turner Unified School District,
which operates the school. The district immediately rescinded Zach's suspension,
local media reported.
For Zach's father, and for the Hispanic organizations that have expressed
concern, the suspension is not a closed case. "Obviously they've violated his
civil rights," said Chuck Chionuma, a lawyer in Kansas City, Mo., who is
representing the Rubio family. "We're studying what form of legal redress will
correct the situation."
Said Rubio: "I'm mainly doing this for other Mexican families, where the legal
status is kind of shaky and they are afraid to speak up. Punished for speaking
Spanish? Somebody has to stand up and say: This is wrong."
|
Extract: Businesses see gold in Latino ads
by Esmeralda Bermudez, 503-221-4388; ebermudez@news.oregonian.com
The Oregonian, December 11, 2005
Sent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net
Getting the message out in an unfamiliar but expanding Spanish-language market can be tricky
Sunday. Marketing to Latinos may seem simple: Take a message, translate it and play it on Spanish
television.
But in translation, even the most plain-spoken slogans can get turned around.
When "Got milk?" becomes "Tienes leche?" the mind-your-calcium message implies, "Are you
lactating?"
Yet, more and more companies -- large and small -- across the Portland area are setting aside their
naiveté to put their image on the line for a community they know little about.
Some businesses say they can't afford to ignore Spanish speakers, even though the market is still in
its infancy. Census figures show Oregon's Latino population is about 360,000, while other
estimates peg it as high as 600,000. Latinos' buying power in Oregon is $5 billion this year and
growing at a rate advertisers find tempting.
And this fall, the Portland Advertising Federation discussed Latino marketing for the first time in its
99-year history. More than 200 industry members gathered to hear the niche's dos and don'ts.
Among them:
Don't translate.
Don't dub.
Be cautious with accents.
Show Latino faces.
Avoid
stereotypes.
Owners of Spanish production companies in Portland say Spanish advertising has evolved during the
past decade. Although production companies have a tough time luring big national names, locally the
client base has shifted from mostly small Latino businesses to large Anglo companies.
"People have done their best to ignore it or throw a bone at it, but now they're under pressure from
clients," said Roy Larson, who runs Larson Northwest Hispanic Marketing, based in Waldport.
According to Larson, Latinos in the greater Portland area in 2006 are expected to spend $210
million on cars, $480 million on groceries, $180 million on dining out and $90 million on apparel.
Nationwide, the Latino advertising industry is growing four times faster than all other sectors, said
the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, a national group. Oregon's Latinos have the
20th- largest buying power in the country, and their buying power is growing at twice the rate of
Oregon's general buying power.
The growth has driven the half-dozen Latino and Anglo-run Spanish production companies in the
area to try to prove how well they know Latinos. Some argue that only Latino producers can reach
the market.
"They're not bilingual or bicultural," said Ignacio Betancourt, referring to Anglo producers. The
native of Mexico runs Spanish Media Productions, a business that's produced commercials for
Fred Meyer, among others. "You have to contact someone who knows the culture. . . . Latinos are
very picky and loyal."
Anglo advertisers such as Mary Young of Latin Media Specialists disagree. Sitting in her Portland
office, with Spanish music playing in the background, the Latino-focused advertiser says, "I've
proven myself. I wouldn't be here otherwise." Young says she's learning Spanish, attends Latino events and relies on a hired crew of Latinos to judge ads' authenticity.
The strategy has paid off for small-business owners such as Dr. Dustin Kollar of Allied Chiropractic
in Hillsboro. Several times, the Scotland native has paid Betancourt of Spanish Media Productions
to create Spanish television commercials.
Kollar says the business they bring in comes in second after
referrals. Eighty percent of clients are Latino, representing a wide range of backgrounds.
"When we focus on hard laborers, we get more patients with sore backs," Kollar said. "When we
focus on sports injuries, we get more soccer players. You really do reach that audience."
|
Extract: Red Cross Bolstering Minority Outreach
By Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post,
December 5, 2005
From: howardshorr@msn.com
The American Red Cross has launched an aggressive effort to reach out to racial and ethnic
minorities and add more of them to the charity's vast network of volunteers, in response to criticism
that it treated them callously during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
Red Cross leaders say most problems were issues of perception and not cultural
insensitivity -- and certainly not racism.
In recent weeks, the organization has begun various initiatives to increase the
diversity of the staff at its headquarters and 800 chapters and draw more minority volunteers. Its faith-based initiative is
designed to recruit and train volunteers in religious organizations -- particularly churches with high
concentrations of blacks, Hispanics and Asians, officials said.
The charity, which has raised $1.68 billion from the American public to help
victims of Katrina and Rita, is moving to sign up more churches to operate as
shelters in future disasters. Last month, it signed an agreement with the Helping Hands Coalition, a Houston nonprofit organization
representing 100 predominantly black churches and community groups.
In the aftermath of the storms, minority evacuees said they encountered many
problems in Red Cross shelters. Evacuees who spoke little or no English --
Hispanic and Asian immigrants along the Gulf Coast, as well as French-speaking
members of the Houma United Nation tribe in Louisiana -- struggled to make
themselves understood because there were so few translators.
Nevertheless, the charity has launched a major outreach effort to organizations
of various races and ethnic groups. To try to diffuse tensions, chief executive
Marsha Evans and other Red Cross officials have held dozens of sometimes-tense
meetings with members of Congress, religious and civil rights leaders and members of various minority groups.
In late October, the Red Cross co-hosted an emotional meeting with more than 60
representatives of minority and faith-based groups at its headquarters in Washington to talk about the issues that
arose after the Gulf Coast hurricanes. One major focus that emerged: The Red Cross urgently needs
to diversify its 1 million-strong volunteer network, which is mostly white, said Pogue.
According to the organization's most recent survey, 5 percent of its volunteers
are black, 2 percent are Hispanic and 2 percent are of Asian origin. Recent data
show that black people make up about 13 percent of the U.S. population, Hispanics about 14 percent and Asians about 4 percent.
Disaster experts say that learning to more skillfully care for a multicultural
population is crucial for the 125-year-old charity as it faces increasingly
violent weather and the possibility that terrorist attacks could cause thousands
to flee their homes.
Minority communities are more vulnerable in disasters, said Brenda Phillips, a
professor of emergency management at the Center for the Study of Disasters and
Extreme Events at Oklahoma State University. They tend to live in areas more apt
to be affected by natural disasters, she said, and low-income minority communities live in cheaper housing that is more likely to be damaged or
destroyed.
Language barriers and cultural isolation make it more difficult for some communities to seek and
obtain government and private assistance. They don't have the financial resources to weather
extended unemployment or homelessness. Relief workers who reflect the community or who are
sensitive to racial and cultural issues can speed recovery and ease victims' trauma, Phillips said.
"People use their cultural framework to make sense of what is going on around
them," she added.
As part of the effort to improve things, the Helping Hands Coalition has agreed
to supply volunteers for Red Cross disaster preparedness training, work in
shelters and other activities. Next month, the Red Cross plans to travel to a
conference of African Methodist Episcopal churches in Alabama to train disaster
volunteers.
As the Red Cross prepares for next year's hurricane season, said Evans, the
charity's chief executive, bringing more minorities into the organization as
managers, donors and volunteers "is one of the top priorities."
|
Home page for the Blurred Racial Lines of Famous Families
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/
Sent by John Inclan
One of the early roots of the film "Secret Daughter" was FRONTLINE's research into the growing debate over racial classification and the social phenomenon commonly known as "passing." Mario deValdes y
Cocom, an historian of the African diaspora, researched some of history's more interesting examples of mixed racial
heritage. [[Check it out. You will
be surprised.]]
|
Famous People with Black lineage
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/famous/vansallees.html
 Anthony and Abraham van Salee were the ancestors of the Vanderbilts, the
Whitneys, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Humphrey Bogart. They were among the earliest arrivals to 17th century New Amsterdam. In a number of documents dating back to this period, they are both described as "mulatto".
From what scholars have been able to piece together about their background, they appear to have been the sons of a Dutch seafarer by the name of Jan Jansen who had "turned Turk" and become an admiral in the Moroccan navy. With the Port of Salee as the base from which it harried European shipping, references to the fleet he commanded are salted away in the old English sea shanties that are still sung about the Salee Rovers. The mother of his two sons was probably a concubine he had while trading in this part of the world before his conversion to Islam.
As a result of the anti-social behavior of his white wife, Anthony van Salee was induced to leave the city precincts of lower Manhattan and move across the river, thus becoming the first settler of Brooklyn. Since Coney Island abutted his property, it was, until sometime in the last century, also referred to as "Turk's Island"; the word, "Turk", being a designation of his which the records used interchangeably with, "mulatto".
According to the documentation that people like Professor Leo Hershkowitz of Queens University have sifted through, it would seem that Anthony van Salee never converted to Christianity. His Koran, in fact, was in a descendant's possession until about fifty years ago when, ignorant of its relevance to his family's history, he offered it for sale at auction. The Van Salee history also includes a more contemporary black collateral branch in the U.S. Anthony's brother Abraham fathered an illegitimate son with an unknown black woman. The son became the progenitor of this side of the family.
Although having to face constraints that their "white" cousins could at best only imagine, two of these van Salees nevertheless left their mark in the annals of African American history. Dr. John van Salee De
Grasse, born in 1825, was the first of his race to be formally educated as a doctor. A member of the Medical Society of Massachusetts, he also served as surgeon to the celebrated 54th Regiment during the Civil War. His sister, Serena, married George Downing who was not only an enormously successful black
restaurateur both in New York City and in Newport, RI, but a man who used his wealth and connections with the East Coast's most powerful white families to effect social change for his people. Because of his organization and his own contribution to the purchase of Truro Park in Newport, one of the streets bordering it still bears his name.
Interestingly enough, this genealogy was done as part of an ongoing study of the Ramopo in Tappan, NY, one of those red, white and black groups sociologists and ethnographers are now working on and which in
academes are referred to as "tri racial isolates". It is because of what advantages their Indian heritage (no matter how
discernibly Negroid they were) legally and officially provided them that the opportunity for "passing" in these groups was not only a more ambiguous political or moral decision but, comparatively, a more easily
documental one as well.
Considering how important a role John Hammond of Columbia Records played in the establishment of the black music industry, it would certainly be worth exploring the possible influence his van Salee ancestry might have had on his career. Back then, there would have been no option possible for publicly declaring himself black according to the "one drop" racial code that was the law in most states until the Johnson administration. With a Vanderbilt for a mother, his iconographical value to the white majority was so important that had he dared to tamper with it, the KKK or some such group would most probably have made him pay the ultimate price for having desecrated his and the prestige
of his relatives who had, after all, fairly well succeeded in making themselves the equivalent of this country's royal family. Hammond died a few years ago but since his son, following in his father's footsteps, has become a recognized exponent of R&B his could prove to be a very important interview for us.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis
Either Professor Hershkowitz, or Tim Beard, former head of the Genealogical Department of the New York Public Library related this incident regarding van Salee genealogy. At the time the Kennedy administration began implementing its civil rights agenda, the New York Genealogical and Historical Society approached Mrs. Kennedy hoping to discuss the opportunity her African ancestry, through the Van
Salees, could have in possibly assisting her husband to realize his social goals regarding race relations.
Mrs. Kennedy insisted on referring to the van Salees as 'Jewish,' and the New York Genealogical Society did not push the subject further. Humphry Bogart and Ruth Gordon in a scene from the 1927 film "Saturday's Children." He is a Van Salee descendent and she is a Pendarvis descendent. A few years later, another descendant attempted to pass off the racial description of the van Salles in the official records as nothing more than malicious humor.
|
Extract:
Spanish version of food pyramid released
by
J. Pat Carter / AP
Almost three of every four adult Hispanics in the U.S. are overweight
Sent by Dorinda Moreno dorindamoreno@comcast.net
MIAMI - Alarmed by the high rate of obesity among Hispanics, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its first Spanish translation Wednesday of the food pyramid, the government's handy guide to good nutrition.
"MiPiramide: Pasos Hacia Una Mejor Salud" is the counterpart to the USDA's "MyPyramid: Steps to a Healthier You." Among other things, "grains" have become "granos," and "meat and beans" are "carnes y frijoles" on the diagram of the major food groups.
The nation's Hispanic population is booming, and almost three out of every four adult Hispanics in the U.S. are overweight, according to a 2002 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Two out of three U.S. adults overall are overweight.
"Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, especially in children and adolescents. Those statistics are even more alarming among Latin populations," Roberto Salazar, administrator for the USDA's food and nutrition service, said in Spanish at a news conference.
The government unveiled "MyPyramid" in April, overhauling the food pyramid first introduced in 1992.
The 1992 pyramid had food groups arranged in horizontal layers, with the foods that should be eaten more frequently along the bottom. The newer pyramid has categories of foods represented vertically in a rainbow of colors, and a running figure scaling the pyramid to represent the importance of exercise.
|
What's In A (Spanish) Name
by Christina Hoag, Miami Herald, Nov 20, 2005
Sent by Howard Shorr: howardshorr@msn.com
What's in a (Spanish) name? A shot at being famous.
Hispanics with non-Spanish names can find it challenging when trying to make it in media and entertainment.
Ingrid Hoffmann's Teutonic name has always provoked queries about its origin ever since she was growing up in Colombia. But now that she's branding herself as a Miami-based Latin cooking and entertainment media maven, the attention has gotten more than a little irksome.
'I was doing a presentation for a major retailer and they said `is she really Latin?' People don't think I'm Latin enough because of my name!'' says an indignant Hoffmann.
It's a far cry from the days when the likes of Ramón Estévez and Richard Valenzuela had to become Martin Sheen and Ritchie Valens, respectively, to make it in show biz.
Now with the Hispanic population mushrooming and Spanish-language media drawing record audiences, it's hip to be Latino -- and even better if you have the Spanish name, either first or last, to prove it.
But due to accidents of ancestry, some Hispanics like Hoffmann, whose grandfather emigrated from Germany to Colombia, have neither. And increasingly common in this country are the progeny of Hispanic mothers and non-Hispanic fathers who sometimes end up with a Hispanic identity that doesn't readily reveal itself on paper.
''In Latin America, people don't blink and just pronounce the name in Spanish,'' says Chuck Walker, Latin American history professor at the University of California at Davis.
But in this country, being Hispanic often means conforming to a stereotypical name and look in both Spanish- and English-language entertainment spheres.
As Hoffmann and others have found, it can be a trifle sticky in select careers where being Hispanic matters.
Take Telemundo WSCV-TV 51 meteorologist John Morales. The son of an Irish-American father and Puerto Rican mother, he was born John Toohey and grew up in Puerto Rico.
His name only became an issue when he moved to the U.S. mainland 14 years ago to work for Univisión. A condition of the job: ditch the ``Toohey.''
'It wasn't a big deal. In Puerto Rico, I was `Toohey Morales' because they use both the father's last name and the mother's,'' says Morales, whose legal name remains Toohey. 'Toohey would've been harder for [Spanish-speaking] people here to understand. In Puerto Rico, they never could figure out how it was spelled. They spelled it `Tui,' or think it was 'Dewey.' ''
Others who work in Spanish-language media admit non-Hispanic names can be challenging for their audiences, but say it's really about the person not the moniker.
''I don't feel anyone has to have a Spanish name, it goes much deeper than that,'' says personal finance guru Julie Stav, who was born Julieta Alfonso in Cuba.
Years ago when she worked for PBS, people never dreamed that she was Hispanic. ''I would be asked if I needed a translator for Spanish,'' she says.
Stav is her married name, which she chose to use for family reasons. And Julie? 'I hated it when [non-Hispanics] would call me `Joo-lieta' not ''Hoo-lieta','' recalls Stav, who does radio and TV shows and pens columns and books. 'So I became `Joo-lee' because in Cuba, that's what they would call me.''
Stav knows that her audience stumbles over that surname, which she pronounces in Spanish ''Estav.'' 'One lady asked me `is that like `estafa,' which means fraud in Spanish. I thought 'wow, here I am dealing with money and people think my name is `estafa!' '' she says.
Names can be a factor in developing a career, said Raúl Mateu, senior vice president of William Morris Agency in Miami, which represents many Latin performers.
''Ultimately, it doesn't make a difference if the talent is really good,'' he says. 'There's great confusion in the general market about what is Hispanic. We have a lot of Hispanic talent with white skin and blond hair. They get sent out to casting calls and told `you're not Hispanic enough.' But if you focus only on the look or the name, you're going to fail.''
Singer-actor Carlos Ponce, who lives in Pinecrest and has a role on WB's Seventh Heaven, has the name, but not quite the look, which he admits has cost him a few ''Latin'' roles. ''I'm a little lighter than the stereotype. They simply want tall, dark and handsome,'' he says.
His solution to underscore his Hispanicity: ''I thicken my accent even more,'' he laughs.
Names are less important in offstage careers, but identity still matters. Coral Gables publicist Tadd Schwartz is quick to let people know that despite his name, he's half-Hispanic -- the son of a Cuban mother and Jewish American father.
'I've never viewed my name as my identity. I'm just as much `Soriano' as 'Schwartz,' '' Schwartz says, referring to his mother's maiden name and father's surname respectively. ``But when people find out I'm Cuban, they are surprised because I don't wear my culture on my sleeve.''
For Colombian Ingrid Hoffmann, many people have suggested she be known simply as ''Ingrid,'' but she refuses.
"I have to be true to myself. I want to show the other side of the stereotype. We Hispanics come in different colors, faces and flavors.''
|
Photographs shared by Dr. Harry R. Salinas, Ph.D. 
