Balancing new power and threat

Posted on Mon, Apr. 05, 2010

BY DAVID S. BRODER
davidbroder@washpost.com

Census Day was a big day at the office of the National Council of La Raza, not only because it was the final day of the drive to reduce the chronic undercount of Hispanic residents but because it also marked a time when Latinos in the United States could obtain the latest measure of their growing political power.

The largest and fastest growing minority group finds itself in an anomalous position this year. In some respects, its stature has never been higher, with the Supreme Court appointment of Sonia Sotomayor signaling that one more historic barrier has fallen to the talent and ambition of the Spanish-speaking community.

But as Janet Murguia, the veteran political organizer and former Clinton White House aide who is president of La Raza reminded me, ``As long as the immigration issue is unresolved, we feel under threat.''

The mixed signals that Hispanics receive from the larger community, ranging from the accolades for the first Hispanic woman on the high court to the threatening nativist rhetoric of Tom Tancredo at the first tea party convention, have produced an almost schizophrenic reaction among Latino constituencies and leaders.

Posted By: Ayanna Spikes

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/05/v-print/1563463/balancing-new-power-and-threat.html#ixzz0kTmOwOiY