As a group of LULAC activists–including lawyer Domingo Garcia–shove off today by bus to protest’s Arizona new illegal-immigration law, local Hispanic leader Edward Retta again is questioning Garcia’s right to speak for DFW Latinos.
Retta, who says he too is working for immigration reform as co-chair of the Jewish-Latino Alliance in Dallas, takes issue with a post here the other day in which Garcia dismissed Retta as a “Republican” who’s not really interested in justice for immigrants.
Retta’s e-mail to FrontBurner, which follows on the jump, says that he’s an independent, not a Republican–and that Garcia represents a small, noisy minority that plays the “victim card.”
Thanks for your interest (FrontBurner, May 7).
What is happening in Dallas is that the Latino community is maturing.
It was only a matter of time before enough Latino citizens arrived at a
point where we got tired of the same old, self promoting activists,
claiming to speak for all if us. Mr. Garcia would have the public
believe that he and his cronies are the messiah for all Hispanics. Many
Hispanics are ashamed of these activists and their tactics.I have nothing personal against Garcia. I do object to him trying to
claim to speak for me and for all of us. I have challenged him and
others many times on this. They have never responded with substance and
can only resort to name calling. “He is a Republican.” As if that were
sufficient. In their small world, it may be. They never engage me on
ideas, facts or logic. They shout “Republican” and go silent on the
substance. It seems to me that a good journalist would go and try to
find out if Retta truly is a Republican as Garcia ignorantly alleges.For your information, I am not a Republican, and have never in my life
been affiliated in any way with the Republican party. I am an
independent voter, who has supported Ross Perot, John Anderson, Hillary
Clinton and Michael Dukakis.Garcia and his cohorts are threatened by my fact based arguments. They
love the limelight and thanks to an ignorant Dallas local meida, they
enjoy a monopoly. Yet, my main point is that he, and they, no longer –
if ever – represent Dallas Hispanics. I will gladly acknowledge that he
and they represent a small minority of angry, noisy Hispanics who play
the victim card. But no more. Not even most immigrants like these
people. I firmly believe that if a scientific survey were done of
Hispanics in Dallas, a huge majority would not choose Domingo as their
spokesperson nor role model. Last year, an online survey was done
asking if people supported the naming of a public school for Adelfa
Callejo. When I voted, 89% of those voting, voted “no.” Our local media
do not fully understand the Hispanic communities and therefore are
misled by these activists. I am merely someone hoping that journalists
will do their due diligence.Your publication would do a great public service by investigating who
the Hispanics in Dallas really are today and who most accurately speaks
for us.
