A Lesson in Latino vs. Black Power

For weeks before Don Imus was fired for making racist and sexist remarks on the radio, two other shock jocks were already targeted for protests and boycotts for making insensitive remarks on New Jersey's 101.5 FM.

The two jocks, known as "The Jersey Guys," had earned the wrath of Latinos for urging listeners to report illegal immigrants to federal authorities in a radio campaign they called "La Cucha Gotcha," a play on the Spanish word for cockroach.

Their hateful and inflammatory segments featured Mexican music and the two instigators vowing to continue acting like xenophobic morons until the Cinco de Mayo.

It was a clear, calculated effort to seek publicity by offending and picking a fight with Latinos. And it worked, but only temporarily.

New Jersey's Latino leaders threatened to organize protests and boycotts against the radio station and its sponsors. All they sought was an apology, and they got nothing … nada! With defiant smirks on their faces, The Jersey Boys — Craig Carton and Ray Rossi — said they have nothing for which to apologize.

The downfall of Imus has taught us many lessons, mostly about our freedom of speech and how far one can exploit it. But for me, the one thing it showed most clearly is the dramatic, night-and-day difference between black power and Latino empowerment.

The Census tells us that Latinos are now the largest minority, and some people erroneously assume that somehow that translates into political and economic power.

In fact, when it comes to defending civil rights, while African Americans are running, Latinos are just beginning to crawl.

Nowhere has the firing of Imus been more of an eye-opener than in New Jersey's Hispanic community.

Imus's comments were repulsive, but at least they were not part of an orchestrated campaign designed to offend.

Yet while Imus got the boot, The Jersey Guys are still kicking Latinos around.

It says a lot about the leadership of the Hispanic community and how little power it wields to mobilize the masses and demand respect.

In New Jersey, where Hispanic leaders had vowed to organize demonstrations and boycotts against The Jersey Guys and their sponsors, the same leaders had to acknowledge that they were disappointed with the weak outcry from their constituents and the lack of support from other Latinos around the country.

They were left in awe as they watched how the African American community pulled together to protest Imus's comments. And the progress blacks made, as they applied pressure on CBS Radio and its sponsors, was particularly frustrating in New Jersey's Hispanic community.

While New Jersey Latino leaders were practically begging for an apology from The Jersey Guys, national black leaders were not about to settle for anything less than getting Imus fired.

That stark contrast is mostly due to the lack of unity among the many nationalities that comprise the Hispanic American population. While blacks automatically come together when their community is under attack, Latinos are often divided over their own petty rivalries.

No matter how big their internal differences may be, when African Americans speak to the rest of us, they speak with one voice. And that's why when they said Imus must be fired; radio stations and corporate sponsors listened.

It is a lesson yet to be learned by the nation's largest minority. As long as they remain mired in petty differences and nationalistic rivalries, Latinos will not be able to demand the respect that has been earned by the second-largest minority.

To find out more about Miguel Perez, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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