“Although Newt Gingrich is losing ground in the Republican primaries, he is now trying to gain Latino votes in Arizona with new ads. However, let’s not forget the statement he had to defend in front of almost 4 million Hispanics in Florida –his 2007 remarks which still deserves some reflection, as other candidates continue to press on the topic of English immersion. Latinos represent a very important voting power for this discussion to just slip away.

“My clients and colleagues know well how passionate I am at promoting the idea of learning English if you come from a non-English speaking country to America. Learning the language, the customs, and the social and workplace skills is the key that opens doors, and brings new opportunities; a bridge that allows immigrants to interact freely within the hosting culture.

For centuries and until recent years, Americans have lived in a language and cultural balloon. Based on ethnocentrism and great economic power, the world was forced to use English as the language of business –or like Mr. Gingrich would say, “the language of prosperity,” – leaving other languages and cultures outside the negotiation table.

However, the world became global and balance of power started to change. Although English is still largely spoken in business settings, experts forecast that Chinese is the language to learn if companies want to stay in global business. Middle Eastern languages need to be known to win the war against terrorism.

Language comes hand in hand with power and domination. Learning it allows to win over or overturn the other side.

The idea of “a ghetto” also refers to dominance and power. Yes, ghettos were the areas in European cities where Jewish were confined. Venetian boroughs included a Jewish ghetto; most Spanish cities had a Juderia; an estimated over 1000 ghettos also existed in the Nazi Europe of 1939 to 1944.

Black ghettos existed in the United States pre-Civil Right era of 1955 to 1968, and the South African Apartheid until 1994, to name a few.

Dominance and power were also the aim of early settlers in the United States. According to author Juan Gonzalez, “A good deal of nineteenth century U.S. growth flowed directly from the Anglo conquest of Spanish-speaking America. That conquest … set the basis for the modern Latino presence in the United States…”

The United States penetrated the Spanish territories with different strategies during those years, from wars to purchase of territories to filibusters, and most U.S. presidents at the time backed the take of the land by supporting speculators, plantation owners, bankers and merchants, all very well articulated in the “Manifest Destiny.”

None of the populations –Native Americans, French Creoles, Mexicans, Spanish Floridians and Seminoles, Puerto Ricans and Cubans- under the United States domination or annexation ever excelled politically or economically.  “These latter groups became American citizens by force. Congress declared them so without any vote or petition on their part; it did not care what language they spoke nor did it seek their public oath of allegiance,” says Juan Gonzalez.

Moreover, Latin America became the extended territory of the United States’ messy “backyard.”

In 1969, Henry Kissinger told the Chilean foreign minister Gabriel Valdés, “Nothing important can come from the South. The axis of history starts in Moscow, goes to Bonn, crosses over to Washington, and then goes on to Tokyo. What happens in the South is of no importance.”

Yet it was of great importance when the United States needed migrant workers in the early 1940s. It was also of importance when the NAFTA agreement was looking for cheap labor and new exporting markets. The United States bilateral relations with Latin America are plagued with historic examples.

Major economic inequalities between both regions continued to attract millions of immigrants to this country. In 2003, Latinos became the largest minority, surpassing African Americans as the fastest growing population, and in recent years, Latinos started defining presidential elections as a single voting power.

So what is the “promise” in this proposition?

In view of this historical perspective, Mr. Gingrich lies when implying this promise:  by learning English, prosperity will be around the corner. Millions of African-Americans who were forbidden by slavery to keep their original languages, forced into learning English, and enslaved to produce prosperity for their slave owners can attest for it.

Lera Boroditsky, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, sustains, “One of the key advances in recent years has been the demonstration … that if you change how people talk, that changes how they think. If people learn another language, they inadvertently also learn a new way of looking at the world. When bilingual people switch from one language to another, they start thinking differently, too.”

Language is at the heart of Latino culture and the element that glues us all, the way the culture expresses itself and expresses its identity. Values and traditions are preserved and transmitted, such as “familia” (family), “respeto” (respect) and “lealtad” (loyalty) by means of language.

Language is also the strategy of resistance those who have been overpowered for long have found to stay strong. Changing the language means changing the culture and its values. Latinos are too proud of their culture, something a promise of prosperity cannot buy.

POST COMMETNS BELOW

VOXXI.COM

http://voxxi.com/2012/02/20/the-language-of-prosperity-versus-the-language-of-the-ghetto-voxpopuli-politics/

Robert Rodriguez has made a mark in Hollywood for his butt kicking blockbusters such as Sin City and Desperado. He's worked with stars like Salma Heyek, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba and Danny Trejo. But now, Rodriguez is connecting with US Latinos in a different way.

The Mexican-American movie director just announced the launch of his new independent TV network, “El Rey” which he says will give second and third generation Latinos “something to identify with” while appealing to a mass audience.

“I have 5 children of my own. They are bilingual, like most second and third generations," Rodriguez told FOX News Latino in an exclusive interview. "But they speak primarily in English and they couldn’t find anything on television that represented who they are in this country.”

He said he wants to change that with his new network, "El Rey." 

"We know the audience is hungry for it," he said. 

The new project is an agreement with Comcast and Factory/Made Executives John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa. The network will have movies, TV shows, reality shows and animated features as well as Rodriguez’s signature explosive, action- filled entertainment, he said.

Rodriguez said he will use the same strategy he does with his films to make "El Rey" successful and relevant.

"This year makes 20 years that I made 'El Mariachi' and I was really determined to fill the screen with Latin faces, talent and ideas and stories but in a way still appeal to the mass audience, the mass market," Rodriguez said.

In a statement released Tuesday, Comcast said Latinos can expect "Hispanic producers, celebrities and public figures" to be a part of El Rey network.

The news comes just days after Univision and ABC join forces to launch a cable news network also targeting the US Latino population. 

Fogelman, who has known Rodriguez for the past 20 years, said he Patwa "spent a lot of time looking at the Census" data before developing the proposal for El Rey and taking it to Rodriguez.

"We went to Robert with a 200-page presentation," Fogelman said. "By the second slide, he was in."

He said the only way the network was going to work, was to work with the best. 

"There is no one that can promote the type of authenticity that Robert can in able to reach that demographic," he said.

But how will this new project differ from other rival networks targeting the same demographic such as John Leguizamo’s Urbano TV and NGL Media?

Rodriguez says that’s where Comcast comes in.

"We’re not going to have the reach limitations that other networks, that have tried this before have," Rodriguez said. "The content and the reach are very important. It will be carried everywhere."

The "Sin City" star also emphasized the importance of compelling content and creating "his own stars" which would open up doors for other Latinos.

 “I started casting people like Salma, and Danny and Antonio in movies then it became more prevalent when I did Desperado,” Rodriguez said.

He said he realized he had to create his own stars. And it opened he doors for many Latinos. He said the same could happen 20 years later. 

"[It’s about] doing the same thing by finding this whole new wave of filmmakers and talent and voices," he said. 

Joining Rodriguez’s “El Rey”  is “BabyFirst Americas,” a network developed by Constantino “Said” Schwartz targeting kids and parents, while focusing on key motor skills such as well as verbal, math proficiency.

There is a lot of research out there on how Latino children start Kindergarten with fewer vocabulary words that their counterparts,” Kristin Feltz, VP of Marketing at “BabyFirst Americas” told FOX News Latino.

Mario Solis-Marich, VP of Programming at “BabyFirst Americas” agrees.

“This is going to give parents a huge tool for playtime with their children,” Marich told FOX News Latino.

“We have a huge learning gap. The idea for this channel is a no brainer.”

Marich added that “culturally and competent” content is already in progress. He mentioned that a selection of Latino celebrities have already been contacted and “are really excited” to join on board.

The list of the Latino celebs collaborating with the network is scheduled to be released in the next few weeks.

Sean “Diddy” Combs and Magic Johnson will also be debuting their new networks, “Revolt” and “Aspire” with Comcast targeting the African-American community in the Unites States.

POST COMMENTS BELOW

FOXNEWS.COM

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/entertainment/2012/02/21/robert-rodriguez-wants/

"Chimichanga-gate" started innocently enough: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., referenced the deep-fried burrito at a Senate confirmation hearing last week along with other cultural and economic contributions of his home state.

Dana Milbank, a Washington Post columnist who is nationally syndicated through the Washington Post Writers Group, as am I, quoted McCain -- "The lettuce in your salad this month almost certainly came from Arizona. ... It is also believed that the chimichanga has its origins in Arizona" -- in a column titled "Does the GOP care about Latino voters?"

It was a well-reported, incisive, and culturally respectful piece about Republicans stalling the judicial nomination of Adalberto Jose Jordan, who has since been confirmed and is now the first Cuban-born judge to serve on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Milbank used that situation to make the observation that Republicans must have a "suicide impulse" because they seem to go out of their way to alienate the fastest growing voting bloc in the country.

Milbank closed his column with McCain's quote and the line: "The chimichanga? It may be the only thing Republicans have left to offer Latinos." Obama campaign manager Jim Messina Tweeted those words and the column link with the description "Line of the day" and then the refried beans hit the fan.

Some who read the tweet out of context -- and apparently didn't bother to read the attached link -- decided that the remark was racist and insensitive to Hispanics and pretty much demanded that Messina and Milbank be tarred and feathered.

Then the Republican National Committee and the conservative Hispanic Leadership Network demanded an apology, and quite a few Latino columnists, activists and commentators elbowed each other out of the way to condemn the perceived slight.

They demanded to know how these two white political insiders could dare assume that all Hispanics eat chimichangas, though neither Milbank nor Messina even came close to mentioning Latino voters' eating preferences. Some decried the horror of Milbank's condescension for referring to the chimichanga in his closing and others took the opportunity to make fun of "gringos."

Latinos, this will not do.

Now that Hispanics are finally being taken seriously in politics, they cannot go around tearing down those who care enough to accurately report on lawmakers seeking to limit Latino access to political power. Certainly not because some tweets and Facebook comments claimed racism and it was easy to chime in with an indignant rejoinder before getting the facts straight. And especially not when a common complaint is that the mainstream media ignore Latino issues.

Latino overreactors -- those ready to be offended by a column, a ridiculous line from a comedy show or someone's misinformed social-media comment -- risk making it seem as though Hispanics are perennially aggrieved and impossible to satisfy. Not exactly a recipe for creating effective political alliances.

Hispanics must guard their reputations carefully: Getting all upset over snubs that aren't even real won't advance the mission of eradicating the lazy, simplistic labels that are routinely placed on Latinos by those too ignorant to care about insulting us.

Instead, overreacting to every little thing makes it harder to gain sympathy for true abuse, thereby trading one set of stereotypes for another that says we're a bunch of girls and boys who like to cry wolf.

POST COMMENTS BELOW

INDYSTAR.COM

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120221/OPINION12/202210306/Esther-Cepeda-Latinos-who-cry-wolf?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7COpinion%7Cs

At no other time in our country’s history is our population more diverse but as two stories that have emerged over the last several days illustrate, no one still really grasps the importance of diversity.

To those who don’t understand diversity, the word is nothing more than a federal mandate for employment hiring, school admissions or scholarship selections. Of course, those who lose out in these selections wag the finger and complain that those who trumped them for these coveted spots didn’t deserve them.

To others who don’t understand the concept, diversity means nothing more than achieving a “racial balance.” Yet, no thought is given as to why it’s important to have that balance within an organization or campus.

Diversity has greater ramifications than satisfying any federal mandate or employment/school balance. It is hoped that with a truly diverse workforce/school campus people will, if they don’t become more tolerant of people different from themselves, will at least become informed and learn about one another in a “civil” environment.

This learning about others different from ourselves hopefully opens the mind to such a width that there is an increased sensitivity to how we talk about and to one another; a greater appreciation of our differences and of those elements that make us more alike to one another; and an enlightenment that our shared patriotism for the same country unites us all in a special brotherhood and sisterhood.

Unfortunately, that’s just not the case — still yet.

That point became painfully clear when an ESPN editor wrote a headline about Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin that cost him his job because of the ethnic slur used in it. The editor swore it wasn’t intentional and, in fact, said he used the word “at least 100 times in headlines.”

It’s an ironic situation that ESPN finds itself in since the company will be the recipient of the Corporate Leadership Award handed out by the T. Howard Foundation at its annual Diversity Awards next month.

For a company that is being recognized for its diversity initiatives, one would expect more from its employees — like knowing what words are considered offensive to certain races.

It may have been unintentional. After all, the guilty editor is only 28 years old and it’s possible he didn’t know the negative connotation of the term he used. Yet, he knew enough to use it.

The lack of diversity reared its ugly head yet again, when it was revealed that Academy Award members who vote on the Oscars are overwhelmingly white and male.

A Los Angeles Times study found that academy voters are markedly less diverse than the moviegoing public, and even more monolithic than many in the film industry may suspect. Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, The Times found. Blacks are about 2% of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2%.

Though this year’s Oscar nominated films reflect a better variety than in years past, one can’t help but imagine what kind of diversity is possible among the nominees if the voting members were more diverse themselves.

If it was the case, then maybe Latinos and blacks wouldn’t get so giddy over having one Latino actor, Demián Bichir, and one black actress, Viola Davis, among the leading actors/actresses nominees this year. If diversity had been present before now, imagine how many other actors and actresses of color might have been included and recognized for their talents as well.

If diversity was as commonplace and accepted in today’s society as it should be by now, then there would be no question as to which words not to use when trying to convey an admiring compliment to someone or ensuring that a list of the nation’s movies truly reflect the viewing habits of all Americans.

If diversity was truly understood then people would get why it matters.

POST COMMENTS BELOW

LATINALISTA.COM

http://latinalista.com/2012/02/diversity-is-more-than-a-concept-its-what-we-are-as-a-nation

Like many Americans, Debbie Bass' health insurance policy is utterly confounding: It's more expensive than it used to be, but the coverage is worse and the rules just seem to get more arcane.

Last year, her health plan paid for surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to treat her colorectal cancer. This year, her employer switched to a new plan, which won't even pay for a $39 box of ostomy bags.

Bass, a 57-year-old school bus driver from Hazlehurst, Ga., is among a rising number of Americans with shrinking health benefits and expanding deductibles. Bass said her new plan costs $333 per month to cover her and her husband, up from $210. The plan also comes with a staggering $3,000 deductible. Though her employer put $1,000 into an account to help pay for medical bills, Bass has already spent half of it on prescription drugs and other expenses. She'll soon need to find an extra $2,000 before her insurance kicks in.

Easier said than done. Bass takes home $395 a month. Her husband's disability benefits bring in another $1,285. "We are completely broke," she said. Her oncologist ordered a PET scan to check whether the cancer has stayed away, but she doesn't know how much it costs or whether her plan will cover it. She's going in for the test anyway.

High-deductible health insurance is becoming more common, according to survey data reported by the Employee Benefit Research Institute last December. In 2011, 27.7 million working-age people were enrolled in a health plan with a deductible of at least $1,000 for individuals and $2,000 for families. The proportion of insured Americans who have this type of coverage has more than doubled since 2005, the report says.

A trip to the local drugstore to pick up ostomy supplies led to a rude awakening: The debit card for Bass' medical expense account was rejected. She was told she couldn't use those funds for the supplies, but has not been able to get a clear explanation from her insurer as to why. "They keep giving me different excuses," she said. "They make things so complicated." She has applied for financial aid from the Virginia-based Patient Advocate Foundation to help pay for the supplies.

Employers opt for high-deductible health insurance for a simple reason: cost. The average annual cost of employer-sponsored health benefits has more than doubled since 2001, reaching $15,073 for the company and employee combined last year, according to a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Hospital Association's Health Research and Educational Trust. By contrast, family coverage through a high-deductible plan with a health savings account costs an average of $13,704. The shift mirrors the move away from pension benefits to 401(k) plans, which also allow employers to limit costs.

The trend is likely to continue, said Paul Fronstin, the director of the Health Research and Education Program at the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Fronstin likened the current evolution of the health insurance market to the sea change that brought HMOs to dominance in the 1980s and 1990s. "There's no reason not to expect that to happen here," he said.

High-deductible health insurance plans will be eligible to be sold starting in 2014 on the insurance "exchanges" created by the health reform law that passed in 2010. With their lower monthly price tags, these plans could prove popular, especially among younger and healthier people betting they won’t have to go to the doctor or the hospital or need costly prescription drugs.

The upside is that these plans provide coverage against catastrophic medical expenses for lower monthly premiums. Individuals and their employers can put money into tax-free health savings accounts that accumulate over time. It's a great deal for high-income earners who have the cash to spare and can maximize the tax benefits.

People with this type of insurance should set aside enough money, in a health savings account or otherwise, to cover their deductibles, said Jody Dietel, the chief compliance officer for WageWorks, a California company that administers employee benefits. The insurance is there to "protect you from catastrophic financial ruin," not to pay all medical bills, she said. Coverage for preventive services like flu shots and cholesterol screenings often isn't subject to the deductible.

Studies suggest that people put off care because they cannot afford it. Patients with chronic conditions who had high-deductible insurance were three to four times more likely to say they delayed or went without medical care because of cost, according to the findings of a Harvard University-Children's Hospital Boston survey published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine last month. Lower-income respondents were even more likely to go without, the study says.

Employers could do more to help workers adjust during the transition from a managed care plan with simple co-payments for doctor visits and prescription drugs to a new model requiring financial planning and comparison shopping, Fronstin said.

Health insurance companies provide a variety of tools on their websites and through call centers that are designed to help by offering up information on the prices for medical services and prescription drugs and on medical providers' quality ratings.

Bass' employer brought workers together for a meeting last year in which a representative explained how the new health benefits worked. "When she got through," Bass said, "I still didn't understand."

POST COMMENTS BELOW

HUFFINGTONPOST.COM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/20/high-deductible-health-insurance_n_1284866.html?utm_campaign=022012&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-business&utm_content=FullStory