Economic Impact of SB 1070
According to NPR:
"A report released Thursday says the boycott has cost the state $141 million in lost meeting and convention business since Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law in April."
I've posted previously on those artists who joined the SB 1070 boycott, and it's interesting to hear that Arizona's economy has been negatively impacted by the support of this bill. Now that the ficticious narratives about dangerous South Arizona borders have died down, maybe the red-staters will return to thinking with their wallets and realize the error of their mistakes.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
National Latino Leader
Pew Research Finds Job of Latino Leader Vacant
From Mark Hugo Lopez and Paul Taylor's report: "When asked in an open-ended question to name the person they consider "the most important Latino leader in the country today," nearly two-thirds (64%) of Latino respondents said they did not know. An additional 10% said "no one."
This is a saddening report, yet speaks to the great issue of the need for positive representation in politics, media and other public forums that have the potential to positively affect the perceptions of the next generation of Latinas/os. These finding are in line with those reports that show students migrating to the U.S. outperform their U.S.-born Latina/o peers with one of the factors being the positive, professional role models the migrant students had in their birth country.
From Mark Hugo Lopez and Paul Taylor's report: "When asked in an open-ended question to name the person they consider "the most important Latino leader in the country today," nearly two-thirds (64%) of Latino respondents said they did not know. An additional 10% said "no one."
This is a saddening report, yet speaks to the great issue of the need for positive representation in politics, media and other public forums that have the potential to positively affect the perceptions of the next generation of Latinas/os. These finding are in line with those reports that show students migrating to the U.S. outperform their U.S.-born Latina/o peers with one of the factors being the positive, professional role models the migrant students had in their birth country.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Cruz Medina in Solstice Online Journal
A Short Story of Mine
Check out this issue of Solstice Literary Magazine online. A story that I wrote called "Earth Angel" is featured. Enjoy!
Visit it at: http://solsticelitmag.org/
and my story at: http://solsticelitmag.org/earth-angel/
Check out this issue of Solstice Literary Magazine online. A story that I wrote called "Earth Angel" is featured. Enjoy!
Visit it at: http://solsticelitmag.org/and my story at: http://solsticelitmag.org/earth-angel/
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
More Negative Stereotypical Representations
Pop Culture Artifact Señor Clean Charged with Meaning
The TV show Robot Chicken has provided examples of cliche stereotypes about Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the past (http://writerscholarprofessional.blogspot.com/2010/07/shared-assumptions-about-mexican.html). But when I saw the "Señor Clean" short below, I was reminded of Brummet's Rhetoric in Popular Culture and the discussion of meanings submerged in belief systems that hide reality. Speaking about the validity of the signs we see in the artifacts of pop culture, Brummet writes: "all signs are meaningful, and that artifacts in particular are signs that are charged with extra meaning"(31).
The caricature plays on the subservient role of the Latino domestic, representing the essence of the Mexican with a poncho and sombrero, but then takes a sexually aggressive turn. This suggestion reinforces the role of exoticized 'Other,' the symbolic reminder of inferiority.
The TV show Robot Chicken has provided examples of cliche stereotypes about Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the past (http://writerscholarprofessional.blogspot.com/2010/07/shared-assumptions-about-mexican.html). But when I saw the "Señor Clean" short below, I was reminded of Brummet's Rhetoric in Popular Culture and the discussion of meanings submerged in belief systems that hide reality. Speaking about the validity of the signs we see in the artifacts of pop culture, Brummet writes: "all signs are meaningful, and that artifacts in particular are signs that are charged with extra meaning"(31).
The caricature plays on the subservient role of the Latino domestic, representing the essence of the Mexican with a poncho and sombrero, but then takes a sexually aggressive turn. This suggestion reinforces the role of exoticized 'Other,' the symbolic reminder of inferiority.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Prop 107 bans Affirmative Action in Arizona
More Bad News from Arizona
NPR has a good story on the current debate (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129216337) and what seems to be overlooked many times by students who claim to have their places in school 'taken by less qualified students of color' is that less qualified non-students of color (athletes, legacies & children whose parents make endowments) might be taking their spots. Still, it's easier for these entitled students to argue for what should come to them, even though affirmative action was started to offset the balance of educational inequality in public schools. It's too bad voters are the last to know that 'pulling oneself up by their bootstraps' is a myth because it doesn't account for the support of others or the presence of a functioning educational system.
A few friends went to the All Souls Procession yesterday and one of the local news channels said a few people found the procession to be a good place to vent about Prop 107 banning affirmative action in AZ (http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13460971).
(photo from coachella.com website)
It's only slightly ironic that the channel is K-OLD when in fact the Souls Procession is linked to the Dia de los Muertos celebration of those friends and family members who've passed away because it is a kind of show of respect many times for elders who are no longer with us. But the disappointing situation with the passing of 107 means that much of the progress to reverse structural inequality that makes it difficult for people of color to succeed in higher education will be lost. 
NPR has a good story on the current debate (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129216337) and what seems to be overlooked many times by students who claim to have their places in school 'taken by less qualified students of color' is that less qualified non-students of color (athletes, legacies & children whose parents make endowments) might be taking their spots. Still, it's easier for these entitled students to argue for what should come to them, even though affirmative action was started to offset the balance of educational inequality in public schools. It's too bad voters are the last to know that 'pulling oneself up by their bootstraps' is a myth because it doesn't account for the support of others or the presence of a functioning educational system.
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