Does LULAC Represent Latinas/os in the United States?

18Jul
by Randy Jurado Ertll

The League of United Latin American Citizens – LULAC, founded in 1929, is having its annual national conference in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday July 18, Thursday July 19, and Friday July 20 at the Phoenix Convention Center. They have leadership elections on Saturday July 21.

LULAC is one of the oldest civil rights Latino national organizations in the United States and historically has taken some conservative positions on key social justice issues.

LULAC’s president Roger Rocha, controversially supported Donald Trump’s immigration policy positions. LULAC has over 132,000 members and many are immigrants from various Latin American countries.

According to The Christian Science Monitor “Mr. Rocha has been under intense pressure to resign after he wrote a letter on Jan. 28 supporting Mr. Trump’s border security proposal – including US-Mexico border wall and a reduction in visas for foreign relatives of US citizens in exchange for greater protections for children in the US who were brought to the country illegaly by their parents and parents who overstayed visas.”

Mr. Rocha may soon be ousted by the membership since elections will take place on Saturday July 21 in Phoenix, Arizona.

LULAC needs to catch up with the times.

LULAC was founded by World War I veterans, predominantly Mexican Americans from Texas who wanted to be accepted and perceived a ‘true’ Americans. In the 1940s and 1950s LULAC took many anti-immigrant positions.

But in the 1960s, LULAC was forced to reevaluated their positions since the Civil Rights movement was taking place – along with the Chicano movement.

It seems that some LULAC leaders stayed frozen in the Cold War era. However, some LULAC leaders are in touch with reality and they support the immigrant community.

Yes, we Latinas/os, are Americans. Whether we were born in the U.S. or raised in the United States. We are Latino Americanos in the United States of America. We are proud to be working class, middle class, and upper class Latinos.

I am proud to be an award winning published author who is participating in the LULAC conference being held in Phoenix, Arizona. The Lyft driver’s name was also Randy and he told me that he is Mexican American from El Paso, Texas and that it is the first time that he meets another Latino who is named Randy. I shared with him that we are proud Latinos and that we are also Americans. I am proud that my name is Randy and that I am a Salvadoran American from Los Angeles. I first learned about LULAC while I was a student at Occidental College where I wrote a research paper regarding the history of LULAC.

Now I have published non-fiction and fiction books to tell our stories. To tell our history for the new generations of Latinos and to promote unity within our diverse communities. The following are the books that I have written and will be promoting at the LULAC conference at booth #443 along with other wonderful authors:

Hope in Times of Darkness: A Salvadoran American Experience, Esperanza en Tiempos de Oscuridad: La Experiencia de un Salvadoreno Americano, The Life of an Activist: In the Frontlines 24/7, and The Lives and Times of El Cipitio, La Vida Y Los Tiempos De El Cipitio, In The Struggle: Chronicles, and the illustrated book The Adventures of El Cipitio: Las aventuras del Cipitio.

Stop by to say hello and check out our bilingual books at booth #443 – near the area where great music is being played.

Yes, books can improve and change lives for the better. Where do we get our history and knowledge from? Books. Libros.

Please check out my books on AMAZON

WWW.RANDYJURADOERTLL.COM

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Randy Jurado Ertll

Randy Jurado Ertll, attended some of the toughest public schools within Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). He and his family moved dozens of times throughout Los Angeles. He attended Menlo Avenue Elementary School – which he loved dearly as a child – even though violence was an everyday occurrence in the surrounding community. He survived James A. Foshay Junior High School in the mid 1980’s. As a child, he escaped a rural Civil War in El Salvador, and while in Los Angeles, he escaped an urban Civil War (taking place in South Central Los Angeles) by being accepted into the A Better Chance-ABC scholarship program by going far way to study at John Marshall High School in Rochester, Minnesota. Hella cold. He returned to his community by applying and being accepted into Occidental College where he was indoctrinated to become a social justice activist, reader, writer, free thinker, and free, rebel, spirit.

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