"Prejudices Are Expressed as Water Board Opposes SB 1070".
By Hilbert Morales, EL OBSERVADOR

On Tuesday, May 26, 2010 SCVWD Board Chair Richard Santos presided over a meeting where an action was taken to protect employees from Arizona Laws SB 1070 and HB 2162. The objective was to ensure that SCVWD employees did not travel to Arizona unless on official district business. Employees were not to be subjected to the application by local authorities of Arizona Laws SB1070 and HB2162. The resolution also dictated that the SCVWD Board of Directors send a letter to Congress and the President of the U.S. requesting that work begin immediately on immigration issues and the reformation of Federal immigration laws. In addition, the SCVWD CEO was instructed to order all departments to prohibit the use of District funds for travel to Arizona unless critical to the District’s mission.
During this hearing many impassioned speakers questioned how this action is relevant to the water district.  The answer is simple: we value our staff and diverse workforce. As it stands today, if the district were to send employees to Arizona on official business, they could be subjected to unfair treatment as a result of this legislation. We do have an interest in how our employees are treated—in fact; we have a responsibility to protect our employees from unjust treatment purely based on their appearance.
Josue Garcia addressed the standing room only audience saying, “If I had to choose again the tone of my skin, I would choose the same skin tone.” While he spoke there were catcalls and derisive statements such as “Send all Mexicans back to Mexico”.  Later, Josue related how his I.D. was checked in the first class section of his flight. No other passenger’s I.D was checked. Was profiling involved?  Without a doubt:  Josue is not on that ‘No Fly” list.
It was noted that when Anglo speakers addressed the SCVWD Board, those Latinos in the audience remained quiet and respectful. When a Latino addressed the SCVWD Board, certain members of the audience used abusive language and made catcalls.
Teresa and Benjamin Hernandes were taking an after dinner stroll in their City of Santa Clara neighborhood. They were verbally abused by an Anglo man who told them to “go back to Mexico”. Both Teresa and Benjamin were born in California. Teresa is an accomplished teacher who was awarded the “Portraits of Success” recognition by the Hispanic Development Corporation just this past September, 2009. Both Teresa and Benjamin were glad that on that particular night they were not accompanied by their two children who decided to stay home to do their homework.  Teresa placed a cell-phone call to the police who appeared in a few minutes. The Anglo man fled after threatening them with bodily harm. A police report was filed. This was an appropriate non-violent, non-abusive response. Cesar E. Chavez, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Mahatma Gandhi would have approved.
The issue is that the Arizona legislative action has emboldened certain prejudiced individuals to now express their thoughts in public meetings. Some of the Latinos are concerned about the level of tensions experienced in certain settings. We all have human rights and responsibilities. We need to learn to live together with respect and consideration for each other. The Christian maxim applicable here is “to love your neighbor as yourself.”
All this emotional energy would be better directed at those moguls of the financial industry who devised those derivatives that almost destroyed our economy. Also, some of this energy needs to be directed at those captains of industry who bid on and are awarded contracts and then outsource jobs off-shore. Over 400,000 jobs in this area have been displaced to off-shore sites where labor costs are cheaper. Let’s direct some of that energy towards these two groups whose greed is destroying the American consumer economy.
Meanwhile, why can’t we learn to live together? If you are willing to think and observe, you will note that not too many individuals of Mexican heritage are our policy makers or captains of industry. So let’s direct some of our distress to those who are the cause. Mexicans cannot be the scapegoats for the current lack of jobs and the state of the local economy. Let’s learn to respect and know each other. And let’s lobby our Congress and the President to get on with the formulation of that comprehensive immigration law that is so necessary. ∆