Panel: Latinos are here to stay

09/23/08 - "The problem that we have at hand is the question known as immigration," began Tom Morin, a University of Rhode Island language professor, during the Diversity Week seminar he led titled "Latinos are here to Stay: The Changing Cultural Dynamic in U.S. Culture." The hour-long program, held in the Multicultural Center, discussed the influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants into the United States, and its impact on traditional American culture.

A comprehensive panel of speakers engaged about 20 students in an open discussion about their thoughts on immigration, both on a national level and in Rhode Island.

Students were encouraged to put themselves into the immigrants' shoes and to look at their struggles from a perspective of understanding, not hostility.

A key to understanding Latin immigrants' point of view, explained speaker Jorge Elorza, is appreciating the unique "immigrant spirit," the intangible self-sufficiency and will to succeed that is fostered among the immigrant community.

As Victor Capellan, a former New York City High School principal explained it, the Latino community is not "here to get a piece of the pie, we're here to bake a bigger one".

This spirit and drive to flourish, developed in the face of many obstacles that face Latino immigrants today. The panel said the impact of concentrated social poverty makes integration a challenge for the Latino community, as does the controversal topic of immigration.

However, Capellan said, action is being taken toward positive change. In particular, the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors ("DREAM") Act, a pending piece of legislation to provide long-term illegal immigrants who are graduates of the U.S. public education system federal aid for college. The proposed act recieved a majority vote in the Senate. Capellan spoke before Congress in support of this bill, though ultimately it failed to pass.

The panel also featured Ramon Martinez, head of the political organization Progresso Latino, a group working to help integrate and support Latin Americans in Rhode Island.

Elorza, Capellan and other panel member, Domingo Morrell, are all URI aumni. Morell has worked for six years as an academic advisor with the Talent Development Program. The T.D. is the school's main affirmative action initiative created in 1968. Elorza was a part of and credits all his "success, personally and professionally" to the program.

At the conclusion of the program, students were asked for their opinions on immigration. In addition, Panel members shared their personal stories of integrating into American culture.

For sophomore Diana Morales, a child of immigrants, it was important "that Latinos [were] represented in all ways" and that "all aspects of the Latin society" were discussed - something she said she felt the panel succeeded in.