Zimmerman: Too Hispanic to be white; too white to be Hispanic!

The inspiration for the title of my article was a chance posting by the Editor/Publisher of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin newspaper, El Conquistador, Victor Huyke, on Facebook. Reading it struck a nerve with me, not only because of the main stream media and many African-American community leaders ignoring of the facts of George Zimmerman's background in order to use the hot button issue of race as a dimension of the Trayvon Martin shooting, but also for more personal reasons which I will get into later.

The alternative and/or non-traditional media is recent days has revisited what the regular media only touched on briefly during the early days following the shooting. It is reported that George Zimmerman's father is a WHITE American and his mother is born in Peru which would indicate both Spanish and Native American ancestry since mestizos(mix of Spanish and American Indian) make up a large portion of the population.

The Everyjoe.com website posted a picture of Zimmerman's mother with its story. Both George and his mother on their Florida voter registration cards self-identify as Hispanic while the father identifies as white.

Activists all along the racial/ethnic spectrum have reason to try and paint George Zimmerman and his background in a way which suits their political agendas. Many right-wing Republicans and their supporters want to make Zimmerman as minority as possible to take the wind out of the sails of those who want to portray George Z. as a rabid racist who used the 'white' race card to escape punishment for killing an African-American youth; Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and their Liberal and so-calleProgressive friends want to make Zimmerman as white as possible so that they can use him to batter the Right-wing on every issue from gun control to an unjust court/prison system.

Many Hispanic groups don't want to deal with the question of any Hispanic background for Zimmerman because it draws them into the black-white argument. They want to ignore or have amnesia in this case because it would put them smack in the middle of the clash between the extremes of the racial and political extremes. Also it would call to mind in Florida, past cases of Hispanic officers in the Miami area who were accused of abuse of African-American suspects.

Now, for the personal part of the story. I am a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo(Irish-German ancestry) male who is the widower of a 1^st generation Mexican-American woman. I have many friends, relatives by marriage and godchildren who are Hispanic. Up to the time of my move to Sacramento, California in May of this year, I was actively involved in the affairs of the Hispanic community in my hometown of Kenosha and was a very active and vocal member of LULAC Council 320 in the Kenosha/Racine area; I was also a member of the Republican Party of Kenosha County. While for most people in both organizations to which I belonged, I was easily accepted as someone who could walk easily in both worlds and help each try to understand the other. But for some on each side, I was dangerous because I wasn't a simple stereotype. 

For the media, the 'inconvenient truths' of George Zimmerman's background mean, if discussed fully, the need to seriously address racial issues and not merely, no pun intended, present a black and white story. A discussion which would be more than a quick ten, twenty or thirty second sound bite. A discussion which would mean acting like adults and talking to each other, not merely trying to shout

each other down.

By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity Jeffery Cassity is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC). Be sure to also follow my articles on the Sacramento Press website

A New Beginning in a 'Cute Cottage'

Even in a Mexican city well-known for its American expatriate population like San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, there is much of the same poverty and poor housing which is rampant through Mexico and much of Latin America. Bad weather can mean a harsh time or even death. A dozen years ago in 2001, the weather was especially bad. The unusually cold winter weather brought home the extraordinarily difficult conditions that many Mexican families lived under. In response to the deaths caused by the extreme weather, Jeffrey Brown, a San Miguel resident, stonemason and graphic artist, with the help of Irma Rosado, a local human-services consultant, secured a small donation and formed Casita Linda, A.C., a Mexican non-profit.

The organization's mission was to create a dignified, safe and empowering environment that will provide a foundation of hope for families living in extreme poverty. The plan developed called for this to be accomplished through the work of four teams that select the families, build the houses, assist in creating a sustainable environment, and link families with local nonprofits that can help improve their way of life.

Casita Linda(Cute Cottage) began to build its first house on July 10, 2004. The house was built for Estefania, a 104 yr. old woman living in La Huerta. The house was finished and inaugurated on August 29th of that year. The second home was started soon after but wasn’t finished until January 2005. It was for Juan Luna Rosales and his family. The long building process was due to the fact there were often only Jeffrey Brown (the non-profit's founder) and one or two other volunteers working.

Casita Linda’s mission was and is to create a dignified, safe and empowering environment that will provide a foundation of hope for families living in extreme poverty through the building of improved housing, reinforced by the creation of strategic alliances with other nonprofit organizations to take advantage of their expertise in areas such as structural engineering, social services, animal care, and the donation of furnishings and other household necessities.

In early 2008, Casita Linda partnered with the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to design and build a more environmentally and energy-efficient house. The RISD model with subsequent design adjustments and improvements has resulted in houses that are warmer in winter and cooler in summer. Since 2006 Casita Linda has built, on average, eight homes annually.

Casita Linda A.C. now also works in partnership with the San Miguel Community Foundation, a 501c3 US tax exempt charity in its fund raising efforts. US tax exempt donations may be made through the Foundation.

By the way, as of this writing, the organization has passed the sixty(60) house mark.

By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity Jeffery Cassity is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC). Be sure to also follow my articles on the Sacramento Press website

Innocent Until Proven Guilty(unless...)

When George Zimmerman was found 'Not Guilty' of murdering Trayvon Martin, many Americans were shocked and outraged by the verdict. They could not understand how the Florida jury of six(6) women could NOT find Zimmerman guilty of either 2^nd degree murder or manslaughter. Most immediately chalked it up to a white Southern jury not being able to convict a white man of the killing a black youth due to the racial element that has been part of the trial from the beginning in most news reports. They also chalked it up as another example of Florida 'injustice' like the same verdict in the Casey Anthony case. After all, we all 'knew' she killed her young daughter and dumped her lifeless body along the side of a road.

After all, everyone 'knew' based on media reports and 'unofficial' police/prosecution leaks that George Zimmerman WAS guilty. Of course, being fair and responsible and progressive Americans, Zimmerman should be allowed his day in court, but, in the end, it was expected that the results would be what was 'just'(i.e. a conviction)--the presumption of innocence that we are entitled to entering a courtroom even being allowed for.

The problem is that the presumption of innocence is not just a nicety in our legal system. It is the bedrock of our legal system. It is a fundamental principle that each and everyone of us holds onto with dear life---it is the responsibility of the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty. If a jury decides that standard was not reached, then they must as a matter of law find the defendant not guilty. It is easy to Monday morning quarterback a decision reached by any jury. It has happened many times before. Besides the two Florida cases, we have seen the same attitude in the OJ Simpson double murder acquittal, the conviction of Mumia Abu-Jamal for the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer, the acquittal of the LA Police officers in the Rodney King beating case, and countless other cases.

The reality is those who speak out condemning and being shocked by the Zimmerman verdict know in their heart of hearts that if we were to decide the guilt or innocence of defendants based on the standard of 'what we know' instead of 'what the prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt', we would truly be living in a society where it would be dangerous to be accused of a crime.

I would like to finish up with some lines from Robert Bolt's play, A Man for All Seasons:

 

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

 

Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

 

William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

 

Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity Jeffery Cassity is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC). Be sure to also follow his articles on the Sacramento Press website

Too Fast, Too Furious: The Death of a Jalisco Police Chief

The killing of police officers and police chiefs in Mexico is unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence in that country over the past few years. Drug cartels wage war on each other and law enforcement on a daily basis there. What is special about the death of a police chief, Luis Lucio Rosales Astorga in Jalisco earlier this year is that it appears the weapon used to kill him was part of the cache of weapons that entered Mexico and landed in the hands of the various cartels as a result of the ATF sting operation known as 'Fast and Furious'. It is the deepest penetration into Mexico of weapons from the ill-fated venture.

Operation Fast and Furious was an attempt by US authorities to follow the flow of illegal weapons from the US to Mexico by allowing the weapons to make it past the border. Problems developed when US authorities lost track of the weapons. As a result about 1500 semi-automatic and automatic weapons have been used to kill an unknown number of Mexican civilians and law enforcement officers(with the numbers increasing almost daily). Also killed was US Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.  

Several ATF officials were forced to resign as a result of a House investigation into the fiasco. US Attorney General Eric Holder's involvement in the decisions that led to the approval of the plan is still unclear, and he is facing Contempt of Congress charges for failing to turn over all the documents subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the events.

It is interesting to note that Democrats have been quick to point the finger of responsibility at the George W. Bush administration because it ran a similar program in 2007. They of course forget to acknowledge that when the Bush administration ran their program, they did so in cooperation with Mexican police officials so it would be easier to keep track of the weapons involved. Democrats also forgot to mention that the target was American straw-buyers and no guns were allowed to cross the US-Mexican border. Oops!! Details, details, details, my dear Democrats and liberals!

Perhaps before President Obama leaves office, we will have the truth about who knew what and when they knew it. Remember that the biggest mistake that politicians make when they try to cover their errors is that THEY TRY TO COVER THEIR MISTAKES instead of coming clean early.

The biggest part of the problem with Fast and Furious is the steadily increasing body count---victims of the weapons that the President has so forcibly come out against and wants to ban here in the US. If the President and certain members of his Cabinet in the law enforcement had shared this view when it came to Mexican citizens, perhaps Police Chief Luis Lucio Rosales Astorga and hundreds of other Mexicans would still be alive today.

By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity Jeffery Cassity is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC). Be sure to also follow my articles on the Sacramento Press website

Barca's La Masia: Model or Misdirection?

The Barcelona Football Club or Barca as it is better known to its many fans worldwide was featured on a recent episode of 60 Minutes. The story focused on Barca's famed La Masia Academy which is the training school for the Catalonian football club. The training center attracts some of the world's most talented pre-teen and teenage soccer players from around the world by offering the players a full, tuition-free education along with the opportunity to develop their soccer talents under the instruction of the world's best soccer coaching staff. The program has had such success in creating world-class soccer players on a consistent basis that many here in the US argue that it should serve as a model for the development of American soccer talent.

While the merits of using this Svengali methodology of developing outstanding athletes is an interesting subject in itself, my question is this: Is the academic training offered anything special or is it all smoke and mirrors?

If you base the discussion of this question on the 60 Minutes report, you would be working with a flawed source. While 60 Minutes makes it look like the academic side of La Masia is run by the Barca like the soccer training side is, this is not the case. The Barca website discussion of the academics clearly shows that this part of the education of the students is farmed off to the local Barcelona school system. Barca merely pays the fees for the students to attend and offers time in their schedule for them to do their homework.

What we have here is another example of the mainstream media adding to its history of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. CBS also adds to its history of not fully reporting a story and not letting some of the inconvenient facts getting in the way of a story. We all can remember Dan Rather and his expose on George W. Bush's military career back prior to the 2000 Presidential election.

I have to wonder if one of the reasons that CBS and 60 Minutes failed to include the bit of information on the academic side of La Masia was that they didn't want to deal with Barca's methods in recruiting talented soccer players at an early age to insure that they have a talent pool to continually draw from over the years. Perhaps if they had asked questions about the academic side, 60 Minutes would have been forced to ask embarrassing questions about the program in general.

By Being Latino Contributor, Jeffery Cassity Jeffery Cassity is a mostly socially-liberal, fiscally-conservative Anglo male who is involved in his local Hispanic community as the widower of a 1st generation Mexican-American woman and his active, some would say hyperactive, membership in the local Council of the League of Latin American Citizens(LULAC)