Javier Bustamante,
Editor

Editoriales

The Press is finally noticing

In the short space of two weeks, the Maryland press led by the Sun, have begun to notice the Hispanic community in a major way. Not as an amorfous group of people who make statistical news; not either as a "minority" group that is "up and coming" and bears watching; not as a group of "immigrants" that threaten the established "American society"; and not even as "illegals" "who are stealing jobs and taking advantage of schools, welfare checks and other services." Those terrible clichés our community has endured for years are becoming a thing of the past, relegated to the right-wing fringe.

No: suddenly, Carmen Ortiz Larsen, Charlie Ramos, Spanish Town Community Development, the Baltimore Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Jose Ruiz of the Mayor's Committee on Hispanic Affairs, Hector Torres and Miguel Boluda of the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs and several other members of the community are the subject of lengthy, personal, and favorable articles. The Sun, the Montgomery County Gazette and radio stations in the Baltimore Metropolitan area, are vying to get Hispanic leaders in the business, social, political and cultural areas interviewed, and are presenting them in a human, personal and favorable light.

Why now? For years the community has been here and has worked tirelessly to develop our institutions. The Mayor's Committee on Hispanic Affairs had been founded in 1982. The Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs not much later. The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (Maryland) was founded in 1984. And many other social institutions have been around since the 60's.

But the situation has changed. For one, the Census sounded a clarion call that woke up America with the incredible news that Hispanics were becoming the largest minority in the US, bypassing blacks. Less that a year later, Hispanics did pass African Americans as the largest minority. Americans dropped their jaws in disbelief and began to pay attention to the Hispanic community.

Meanwhile, the Maryland Hispanic community was not idle. Chambers of Commerce begun popping up in Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. A community development company, Spanish Town, was formed to develop Upper Fells Point and began its work. The Hispanic Democratic club began the political discourse and was followed by the Maryland Republican Caucus and others. Two Hispanic candidates run for office in Baltimore, one in Montgomery county and two for the Maryland legislature. Three of them won. Small, medium and large businesses have been growing in the state, and contracts with the state and the city are finding their way to Hispanic corporations.

Politicians are also paying attention. Beginning with Mayor Martin O'Malley who increased Spanish-speaking police officers from 22 to 127 and the new Republican administration, the hitherto closed political and administrative offices are opening up. Carmen Ortiz Larsen commented during the last Maryland Hispanic Business Conference:

"I appreciate the governor showed up because it really did compel the media that otherwise would have said, 'Oh, it's another small business event.' They showed up and I think it showed this is more than just a small business event, this is about making a statement that we are a very important component of the state of Maryland and the state of Maryland economy."

She is right. We are here to stay and we are an increasingly important part of the State of Maryland. It is high time the powers that be notice us and open our doors to us.