6 Groups Oppose Boycott Against Disney, Nabisco

By Diane Seotimes staff writer Metro, Dec 10 1994 LA Times Orange Cty edition B-1

Although the groups were vehemently opposed to Proposition 187, which won by nearly a 3-2 ratio at the polls, they said a boycott could lead to more harm.
"This boycott is not about justice," said Michael Potts, a representative of the Orange County Building Trades Council. "It's just a case of blind rage that will pit working people against working people."
Said Angela Keefe, president of the union that represents some Disneyland and Disneyland Hotel employees: "All (the boycott) will do is force our members--50% of whom are immigrant workers--to stay home with no wages and benefits."

A day earlier, activists from grass-roots immigrants rights organizations had met at the same site to unveil their boycott plans. "We are asking people not to heed the call made by small, insignificant groups and individuals that don't have the broad-based support of the Latino community," said Nativo V. Lopez, co-national director of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, one of the groups opposed to the boycott.
"In seeking to respond to Prop. 187, organizations have to focus their attention on launching citizenship projects . . . to encourage Latinos to come forward and adopt the United States as their permanent home," he said.

The statewide ballot measure, approved overwhelmingly last month, would deny education, social services and non-emergency health care to illegal immigrants. A federal ourt judge has temporarily blocked its implementation.
Leaders of the boycott, meanwhile, said the latest developments would not alter their plans to stop buying Nabisco products or spending money at Disney films and businesses. The immigration rights groups today plan to demonstrate outside the main gate of the theme park.
"We can't support companies that support Pete Wilson, who is the No. 1 enemy of the Latino community," said Fabian Nunez of La Alianza, a community advocacy group in Pomona. "The purpose of our boycott is to send messages to businesses that Latino immigrants, through their spending power, won't support politicians who support racist policies. "These groups saying they stand with Disney need to rethink their strategies."

Disneyland spokesman John McClintock said the company, which did not take a stand on Proposition 187, is "gratified" that other groups have come to its defense.
"We felt the boycott was unjust because we supported both candidates running for governor," McClintock said. "We're very proud of our longstanding relationship with the Hispanic American community, and we've done a lot of work to help our employees."
Although Disneyland has no formal citizenship promotion programs in place, McClintock said corporate officials are discussing that possibility. In addition to Hermandad Mexicana Nacional and the building trades council, other groups opposed to the boycott are the League of United Latin American Citizens of California, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 681, the Orange County Central Labor Council and Los Amigos of Orange County.

HISPANIC GROUP GROWS

League of United Latin American Citizens expands into south county
Yvette Cabera The Orange County Register Jan 31 2000

Middle-class Hispanics living in suburban south-county homes, Mexican-American business owners opening markets along El Toro Road in Lake Forest, Central American and Mexican immigrants seeking jobs as day laborers in San Juan Capistrano — these are the faces of a new era for the League of United Latin American Citizens.
"It's an emerging Latino community that clearly justifies our interest and efforts," said Jess Araujo, former state legal advisor to LULAC and a member of its Orange County district.

The purpose is to target the wide spectrum of Latinos, said Araujo, a Santa Ana lawyer.
"Jornaleros (laborers) are part of the Latino community, and we need to be advocates to make sure they are treated fairly," said Araujo. "But you may also be dealing with second- or third-generation Mexicans, maybe a student who gets to the university and doesn't get the courses he needs."
A year ago, there were no LULAC chapters, known as councils, in south county. Today they are in Mission Viejo and Irvine, and on Wednesday a third will be formed in San Juan Capistrano.

Manuel Marroquin founded the Mission Viejo council last summer because he saw Hispanics everywhere, except in the halls of government. "There was nothing. I would go to advisory meetings, and everyone was represented, like Latinos from Santa Ana, Anaheim and Garden Grove, but there were never people from south county," said Marroquin, a 10-year resident of Mission Viejo.
Eight months later, Marroquin's council is inundated with work. He churns out news releases supporting the conversion of El Toro military-base housing into low-income homes. He organizes rallies in support of a state holiday for farm workers' civil-rights leader Cesar Chavez. And he meets with sheriff's and Lake Forest officials to try to hammer out a solution to a day-laborer controversy.

Marroquin's council is just one example of LULAC's growing presence in south county, where changing demographics have diversified communities. Mission Viejo is 9.3 percent Hispanic.
State Director Marcos R. Contreras attributes the increased presence of LULAC to the growing gap between the rich and the poor. A nationwide study recently found that in California the average family income of the poorest 20 percent declined by $2,880, to $12,240, from the late 1970s to the late 1990s For the richest 20 percent, average family income increased by $12,020, to $146,070.
In the past year, LULAC's councils have increased from 38 to more than 50 statewide. Six of the new councils are from the Orange County District, which has 13.

The Irvine council was formed last summer by a group of University of Califrnia, Irvine, students and professionals.
"The point is to network among Latinos so that each of us contributes our grain of sand so we can grow as a community," said Guadalupe Vidales, president of the Irvine council and a student at UCI. Irvine is 6.3 percent Hispanic. Oftentimes, when traditionally white communities see influxes of Hispanics, conflicts and misunderstandings tend to arise and, increasingly, groups such as LULAC are needed to step in as mediators, said Manuel N. Gomez, UCI's chancellor for student affairs.
"At the base of these tensions is fear and, like most fears, it's based on wrong information or misunderstandings. And if we can get through those through better education and organizations like LULAC, we can advance a long way," said Gomez.

The key for groups like LULAC to develop successful relationships is in the approach, said Tony Brown, president of the San Juan Capistrano Community Task Force. Abrasive, anti-white rhetoric would alienate the larger community, he said.
"But if their approach was to be positive and friendly, one where they wanted to be constructive and promote ways for building the bridges and breaking down barriers, I think ... they would be very welcome," said Brown.

San Juan Capistrano, which is 24.7 percent Hispanic, generally is a city with few racial problems, but its ethnic groups tend to stay within their own worlds, Brown said. Hispanics are rarely found in elected city positions, but not for lack of opportunity, he said.
"The truth of the matter is whenever there is an election, anyone can run for a seat," Brown said. "But LULAC would be able to fill a role in organizing and motivating (Hispanics) to take a leadership role, to get elected."
There is still the need for groups like LULAC and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund to help weaker immigrant voices be heard, Gomez said.

Marroquin discovered that last fall when he dived into allegations that sheriff's deputies were harassing day laborers in Lake Forest.
"We felt it was unjust," Marroquin said. After a sheriff's investigation found no wrongdoing, the LULAC council organized a community forum to address the issue. The Sheriff's Department and Lake Forest officials are now collaborating with LULAC on a resolution. Marroquin has proposed creating a community center with a workstation for the laborers.
"I have perceived LULAC to be about peacefully finding solutions for what otherwise could have become a problem," said Kathryn McCullough, a Lake Forest councilwoman.

Zeke Hernandez, LULAC's deputy state director for youths, said self-determination is behind the organization's growth in south county. Latinos in south Orange County "want to participate in decisions that affect them as a neighborhood and community," said Hernandez, a former state director. "In order to be heard, you have to step up to the podium and take the reigns of leadership, and you have to be able to articulate those issues."