CHAPTER 7

De Colores: Inclusiveness and Diversity

FILLING OUT MY FIRST US Census form in 1970, I searched for a category that would acknowledge my culture and ancestry. I felt a loud thud in my heart as I finally checked the “Caucasian” box. As I filled out the forms, I heard my abuela’s sweet voice, “Ay, mi hijita, nunca olvides quien eres y de donde venistes” (Oh, my dearest little daughter, never forget who you are and where you came from). But remembering your history and embracing your identity is a difficult feat when there is no acknowledgment that your people even exist.

We all have a deep need to be accepted for who we are. This is particularly true for Latinos and other people of color, who have been relegated to a minority status and measured by a White ideal. The story of how “the Browns” (Hispanics) became a category in the US census illustrates the unique history of this cultural medley. (Of course, members of other ethnic groups such as South Asians, Pacific Islanders, Middle Easterners, and American Indians may also consider themselves Brown, but in this story Brown refers to Hispanics and Latinos.)

The process that changed the census categories made it much more inclusive and offered many more choices of racial and ethnic identities. To make a government and bureaucratic event more interesting, I have taken some creative liberties to spice up the story.

Latino, Hispanic, Mexicano, Cubano, Mestizo, Puerto Riqueño—Who Are You?

MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS ago a great and articulate Black prophet named King arose from his people and led a movement to assert their rights and forge a strong and powerful identity. This was a time when America saw itself in Black and White. Brown people were trying to figure out, Who are we? Yet the civil rights movement planted seeds that blossomed into the many fragrances that make up America today.

From the earliest days of the Constitution, one of the ways the US government distinguished people was by race and color. Every ten years, the census counters scoured the countryside, tallying and identifying the people that made up this great land. It was after the national count in the year nineteen hundred and seventy that the census counters, pulling their hair in frustration, went scurrying to the Great White Father. They asked, “What do we do with this disparate group, ‘the Browns,’ who are writing down all kinds of concoctions and can’t be put into a category?”

The Browns were, in fact, identifying themselves as Mexican, Cuban, and Spanish (in the Southwest many could trace their heritage back eight generations to the Spanish land grants). Others identified themselves by the place they, or even their grandparents, were born—as Puerto Rican, Colombian, Brazilian, Chilean, and Salvadoran. The list was v-e-r-r-r-y complicated, because the Browns had kinship with twenty-six countries, including Brazil and Portugal. “Ay caramba,” lamented the census takers, “we have only four categories: Caucasian, Black, Asian, and Native American. What are we suppose to do with ‘the Browns’? They are supposed to check the Caucasian box!”

The chaos intensified when many of the Browns took it upon themselves to embellish exactly where they came from. (Well, they were asked, weren’t they?) If they were from Texas, they were Tejanos. Politically active Mexican descendants wrote Chicano. The offspring of Chicanos and Puerto Ricans noted that they were ChicoRicos (chico meaning “kid” and rico meaning “rich, delicious, tasty, and sweet”!) A CubaNica was a cross between a Cuban and Nicaraguan—and a great dancer. The red-haired lassies who were Irish and Chicano were Leprecanas. And, of course, those of Chinese ancestry got in the game by noting they were ChinoLatinos.

The census takers were quickly finding out that the Browns valued something called personalismo, which meant everyone was único, an individual with a story to tell. Some people proudly noted their entire genetic line on the census forms—French, Spanish, Indian, and Brazilian. These details, the census counter learned, were inherited from the Spanish, one of the links holding the Browns together. Spain for centuries had a history of regionalism and became a nation only through the tenuous marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand right before Columbus set sail on the Santa María. Even today the Spanish continue to identify themselves by their states—Basque, Valenciano, or Navarrese, for example. The Basques are still struggling for independence. Since 1841, Navarre has signed five treaties with Spain and has autonomy over most of its governance. Imagine one of the US states having this type of independence!¹ This whole thing was un-American. It had to stop. Someone needed to get a handle on Who are the Browns?

Then census bureaucrats had a bright idea. Let’s ask them what they want to be called. A big powwow was called in the Capitol, and leaders from the “Browns” were flown in. One was Leo Estrada of UCLA, a leading demographer.² The census counters thought he would know what to call these people, since he was one of them. The leaders deliberated for a very long time. The census counters began to pace. Finally, in the wee hours, a compromise was reached. The government could use the term Hispanic, referring to Hispania, the old Roman name for Spain. Hispanic was English, not a Spanish word, so the census counters were muy contentos!

The head of the Census Bureau hurried to the Office of the Great White Father and urged him to make this official before the Browns changed their minds. And so it came to pass that President Richard Nixon’s OMB Statistical Directive 15 came into being.³ From then on there would be five colors in the American palette. The conglomerate of people spanning five hundred years of the mestizaje was baptized Hispanic.

Just Check the Box

THE DEBATE AMONG HISPANICS, however, continued, reflecting their diversity and the difficulty of finding one communion wafer everyone could swallow. Many prefer the term Latino, even though it can be traced to the Roman occupation of Spain many centuries ago. Latino is politically and culturally a more useful term because it connects people to Central and Latin America and unites them through culture, kinship, and the Romance languages. And it is a Spanish word. (Latino was not added as a designation until the 2010 census.⁴)

For the census takers, the complex story of the “Naming of Hispanics in America” did not stop with the adoption of Statistical Directive 15. Since Hispanics are an ethnic group and can be Black, White, Yellow, or Red, the census takers took out their racial microscope and surmised that all their categories needed to change to really capture the essence of America’s racial genetics. They now began to categorize people—White non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut non-Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander non-Hispanic. The whole spectacle of the race-based census was becoming a circus under the multicultural tent. Hispanic, which was once a strange mutt that needed a name, now became the standard for all other racial delineations. The Hispanic machinations with the Census Bureau gave new meaning to the biblical phrase “The last shall be first.”

Unlike African Americans, Native Americans, or Asian Americans, whose blood content defines them, Latinos are the only group that self-identifies. According to F. James Davis in his book, Who Is Black? One Nation’s Definition, anyone with any known Black African ancestry is considered Black.⁵ In the racist South this was the basis for the one-drop rule, which came to mean that anyone with any Black blood was considered Negro. Native Americans have blood quantism, imposed by the treaties, which means a person must have legal proof of their bloodline to be enrolled in a tribe.⁶ Asian refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.⁷

On the other hand according to the US census, “An individual’s responses to the race question and to the Hispanic origin question are based on self-identification.”⁸ It could be said then, that to identify as a Latino, you simply check the box on the census. Regarding this distinction Raul Yzaguirre surmises, “America needs a different paradigm of what it means to be Latino. The prototype of the Native or African Americans, where your blood content defines who you are, doesn’t work. Latinos are a culture, not a race. Culture, it must be remembered, is learned and not inherited. My definition of Latino is anybody who wants to be a Latino, bienvenido—welcome to the family.”

Latinos hold the promise of a new America with inclusiveness and diversity at its core. They invite people to look beyond race to the cultural, spiritual, and historical bonds that hold us together. Yes! For those hankering to truly experience another culture, come on in. The door to partake in the Latino culture is a revolving one and remains wide open! Chapter 13 invites non-Latinos to incorporate Latino values and way of life and to use this as a launching pad to experience other cultures. But, if you really want make a stand and be part of the Latino familia, in the next census, just check the box! This would start a cultural revolution and end centuries of race-based identity in the United States that commenced with the Constitution. As Yzaguirre concludes, “This concept would revolutionize America’s race consciousness.”

Leading with a Bienvenido Spirit

MANY TIMES, SUCH AS in the history of North America, colonization or conquest did not result in a blending or fusion of cultures, particularly not on a mass scale. Perhaps the many connecting points between the Spanish and Indian cultures fostered this integration. Or possibly, the indigenous hope, as represented by Our Lady of Guadalupe, engendered faith that eventually the mestizaje would herald a better future. In spite of the historical trauma of the conquest, a positive result was that the Mestizo, or blended, culture had permeability and an ability to incorporate differences. Bienvenido, or inclusiveness, is part of the Latino DNA.

Bienvenido means “to receive or accept with pleasure; to approve or appreciate; and even to embrace.”⁹ The bienvenido spirit is evident in Latino hospitality, generosity, and receptivity to differences. The large extended family, sense of community, and inclusive leadership approaches also reflect a genuine openness. Bienvenido can be found in the acceptance and integration of immigrants into the Latino community. (More on this in chapter 9.)

Of course, the vast diversity presents an ongoing challenge: leaders must forge a common identity, vision, and purpose from a conglomerate of people who are blended together like a delicious pico de gallo (chopped-up salsa ingredients that retain their separate flavors). Forging a collective identity from expansive diversity has been the ongoing work of leaders. By infusing leadership with an inclusive and celebratory nature, and by reinforcing the values that hold people together, leaders build cohesiveness and identity.

Inclusiveness is reflected in many organizations that were initially begun by a specific Latino subgroup, but in step with the culture’s bienvenido nature, they have extended their reach. The Mexican American Women’s Association, the largest Hispanic women’s organization in the United States, for example, changed its name in the 1990s to MANA—a National Latina Organization. This enabled it to reach out to Latinas from every subgroup. The Cuban American Council (CAC) began in 1972 and initially served the needs of Cuban Americans. Shortly after its founding, CAC expanded to serve all individuals in need with a focus on Hispanic Americans. Today the council sees its mission as providing human services to persons in need from all racial and ethnic groups. CAC assists individuals in becoming self-reliant and builds bridges among America’s diverse communities.¹⁰

In assessing Latino inclusiveness it is important to remember that historically and even today more than 60 percent are of Mexican American descent. Before the 2010 census, over 50 percent of Latinos reported living in Texas and California.¹¹ Thus geographic boundaries and national ancestry could have splintered the Latino identity. Instead, organizations such as the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), originally founded as a civil rights organization to assist Mexican Americans, has made great strides in bringing subgroups together around a unified Hispanic agenda. In 1968, when NCLR began, there was no national voice for Latinos equivalent to that of the NAACP or the National Urban League. Today NCLR makes concerted efforts to have diverse representation on the board, staff, programs offered, and even geographically. Another inclusiveness indicator is that in 1973 the bylaws were amended to require equal representation of men and women.¹² (Chapter 10 will expand on this inclusive collaborative trait.)

Inclusivity across Generations

LATINO INCLUSIVENESS IS EVIDENT in the way the culture embraces all ages and stages of life. The leaders in this book, for instance, span decades: Mayor Julián Castro is thirty-seven years old, while Raul Yzaguirre is seventy-three. Latinos respect the circle of life—from the promise of youth to the wisdom that comes with age.

Unlike societies where people retire, the Latino culture honors its elders, who remain in leadership roles and continue contributing. Since it was understood that it would take many generations for Latinos to advance, the mentoring and preparation of subsequent generations has been an age-old practice. Hilda Solis, the US secretary of labor, notes its importance: “We have to motivate our young people to build upon our legacies. We have to encourage them to reach out and include other people. We need to make sure there is a pathway to follow and that leadership is passed down generation to generation.”

This approach is even more pertinent today because an immense generational shift is occurring. The Millennials are the largest and most diverse generation in history. Latinos are at the headwaters of this change and compose 20 percent of the Millennials.¹³ Moreover, one in five school children today is Hispanic, as is one in four newborns. Never before has an ethnic group made up so large a share of the youngest Americans.¹⁴ By force of numbers alone, young Latinos will shape the twenty-first century.

Simultaneously, because of the graying of White America, baby boomers are retiring at a rate of ten thousand per day.¹⁵ Due to the urgency of these changes, the intergenerational practices described below have been tailored to apply to the Millennial generation. Since one of this book’s purposes is to inspire young Latinos to stay connected to their culture and to learn the practice of established leaders, this section provides insights for working with younger generations.

Intergenerational Leadership

IN MANY TRADITIONAL CULTURES, mentoring was a way to prepare young people for leadership. This implied a hierarchy and a one-on-one approach where established, usually older, leaders handed down knowledge and bestowed influence. Mentoring was integral to succession planning so power could be retained and passed on to select groups.

In contrast, Latino mentoring implies an intergenerational approach that reflects the family structure. Leaders groom the younger generation in order to strengthen community capacity, ensure continuity, and build the critical mass needed for social change. Intergenerational leadership is sharing responsibility with people of all ages. Mayor Castro speaks to this: “People from different generations need to work together. This way we can preserve our history, keep the integrity of those who came before, and young people will understand the sacrifices made in the past. Otherwise young people may compromise and lose their culture. Only by staying connected across generations can we keep moving forward together.”

The civil rights movement produced a formidable group of Latino leaders who created organizations that laid the foundation for current progress. To continue this progress, young people need to lead, starting at an early age. Arturo Vargas was a leader in high school. “I was on student council, and then student body president. I was involved in church and became president of the altar boys’ club and coordinated a full guitar group. When I got to college I was ready to get involved on campus.”

In 2000, recognizing the need to groom young Latinas, I invited a group of seasoned Latina leaders to talk about the need for additional reinforcements to keep up the progress we had made. We realized that our hands-on, long-term experience had made us effective leaders. Our success was due to mutual support, networking, and having been groomed by more established leaders. Quite frankly, we weren’t getting any younger and were passionate about passing on the leadership legacy in our community.

Thus was born the Circle of Latina Leadership, a year-long intergenerational program for emerging leaders in their twenties and thirties that would guide the Denver Hispanic community’s future. We didn’t realize it, but we were paving a path for Latinas of many ages to learn and lead together. One founder was Lena Archuleta, the first Hispanic principal in the Denver Public Schools, who continued mentoring and working with Circle women until she passed away at ninety. Along with other founders she was part of the Leadership Council who acted as madrinas (godmothers) and shared their wisdom and experience.

The young women participants were mentored by established leaders in their forties and fifties that helped them chart their careers, connect to their culture, and contribute to the community. Participants in turn were asked to mentor junior high school girls, helping them to succeed in school and embrace their cultural roots. Each woman completed a Community Action Project in which they practiced and strengthened their skills. To date, over 165 emerging leaders have completed the program and are already becoming the next generation of leaders.

In a similar fashion, the National Hispana Leadership Institute (NHLI), which prepares Latinas for national leadership, requires graduates to mentor two young women. In 2001 NHLI also developed Learning to Lead—a training, mentoring, and networking program for college-age Latinas. NHLI programs require participants to create a community-impact project. Assisting the community and mentoring the younger generation are trademarks of Latino leadership programs.

Organizations such as the US Hispanic Leadership Institute based in Chicago focus on youth development and have structured internship programs for college students to promote grassroots community organizing and leadership.¹⁶ Perhaps the best example of intergenerational leadership is ASPIRA, which has now trained six generations of Puerto Rican youth. The four intergenerational leadership practices that follow build on these traditions and suggest strategies to engage youth.

1. Change mentors to allies

WE NEED A NEW concept for “mentor,” one in which all ages contribute and share responsibility. This concept would reposition the one-up, one-down of traditional and hierarchical mentoring, which usually implies an older leader teaching and guiding a younger one. Perhaps when change happened more slowly and young people were not as educated, technologically savvy, or as experienced, this passing on of knowledge on a one-way street might have been appropriate.

Today, each generation has unique perspectives and skills to contribute, which requires a more lateral and equal relationship in which information and knowledge is exchanged. Sharing experiences, distributing work, and offering mutual respect are integral to Latino leadership. These values are embraced by the Millennial culture as well. They thrive on collaboration. (Wikipedia, Yelp, and Facebook reflect this trend.)

While fully 94 percent of Millennials have said they have great respect for the older generation,¹⁷ they also want to be respected as equal contributors. Searching for a new word for mentor, I asked the 2012 class of NHLI to think of a more term suitable term, and they brilliantly suggested aliados—allies. An ally infers a connection—mutual help and support—with someone who watches your back and stands hand in hand with you.¹⁸

2. Cultivate circular relationships

SINCE OVER 40 PERCENT of Millennials come from communities of color and were raised in traditional We cultures, they value connectivity and value group welfare over individual reward. In fact, they have been termed the We generation.¹⁹ Latino leaders can capitalize on these preferences by supporting circular relationships that foster participation, support, and mutual learning.

Mutual learning requires listening across generations and being open to new ways of communication and self-expression. For instance, a historical perspective that helps young people understand and integrate past experiences is a great gift that a more mature person can offer. More traditional ways of communication can bring increased depth and commitment. Younger people can transform this knowledge into innovative practices that are in sync with the needs of today. They can use their social networking and technological skills to expand and disseminate these practices.

Cooperation between generations requires older leaders to shake off a belief that they always know best or should be in charge. Young people must develop patience and learn from and respect the achievements of those who have come before them. Antonia Pantoja, who started ASPIRA to train Puerto Rican youth, had a knack for building circular relationships and encouraging young people to share responsibility: “What do you do about the future?” she asked. “I make the future. You make the future. We make the future together.”

3. Promote meaningful participation

LATINO LEADERS UNDERSTAND THAT developing youths’ capacity necessitates hands-on participation, which increases skills, ownership, and commitment. For intergenerational leadership to be “real,” responsibility and power have to be distributed among all ages. Young people must share in the decision-making power and be equal players. To be ongoing, this commitment should be integral to the organizational structure and culture.

NHLI is celebrating twenty-five years of operations, and today the majority of board members are alumnae. Although they have matured, they still represent the younger participants who will eventually become board members. As board members, they learn strategic leadership and shape the future of organization. Likewise, after ten years of operation, 50 percent of the Circle of Latina Leadership’s 2012 board of directors was made up of alumnae. And they now compose the majority on the executive committee.

Because state laws required board members to be twenty-one, ASPIRA leaders went to the New York state legislature to get an exemption. They changed the bylaws, lowering the age to eighteen. Student representatives are full-voting board members. According to Ron Moreno Blackburn, the longtime national president, this promotes leadership development, strengthens youth empowerment, and ensures a strong youth voice in the organization. Through intergenerational leadership, ASPIRA is ensuring the progress and sustainability of the Puerto Rican community.²⁰

4. Foster social action

SINCE THE LEADERSHIP OF a minority without substantial power or influence requires a long-term social activist approach, leaders must pass on this activist spirit to subsequent generations. Fortunately, this is in line with the beliefs of Millennials, who show a deep concern for social inequity. Nine out of ten feel a responsibility to make a difference in the world. Seventy-eight percent are willing to make significant sacrifices, such as earning less money, to address the major environmental, economic, and security challenges facing our country.²¹ This is not surprising—diverse and multicultural, they are the children of the progressive boomers and stand on the legacy of civil rights.

This generation has good reason to pursue a social activist agenda. The national debt stands at $10 trillion, or $30,000 for each of them; one out of two is predicted to get cancer; the rivers, air, and land are polluted; and they will not live as long as their parents.²² In 2009, 67 percent of college graduates had debt averaging $24,000, up 6 percent from the previous year.²³

Millennials, and the growing Latino youth population, will become the political and social activists of this century. In these pressing times, leaders are compelled to pass on their knowledge, perspectives, and experiences on how to promote social change to the younger generation so they have the tools to address the critical issues they will face.

De Colores—of Many Colors

IN THE 1960S, WHEN humble farm workers marched with César Chávez they sang “De Colores.” A traditional and beloved song, thought to have been brought over from Spain in the sixteenth century, “De Colores” literally means “of many colors.”²⁴ The song celebrates the incredible beauty of diversity—the multicolored birds, the radiant garden flowers, the luminescent rainbow. The chorus of “De Colores” says that because life by its nature appears in so many colors, so too great love also comes in a multitude of colors.

The love of diversity reflected in this song is deep within the Latino soul because Latinos are de colores. The many colors of humanity are right across the family dinner table. While the US census took over two hundred years to recognize the Latino identity, the song “De Colores” clearly defines it.²⁵ We are a diverse people that represent the beautiful colors of humanity.

Interestingly, in 2000 for the first time the Census Bureau gave people the option to identify as de colores by choosing more than one race. In 2010, 3 percent used this option. However, the multiracial population younger than eighteen has grown almost 50 percent since 2000, making it the fastest-growing US youth group.²⁶ Young people today are increasingly de colores.

This moment in history when the Latino community is coming of age is also the time when leaders must ensure that people of different races, sexual orientation, ages, nations, religions, and cultures work and live peacefully together. We have surmised that Latino destino is shaping the diverse and inclusive society. De colores offers a pathway to accomplish this—to integrate our kaleidoscope society and to embrace the gifts of all people, including every generation. For this reason, I believe “De Colores” should be the Hispanic national anthem.²⁷

¡Ándale!—Moving Forward

PART IV OFFERS FIVE principles that describe the ways Latinos lead their communities. These principles offer valuable insights and knowledge for leading from a Latino perspective and structures leadership to contain a higher sense of community, a deep social responsibility, and a strong sense of service. Leadership is a collective process that can be seen in the internal and external coalitions leaders build and in the global vision they uphold.

Leadership is renewed through celebration that replenishes people’s resolve to work for long-term change. The deep well of fe and esperanza (faith and hope), described in chapter 12 sustained Latinos through their tumultuous past, continues to inspire them today, and provides esperanza for a better future.