Leaders propose a minority alliance
Democratic congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (District 4) hosted an informal dinner on August 10 at her office in DeKalb County in order to discuss with various Latino community leaders about forging an alliance between Hispanics and African-Americans.
McKinney said she was convinced that ethnic minorities must come together to push for the legislation they want and added that Latinos need more congressional representation.
“It is so important that the Latino and African-American communities work together to resolve common problems,” said McKinney, whose district covers part of DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties. “Nationally, the Latino community has been displaced from its rights for representation. In several states I’ve seen that the Latino population has the desire to have representation at the congressional level and have better opportunities.”
McKinney said that if Latinos want to be better represented and have a stronger voice in the political process, they must take their responsibilities seriously and be ready to become citizens....
“All of us as immigrants must educate ourselves on the anti-immigration bills being presented on the local and national levels to find out what is really at stake here,” said Vega. “If they are passed, the bills will impact the immigrant community strongly and at that point there will be no way to help them.”
The coalition plans to meet again in September to discuss local minority issues.
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