Rodney Dangerfield Syndrome…As if no Latinos can make relevant comments on the issues of the day

July 4, 2008
Mike Jenner
Executive editor
The Bakersfield Californian

Dear Mr. Jenner:

Like others in our community, I was out of town, working with Habitat for Humanity building houses in New Mexico and Colorado, when the story broke of your termination of Leonel Martinez’ column in the Californian. Needless to say it was a sad and confusing decision to understand.  It brought to mind one of the chapters in my recently published book, A Lifetime of Dissent.  The chapter I refer to was entitled,  “Latinos and the Rodney Dangerfield Syndrome,” in which I lament that lack of respect given to Latinos by the electronic media.  While I focus on news programs on television, much the same can be said about the print media.  The connection with my article and your decision to terminate Mr. Martinez’ column is based on the reason you gave for Mr. Martinez’ termination in your letter to Dr. Jess Nieto.  You note: We want our local columnists to present local content. When Leo wrote columns that were local, they could be very good. But far too many of his columns didn’t contain local reporting. They were about national issues. This is the objectionable part, your focus on the fact that Mr. Martinez wrote about “national issues.” In my article I noted that, “as a group, Latinos seem to be considered either intellectually shallow or possessed only of Latino mindedness, as if we had no knowledge nor interest in other topics of concern to America.  It is as if there are no Latinos to be found in this country who can make relevant comments on the issues of the day…as if we, as Latinos, either do not care or are ill-prepared to comment on the situation in Bosnia, the condition of the economy, the race for the presidency.”  Thus, Latinos are seldom part of the parade of pundits who discuss national issues on the Sunday news talk-shows or other public affairs programs on the cable networks.

What is sad about your justification for your actions is that you too seem to believe that Mr. Martinez had nothing relevant to say about national issues.  It is not enough for you to suggest that Ruben Navarette and Mary Sanchez could cover the national issues for us Latinos in Kern County.  The difference is that Leonel Martinez is one of us, a native of the region, a product of our schools, and reflective of our community.  That is why his take on national issues was of more importance to us than Mr. Navarette’s or Ms. Sanchez’ views.  The community at large, not just Latinos could agree or disagree publicly with Mr. Martinez’ views in the pages of your own newspaper, and often did.  I doubt that anyone ever responded to Mr. Navarette’s national column in the same way.  Sadly, you miss the point as to why Leonel was important to so many of us.

The other concern I have with your position on this matter is that you suggest in your letter to Dr, Nieto that he is “a bully.”  The fact that Dr. Nieto suggests a need for perhaps some Latino community action is not an act of “bullying,” rather a recognition of how Latinos have had to behave in their own defense in Kern County over the years.  Dr. Nieto recalls the McGraw Hill Broadcasting Company and Time ~Life license transfer of the late 60s.  As president of the Kern Council for Civic Unity, our organization led the national challenge with the FCC of the transfer of five television channels from Time-Life to McGraw Hill.  We were fighting for women and minorities on camera and improved community service broadcasting.  We were successful in our legal challenge and won groundbreaking concessions from McGraw hill at the national level.  The local NBC affiliate, (Channel 23 at the time) hired its first Latino reporter, Louie Vega, now a judge on the bench in Kern County.

Nothing came easy for Latinos in those days.  Virtually every victory we had as a community was the result of confrontation and our own tenacity.  Like Rosa Parks that Dr. Nieto mentions in his letter to you, we had to struggle, confront and take many risks.  By picketing the Bakersfield City School Board and getting parents and students to begin walkouts of the school we gained the first Latino principal in the city schools were the Latino population was over 90% in some school.  Likewise, as a faculty member at Bakersfield College in 1968, I personally had to lead a faculty and student protest to get the community college board to agree to hire ten minority faculty for the school year to join a black and Asian faculty colleagues as we three were the only token minorities on a faculty of 200.  And again in 1990, as Chairs of the Kern County Latino Redistricting Coalition, Dr. Steve Arvizu and I testified before the California Supreme Court that ultimately agreed with our redistricting plan for the Southern San Joaquin Valley, which resulted in the formation of supervisorial, assembly and senate districts that are now represented by Latino legislators.  (We were not successful in overcoming the City of Bakersfield gerrymandering of council districts which have consistently excluded Latino candidates from having a level playing field for city elections. )  And of course the monumental confrontation and struggle of Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and the UFW is part of American history.

While I can appreciate your concern that some have suggested that “the Californian’s management are somehow xenophobic,” I do have some concern that the Californian failed to see what might be the consequences of your action in terminating Mr. Martinez.  While the electronic media is governed by the principle that the airwaves belong to the public and broadcaster are only licensed to use them, the print media is not so-governed.  In the course of American history the influence of newspapers has not always been positive.  One need only recall the role the Hearst newspapers played in fomenting the Spanish-American War and the other actions of Mr. Hearst in land grabs, union-busting and political subversion.  Today the Murdock papers are following a similar path.

The Californian as a family owned newspaper has exerted great influence in Kern County over the years, made even greater by the fact that there is no competition in the market.  Ms. Moorhouse and the Californian have a great responsibility to the citizens of the area.  For one thing, the Californian should recognize that Latinos in the region have reached critical mass.  As Dr. Nieto rightly points out, the Bakersfield City School District is 72% Latino.  These students are the future consumers, voters, and leaders of the community.  That is why your decision to terminate the only local Latino columnist at your paper is both lamentable and worrisome.  It suggest your failure to recognize the significance of the Latino community in Kern County and your total misunderstanding of how your actions might be interpreted.  While I am not one who sees your actions as xenophobic or racist, and I recognize some of your efforts in support of Latino causes over the years, even your continued support of the fluffy Mas publication, I believe you have much to learn about the needs, concerns, and aspirations of Latinos in this area.

The damage has already been done.  I only hope that you try to understand that the reaction  among so many of us to your actions is motivated by our desire to secure the rightful place in our society for Latinos through education, civic participation, and at times even confrontation.  What we seek is fairness and inclusion in the truly American dream.  The fact that we have to challenge your recent action indicates that we are not there yet.  I only hope that you consider our observations in a thoughtful manner and not see them as a personal rebuke.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Ray Gonzales, PH.D.
Professor Emeritus, California State University System
Former U.S, Foreign Service Officer and State Assemblymen for Kern County