Speaker after speaker captured differing pieces of this
truth:
The year 2015 is far removed from the worries of the last
time the National Council of La Raza planned its national convention for Kansas
City.
Mayor Pro Tem Cindy Circo on Tuesday gracefully put to rest
the disgrace that laid the groundwork for the NCLR conference to be held this
July, rather than six summers before. Circo avoided mentioning former mayor
Mark Funkhouser by name.
But he was the one who set in motion a backlash that caused
the civil rights organization to yank its 2009 convention from the city.
Funkhouser appointed a woman to the parks board who had joined a local
fledgling Minuteman group known for illogical rants against immigrants and
patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border. He wouldn’t back down, even after the woman
said she didn’t want to be on the board.
The past controversy feels so distant. Now there is wide
support for and understanding of the conference’s importance. And there is the
good luck of timing. National attention looks more at the Latino population, a
reflection of its growing clout.
Circo’s remarks came at a luncheon held by the Central
Exchange as a lead-up to the convention. Those attending represented a wide
range of bistate elected leadership and a host of other influential people.
Kansas City, Kan., Mayor Mark Holland said the convention
will be an opportunity to showcase the economic boons from the area’s strong
immigrant history. He noted that KCK has no ethnic majority and mirrors
national trends in the way immigration leads its population growth. Janet
Murguía, president and CEO of NCLR, is also a Kansas City, Kan., native.
Past NCLR conferences have drawn Presidents Barack Obama,
Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Given that campaigning for the 2016
presidential race is gearing up, appearances by politicians courting votes and
limelight are all but guaranteed for the Kansas City event.
Murguía has played a major advocacy role for Hispanic
attainments in business, education and other needs, including immigration. She
has called out Obama for his record-breaking numbers of deportations, labeling
him the “deporter in chief.” But she has pressed equally hard for comprehensive
reforms that can only come with bipartisan support.
“We can find a common-sense solution for folks to get right
with the law.”
Read more here:
http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/mary-sanchez/article7804062.html#storylink=cpy
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