Que Pasa, My Brother?: Taking a Look at Black and Hispanic Relations (1121 hits)
Que Pasa, My Brother?: Taking a Look at Black and Hispanic Relations Rodney Brown Staff Reporter "Stagnant leadership is solely responsible for any tension between Blacks and Latinos," said Dr. Walter Cooper, a retired chemist and humanitarian activist in Rochester. "The world is moving away from homogeneous groupings of people and the leadership of both Blacks and Latinos doesn't understand the world is going global," he said. "You cannot continue to stagnant the progress of people who depend on you with 20th Century leadership." Dr. Cooper pointed-out; where populations of color have come into contact with western populations their experience has been the same. Cooper noted the universal experience for people of color has been complete domination and economic exploitation by western populations. "I don't know any place in the world including the Far East that hasn't had this experience," he said. "Besides geographical differences, Blacks and Latinos have had the same type of exploitative experience and this is somehow forgotten. That's why it's very important leaders of both communities change their perceptions about leadership in order to be progressively effective in the 21st Century." As a founding member of Rochester's Urban League Cooper stated, he never had any problem with Latinos he worked with or the Latino leadership throughout his career. He explained they intentionally included Latinos when the Urban League was started because of the commonalities of problems. Cooper noted, if Blacks faced housing discrimination, job discrimination or limited success in schools, - so did Latinos. "The organization, I participated in structuring looked at the solution to the problem as a solution for everybody," he said. "Today Black leaders think, Black people problems are not Latino people problems and Latino leaders think Black people problems are not Latino people problems. The two groups are like two brothers sitting on opposite sides of the table fighting for the same scraps." Cooper further explained, leaders in both communities have isolated and limited the scope of the people they represent by way of homogeneous politics because the world is inevitably going global. "You're not going to have a beneficial existence," he said. "You're not going to be able to maximize available resources if you live in a homogeneous society."
Cooper believes both leaderships has abandoned their commonality of being economically exploited as a people which has resulted into a serious barrier to others jointly attacking social and educational policies in the community. Cooper accused Black and Latino leaders who emerged during the 1970's of constructing separate silos around economic, social and educational priorities. "You're not going to solve the Black educational problem separate from the Latino educational problem," he said. "Either you going to solve the problem for everyone or you'll never solve it." "I think people don't get the message," he added. "If you think you're going to have a high quality of life in a homogeneous community; you're whistling Dixie. The world is moving toward globalism and we must begin to understand our future in terms of a heterogeneous world. You have to become a part of a world of differences and not be isolated because what happens in the global economy will impact you whether you like it or not." Cooper coined the term "condescending fraternalism" to describe how groupings of people that have been socially and economically exploited look to others instead of each other to help solve or mitigate generational problems. As an example he noted, the United Way of Greater Rochester, headed by Peter Carpino is one of many organizations that still exploits people of color. "The United Way convince Black leaders that their problems are different from Latinos, so they decided to create the African American Leadership Development Program (AALDP) and the Latino American Leadership Development Program (LALDP)," he said. "Then they'll (United Way) go tell Asian Americans their problems in America are different too. So what's next? Of' course, an Asian American Leadership Development Program. Large corporate social organizations headed by non minorities are continuing to exploit the generational problems of minority groups for their benefit," he said. "Ninety-five percent of minority leaders; especially Blacks looks for incentives that develop out of condescending fraternalism and 99 percent of Whites look for it as a basis of operation." He noted it's very strange how social organizations are always quick to separate minority groups and their problems instead of uniting them. "Our main problem is accommodation- we accept!" he said. "Our children shouldn't be recipients of condescending fraternalism. We should expect higher not less." Cooper believes the willingness of Black and Latino leaders to adhere to homogeneous politics effects the way people who they represent interact with other groups." Young Blacks and Latinos don't strive to come together because their leaders are practicing separation at the decision making level," he said. "Both communities have leaders that are big fishes in small ponds because the pond is now global. You cannot achieve significant things for your clientele through the prism of your own eyes. We don't have leadership that's concern about the children and their futures," he said.
In response to the question- Can the gap be closed Cooper stated, yes; with 21st Century leadership that is sophisticated and knowledgeable of the global aspect of our lives with knowledge, buttress by vision, insight, courage, and integrity. "We have a whole lot of leaders that profess to be leaders and don't have an ounce of integrity," said Cooper. Born in Clariton, Pa. Cooper received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Washington and Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa. in 1950. In 1956, he became the first African American to earn a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Rochester (UR). After completing his doctorate, he began a successful career at Eastman Kodak Company from which he retired in 1986. As a business and philanthropic leader, Cooper has been a long-time supporter of initiatives to increase Rochester's economic growth. Cooper's humanitarian efforts also are international. In 1975 he was the chair of the Bamako, Mali-Rochester, N.Y. Sister Cities Committee, and in 1985 with the support of the city and the UR, he was a founding member of the Bamako, Mali, Children's Committee, which was formed to alleviate medical atrophy in children. Don't Pay For Groceries Get Them Free! http://ning.it/cLGJ4e
