Reject military sponsors, too

Roberto Lovato, a colleague in Hispanic advocacy, rightly says that criticism of beer companies being patronized by the National Council of La Raza for sponsorship bucks should not ignore another problem: the Pentagon and the military's hard-sell campaign to young Latinos.

Hispanics are disportionately serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. San Antonio is the most successful city for recruiting numbers. Arab media likes to ridicule this nation's use of so many "Green Card" soldiers. Why don't more Anglo and African-American U.S. citizens want to serve if the cause is so right?

Don't mistake this analysis for any kind of disparagement of our soldiers and their heroics in Afghanistan and Iraq. Disproportionate Latino military numbers include my nephew in the Navy and my cousin as a major in Army communications. Both are returning to Iraq soon. I volunteer with a Marine families group here in Tennessee to send care packages overseas. Members of our military secure my freedom to write this blog. They take an oath to lay down their lives to protect the Constitution of this nation. As a journalist, I've never taken such an oath.

Yet I don't understand how the Bush administration can so heavily recruit Latinos on one hand and then treat their loved ones so cruelly in inhumane ICE raids on workplaces, 287(g) deportation programs in cities like Nashville and a general smear of all Latinos -- citizens or not. Bush's party has blocked immigration reform in favor of punitive measures. How can Latinos fight for someone else's security overseas and leave their loved ones at home to such disrepect and mistreatment?

Because they have a lot of historical experience. My Uncle Salvador was a middle gunner on a B-17 in WWII. Only one person on the crew of 10 welcomed him. Yet he served heroically. When their plane was shot up over Holland, he rescued two of his supposed comrades who had been wounded. He got them out of the plane while pulling their chutes. Meanwhile, he didn't get out in time to avoid a usually fatal crash landing.

He survived and was hidden by the Dutch Underground. His story will be the subject of a future blog post. But when he returned home to the United States, Salvador Chavez was still considered a Mexican and not an American hero. Now at 86 years of age, he gets invitations to join the VFW and other veteran organizations. He declines. They didn't want him back then. Why do they want him now?

Salvador Chavez is a Mexican hero living in the United States -- but not by his own choice.

So yes, my colleague makes an excellent point. The military in this current conflict should be kept away from young Latinos. Their sponsorship money should be rejected. Those brothers and sisters who want to use military service to gain legal residence and citizenship, however, should not be disparaged.

Hispanic economic power is diverse enough to support our causes. We don't need the money from the military risking young lives overseas for an administration mistreating their loved ones here at home. And the beer and liquor companies should be rejected for the poison they're peddling in our communities that puts us at such a social and political disadvantage.