A path to understanding the Hispanic Community
January 6, 2009
By Sharon Roznik
Ramon Rios hopes misconceptions about Hispanics and Latinos living in Fond du Lac will be exposed and then disposed of during "Hola!," a four-part cultural series that begins Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Fond du Lac Public Library.
"There exists imaginary lines, imaginary boundaries, and that is what I experienced in Milwaukee, even though at the time I was a kid. I did not understand this concept, but it's somehow imprinted, somehow understood, that you can't cross these (racial) boundaries," said Rios, a 19-year old student attending the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac.
The teen is one of three panelists kicking-off the "Hola!" series with a candid discussion involving some of the cultural challenges immigrants face — including issues of assimilation — as well as the importance of family life and parenting in the Latino and Hispanic cultures.
The presentations, sponsored by the Public Library, the Fond du Lac Association of Commerce and UW-Extension, begin at 7 p.m. and will run for four consecutive Thursdays. Each session will include panel conversations as well as audience participation.
In the 10 years between 1990 and 2000, the Hispanic population in Fond du Lac County grew 112 percent, and the trend continues, said Library Director Ken Hall. Population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate numbers increased from 937 in 1990 to 3,121 in 2006.
The intent of the program, Hall said, is to introduce members of the Hispanic/Latino community to those who may have lived all their lives in Fond du Lac and never had the opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences of another cultural group.
"As more and more people of Hispanic and Latino origin become our friends, neighbors and co-workers, new issues and new ideas emerge from the blending of cultures," he said.
When Rios came to Fond du Lac to attend college, he found some of the same negative attitudes toward Hispanic people as he had in both the big city and small towns.
"People have come to accept the fact that Fond du Lac is no more a white exclusive city, but instead it is slowly becoming a mixed race city. Latinos, Hmong, African-Americans, to name a few, inhabit this city. Sadly, Fond du Lac shares the qualities of a small town, that close-minded attitude, that attitude of being guarded," he said.
Hall said he has received comments from library patrons asking why Spanish is an option on the library's automated voice message.
"People can't understand why we do this. We hear different negative comments, and it makes me think that people don't realize what the community is really like," he observed.
Guest speakers for the series include Paco and Gabriela De LaTorre, owners of Contorno Surfaces; Oscar Reyes, a local independent businessman who also teaches at Moraine Park Technical College in West Bend; Ripon College Professor Katherine Griffith; Judith Lipp from Quad/Graphics; and representatives from the state Department of Workforce Development.
Topics will range from life's differences and self-identity, to diversity and language, employee relations and labor laws, global markets, and the labor force of the future.
Rios brings up the hotbed issue of the recent request by the Comprehensive Countywide Diversity Initiative for the County Board to adopt a Statement of Principles and the subsequent uproar it caused. Some members of the County Board voiced concerns that the Statement of Principles condoned "gay rights."
"I do not bring up the initiative to say that the city of Fond du Lac is a bad city, that it only wants changes for its white citizens. I do not bring it up to lobby for a change to the initiative, but I do bring it up as an example of its guarded attitudes," Rios noted.
Perhaps what is missing, he said, are the stories of the hard-working immigrants who struggled to create a life, and the stories of the third generations, the sons of the sons of those immigrants, who after their ancestors' hard work, have finally achieved a status and eliminated that brand of a "poor" immigrant.
"Yet ... the acceptance doesn't come. Yes, these third generations and future generations have achieved something, but it's something that isn't being taught in schools," he said.
Slowly, the city is working toward an inclusion of all races. The CommUnity event at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds and the Hmong New Year celebration are small yet wonderful steps, Rios said.
"Fond du Lac is becoming more of a diverse city, and by allowing this diversity to occur, wonderful changes will come. The city is on the cusp of major changes. It just needs a simple push in the right direction," he said.
Source: Fond du Lac Reporter
By Sharon Roznik
Ramon Rios hopes misconceptions about Hispanics and Latinos living in Fond du Lac will be exposed and then disposed of during "Hola!," a four-part cultural series that begins Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Fond du Lac Public Library.
"There exists imaginary lines, imaginary boundaries, and that is what I experienced in Milwaukee, even though at the time I was a kid. I did not understand this concept, but it's somehow imprinted, somehow understood, that you can't cross these (racial) boundaries," said Rios, a 19-year old student attending the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac.
The teen is one of three panelists kicking-off the "Hola!" series with a candid discussion involving some of the cultural challenges immigrants face — including issues of assimilation — as well as the importance of family life and parenting in the Latino and Hispanic cultures.
The presentations, sponsored by the Public Library, the Fond du Lac Association of Commerce and UW-Extension, begin at 7 p.m. and will run for four consecutive Thursdays. Each session will include panel conversations as well as audience participation.
In the 10 years between 1990 and 2000, the Hispanic population in Fond du Lac County grew 112 percent, and the trend continues, said Library Director Ken Hall. Population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate numbers increased from 937 in 1990 to 3,121 in 2006.
The intent of the program, Hall said, is to introduce members of the Hispanic/Latino community to those who may have lived all their lives in Fond du Lac and never had the opportunity to learn about the similarities and differences of another cultural group.
"As more and more people of Hispanic and Latino origin become our friends, neighbors and co-workers, new issues and new ideas emerge from the blending of cultures," he said.
When Rios came to Fond du Lac to attend college, he found some of the same negative attitudes toward Hispanic people as he had in both the big city and small towns.
"People have come to accept the fact that Fond du Lac is no more a white exclusive city, but instead it is slowly becoming a mixed race city. Latinos, Hmong, African-Americans, to name a few, inhabit this city. Sadly, Fond du Lac shares the qualities of a small town, that close-minded attitude, that attitude of being guarded," he said.
Hall said he has received comments from library patrons asking why Spanish is an option on the library's automated voice message.
"People can't understand why we do this. We hear different negative comments, and it makes me think that people don't realize what the community is really like," he observed.
Guest speakers for the series include Paco and Gabriela De LaTorre, owners of Contorno Surfaces; Oscar Reyes, a local independent businessman who also teaches at Moraine Park Technical College in West Bend; Ripon College Professor Katherine Griffith; Judith Lipp from Quad/Graphics; and representatives from the state Department of Workforce Development.
Topics will range from life's differences and self-identity, to diversity and language, employee relations and labor laws, global markets, and the labor force of the future.
Rios brings up the hotbed issue of the recent request by the Comprehensive Countywide Diversity Initiative for the County Board to adopt a Statement of Principles and the subsequent uproar it caused. Some members of the County Board voiced concerns that the Statement of Principles condoned "gay rights."
"I do not bring up the initiative to say that the city of Fond du Lac is a bad city, that it only wants changes for its white citizens. I do not bring it up to lobby for a change to the initiative, but I do bring it up as an example of its guarded attitudes," Rios noted.
Perhaps what is missing, he said, are the stories of the hard-working immigrants who struggled to create a life, and the stories of the third generations, the sons of the sons of those immigrants, who after their ancestors' hard work, have finally achieved a status and eliminated that brand of a "poor" immigrant.
"Yet ... the acceptance doesn't come. Yes, these third generations and future generations have achieved something, but it's something that isn't being taught in schools," he said.
Slowly, the city is working toward an inclusion of all races. The CommUnity event at the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds and the Hmong New Year celebration are small yet wonderful steps, Rios said.
"Fond du Lac is becoming more of a diverse city, and by allowing this diversity to occur, wonderful changes will come. The city is on the cusp of major changes. It just needs a simple push in the right direction," he said.
Source: Fond du Lac Reporter
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