By CHELON DYAL

The Utah Latino community has become a house divided in recent issues of changing political climate.

Issues such as the new state law which replaces illegal immigrants’ drivers’ licenses with driving privilege cards, the national Real ID Act and the push for immigration reform have opened a well of opinions.

Emotions continue to run high over these issues, but Tony Yapias has a plan he said he believes will prevent further dissention among the Latino community.

Yapias, the state’s former director of Hispanic Affairs, is organizing a state-wide community service event to commence July 30. Yapias said the event, called Latino Service Day, is meant to create something positive out of the rising negative feelings.

“After the Utah drivers license law came out, there were a lot of people upset and there were a lot of emotions about it,” Yapias said. “Our idea of the service day was to use it as a way to get our emotions out and do something positive.”

Yapias organized committees all over the state, from Logan to St. George, to find service events that can take place in each local community. Yapias said the whole idea is for people to stay within their own community because all communities need service.

“One of the purposes of Latino Service Day is to let people know that they can look at their neighbors to find ways to serve,” Yapias said. “People call me wondering what they can do. I ask, ‘Do you have any elderly in your neighborhood?’ When they say yes, I say, ‘There you go, you have a project right there.’ We want to first look in our own communities to see what can be done and then go outward from there.”

Rosa Martinez, organizer of the service committee in St. George, said she is optimistic for the event.

“It is a beautiful idea,” Martinez said. “Everyone I have contacted about it has been very supportive and happy to participate.”

Yapias, who said his service roots go back to when he was a student at BYU, has set three main goals for the service day: to change the general perception of Latinos as a burden to the state’s resources, to promote unity among Latinos and others in the community and to empower Latinos by creating a positive social presence in their communities.

“We feel like we need to help people understand that we are taking pride in being members of this community,” Yapias said. “We are going to be good citizens. We are going to take pride in our cities, our counties and our state. We will try to be good people.”

Yapias said there has been some opposition within the Latino community about the event, but feels that overall the Hispanic people are supportive.

“Naturally, even within our own Hispanic community, there are certain individuals who believe that we shouldn’t be doing this,” Yapias said. “They feel like there is no purpose for it.”

The forefront of the opposition specifically comes from the Mexican-American community. One individual, John Renteria, has been very public about his opinions against the Latino Service Day, including writing a letter to the editor of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Renteria, a second generation Mexican-American, said he feels like there is no redeeming social value in rallying Latinos to try to change a general perception.

“The perception that all brown people are immigrants and a drain on the state’s resources can’t be changed in a day of picking up trash or donating blood,” Renteria said. “That perception is based on racism and discrimination and until they’re eradicated, we will always be viewed as a drain.”

Renteria said these opinions exist strongly between Mexican-Americans because they have been the strongest migrants to the U.S. and have faced this kind of racism for years. Renteria said Mexican-Americans have already proved their citizenship in the past.

“These new immigrants from Central America are coming in here and trying to re-invent the wheel with this service day,” Renteria said. “They think that they have something to prove here, but we’ve already been there and done that.”

Renteria said he thinks Latinos should serve their communities because it’s the right thing to do, not because they think it will change the public opinion in their favor.

Yapias has heard all of the concerns and said he plans to move forward. He said if they can promote solidarity for Latinos through service then they could unify communities.

“This is very important because the Latino community is very diverse,” Yapias said. “We are Mexicans and we are Central and South Americans, so there is a great mixture and diversity within our community. This will bring people together from all countries and religious backgrounds, working together for a common goal.”

One supporter of the Latino Service Day is Gonzalo Palza, a member of the governor’s Hispanic Advisory Council. Palza said he understands the opposing opinions but thinks the Latino Service Day will serve its purpose.

“The larger issue is a perception in the community that needs to be changed,” Palza said. “And we don’t want to change it through boycotts, we don’t want to do it through activism or confrontation, but we want to do it through service. Particularly because this state is traditional and has a great tradition of service – they respect the concept and want to be part of it – and we want to demonstrate that to the community as well.”

Palza said if the individuals with opposing opinions come out to help at the event, they would be welcomed. However, he said the Latino Service Day will move forward with or without them.

Palza said he would like to see all ethnic groups included, not just Latinos, in a unified service effort.

“We would like to bring the community together,” Palza said. “At the end of the day, we will try to establish our community in the eyes of everyone as what it really is – productive, loyal, family oriented, diverse and rich in culture. Ultimately this is what has to come through, and then we may just make it.”

Yapias said he recognizes the need for service throughout the year and not just on a specific day. He has set a goal to plan a Latino Service Day four times a year, once every season.

For a list of committees and events planned for the Latino Service Day, visit the Web site at www.utahpl.org.



Copyright Brigham Young University 11 Jul 2005