Slashing ethnic center's funds would create racial tension

Editor,

During last year's election, a New Mexican politician made international headlines when he announced that most Latinos would not support an African-American for president. This gentleman, obviously, was not aware of the long history of co-existence and cooperation of Latinos and Africans throughout the United States and Latin America. This gentleman, I also fear, may represent to some degree the very real racial tensions that exist between African-Americans and Latinos in New Mexico.

The racial tension between these two groups that this politician exposed to the world was yet again underscored by the recent proposal to eliminate entirely the programs at UNM that aid African-American students. Whether the proposal came from the Legislature or President David Schmidly's desk is not of major concern, because either way, it reveals an uncomfortable reality for not only African-Americans throughout New Mexico, but for all New Mexicans. The reality is that in these hard economic times, the programs that are being targeted for the most significant budget cuts are the ones that are intended to help those who have the smallest voice and the least chance of resistance. The question is, who's next?

What I'd like to remind people is this: There have been people of African descent in New Mexico as long as there has been a New Mexico. Let's not forget that. If you don't believe me, there are plenty of books at Zimmerman Library that chronicle the history of Africans, African-Americans and Afro-Latinos in New Mexico. Let's celebrate Black History Month by challenging the powers that be and re-affirming that this is a public University charged with serving all New Mexicans.

Tarah Kesse

UNM student