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Mr Richard Barnes, somos
orgullosamente latinoamericanos
La Campaña de Reconocimiento
de la Comunidad Latinoamericana ha enviado una respuesta
concreta y seria a la alcaldia
de Londres, sobre la resolucion tomada por el Vicemayor Richard Barnes, de encasillarnos
en una fariseica categoría : Latin American / Iberian American, como una fácil salida
de su parte,
a la solicitud de reconocimiento de la comunidad latinoamericana.
El siguiente es el texto de la carta, que apoyamos abiertamente en www.comunalatina.com.
English versión
To the Latin American Community and the general public
Response to the letter from the Mayor of London on the recognition of the Latin American
community
Regarding the decision of the Mayor of London conveyed in the letter of the Vice
Mayor Mr. Richard Barnes of September 10, 2010, we state the following:
We disagree with the category "Latin American / Iberian American" because, although this name, apparently includes the Latin American community, we believe that the category “Iberian American”, on the one hand, creates confusion and on the other hand, threatens the unity of our community .
From our point of view that name does not express clearly the wish of our community
to be recognized as an ethnic minority with the category "Latin American", which
is the name that identifies us.
We also believe that the letter does not adequately explain how the decision has been made. Our major objection is that the decision of Mr Barnes shows no evidence of any consultation with our community.
For our campaign, consultation and dialogue are the most appropriate and democratic
mechanisms to determine the most appropriate name for the recognition of any ethnic
community.
Our campaign approached City Hall on one occasion this year to explain our objectives
to representatives of those responsible for working with community groups. On another
occasion our campaign handed to the Mayor of London and to the deputy mayor, letters
explaining the position of our campaign. Since then we have received no response
to these letters nor any further contact.
As regards the decision of the mayor of London, we reiterate our wish to be recognized
with our own denomination, and that we Latin Americans do not identify with the category
"Iberian American" because we believe that this name does not fully express our identity.
Our concerns about the name “Iberian Americans” have been already explained in various
documents issued by our campaign.
Our campaign has established dialogue with Southwark council, which was very supportive
to our Campaign to recognize the category "Latin American". It should be mentioned
that this borough has already included the category "Latin American" in its various
departments. As we know, Southwark has the highest concentration of Latin Americans
in the United Kingdom.
Therefore, we believe that there would be inconsistency and lack of uniformity to
have more than one category to describe the Latin American community living in the
United Kingdom.
Our campaign will continue to work to achieve its objectives which are the recognition
of our community under the ethnic category of "Latin American", and at the same time
to promote our identity, and to defend immigration rights, working conditions and
the welfare of our community .
London, October 22, 2010