Ninoska Perez Castellon. Published Monday, May 15, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Racism and bigotry are never funny. The damage and the harm that they do is often irreparable.
Max J. Castro's columns reveal more about himself and his inclement judgment than about the community he insists on berating.
In what he calls the "unbearable darkness of fear'' -- and to support his ongoing thesis about our intransigence -- Castro describes a group of psychologists who met at Florida International University to discuss the exile community. Because of the climate of "intolerance'' that exists
in Miami -- one he has done much to promote -- the participants imposed on themselves what he calls "self-censorship'' and refrained from criticizing this community because they feared radio attacks, a loss of clients and income and even family troubles.
Yet when I spoke privately to a participant, I was told a different story: Many of the attending psychologists felt that Elián González should stay in the United States and described as devoid of all ethics the fact that government-appointed psychologists were issuing diagnoses
without having seen the child. Yet fearing for their careers and standing in certain academic circles, they refrained from speaking out.
Another participant told me how intimidating it is that key professors in senior positions travel to Cuba frequently and have a favorable view of Fidel Castro's dictatorship. Opposing those professors puts obstacles in the way to advancement and blocks their participation in certain events.
All that aside, for someone who has shown no mercy in attacking Cuban Americans, Max Castro falls into a conciliatory mood in his recent column to advise that after the ``Elián disaster,'' any public-relations campaign in which Cuban Americans get involved had better not be ``another
attempt to sell the hard-line Cuban-exile view of the world to the rest of the nation.'' As expected, never a solution borne of his ruthless and futile criticism.
It's no wonder that a vicious campaign is being waged against Cuban Americans. It has become politically correct to trash us. President Clinton, with the vulgarity that characterizes his actions, does it. Reporters from national magazines go on television to discredit and denigrate us. After
all, we have analysts such as Max Castro setting the tone.
In the last few weeks we have seen that from the seeds of racism and bigotry has sprung a bitter fruit. Some have found a sick satisfaction in swinging bananas at City Hall. Others have grabbed on to the Confederate flag. In the background Fidel Castro's apologists delight in adding fuel to the
fire with their inflammatory rhetoric. Racism and bigotry are never funny. The damage and the harm that they do is often irreparable.
The more I think about it, the more I realize what the theme of our public-relations campaign should be: It's not about getting others to like us or about what we have accomplished. It's about making others aware of the crippling effects of hatred and racism. It's about making the bigots come to
terms with their consciences. It's about respect for the differences that make us so diverse and yet so human. It's about finding the dignity within us that keeps dreams alive.
Ninoska Pérez Castellón is a director and spokeswoman for the Cuban American National Foundation.
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