Criticism about the rate of Chicano and Latino assimilation was one of the main focuses of a regional Chicano conference held at the Union this weekend.
The event was held by the Midwest FOCO chapter of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies.
FOCO, meaning an intellectual and activist person or group in the Chicano community, was coined by writer Regis Debray.
The Friday and Saturday seminars were primarily organized by MSU graduate students.
"I really believe in the power of person-to-person networking and sharing information," said Paul Babladelis, a research development graduate student and project manager of a green industry labor study used at the conference.
He said bringing people together in any context can promote learning, understanding and a sense of community.
"Exchanges that occur between sessions and after sessions are just as important as during sessions," he said.
About 150 people attended the gathering entitled "The Midwest Challenge: Who Are We? Somos un Pueblo."
The all-day seminars explored topics such as education for Mexican immigrants, female Latina identity in literature, the history of Mexicans during the Great Depression, cultural differences and discrimination, farm worker research, new Latino farmers in the Midwest, MSU's stance on sweatshops and Latino politics in Michigan.
A main focus of the conference this year was a book written by Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington called "Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity" where he states the inflow of Hispanic immigrants and lack of assimilation within the Latino community is a threat to American society and culture.
"I'm really glad the challenge of the conference is to address this xenophobic literature, if you can even call it that," said Maria Dorado, a counseling and education graduate student attending the conference. "It fans the flame of racism in our society. Huntington's article is really ignorant.
"Assimilation isn't exactly the answer to a better society."
She said rapid assimilation is not the healthiest approach for the Chicano and Latino population and cultural grouping is a natural habit of many immigrant groups, not just Chicano and Latino people.
"When we get here a lot of Chicano/Latinos will concentrate in ethnic enclaves - for the reason of survival," she said. "I don't think that's a bad thing. It's a result of the society we live in.
"Acceptance of who we are would be much healthier."
Rene Rosenbaum, associate professor in Resource Development and organizer of one of the seminars, said Huntington's view on immigration is a negative one, but there are very positive attitudes about it as well. He said it just depends on how you choose to look at the phenomenon.
"This is a phobia," he said. "One can be threatened by the immigration phenomenon, but there are ways we can deal with this. It's better not to be threatened.
"People have the right to criticize, but the bottom line is we need to work together."
