EthnicMajority

(New York Times) A group of African-American pastors in New Mexico, along with the Albuquerque chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., said Tuesday that they have filed a complaint with the Justice Department alleging that black faculty and staff members at the University of New Mexico and its hospital are subject to discrimination.

The Title VI complaint, which was also filed with the federal Department of Education, says university administrators have created a racially hostile environment for black faculty members, students and the staff.

Specifically, it asserts that African-Americans have been excluded from positions in the school’s upper administration; that black women at New Mexico were virtually left out of all positions of authority; and that blacks on the faculty faced disparity in salaries compared with fellow minority colleagues.

Full story…

(San Antonio Express-News) The pro-amnesty lobby is having a field day with the revelation that New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican tough on illegal immigration, had grandparents who came to the United States illegally.

Commentators have been quick to jab that aside from 1930 census records confirming the illegal status of the governor's paternal grandparents, it is unknown whether they had drivers' licenses. That is a thinly veiled dig at Martinez's crusade to change her state's long-standing leniency in granting licenses to illegal immigrants as long as they pass a written test and demonstrate they can turn, stop and park a car.

One prominent illegal-immigrant advocacy group cracked, “It's a good thing she wasn't governor during her grandfather's day” and used the occasion to selectively quote experts to promote the party line that every Latino must be pro-amnesty. The logic is Latinos are likely to have family members living here illegally now or at some time in the past.

Full story…

(Washington Post) Education officials say history will be made in New Mexico on Saturday as the National Hispanic Cultural Center hosts the first national Spanish spelling bee.

The Education Department says students in fourth through eighth grades will compete for the honor of being the first-ever champion.

The event is the culmination of state Spanish spelling competitions held earlier this year. The national event in Albuquerque will feature 11 participants from 4 states, including New Mexico.

The competition begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.

(Los Angeles Times) Early this year, Brian Sandoval and Susana Martinez made history. He became Nevada’s first Latino governor. In New Mexico, she became the country’s first Latina governor.

Just as striking as their breakthrough is their party affiliation: Both are Republicans.

For many in the GOP, the twin victories last November, along with the election of Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida, marked an important step in efforts to mend the party’s frayed ties with Latino voters, which have suffered over the last several years of hard-line talk on immigration.

For Democrats, the election of the three was something else: a warning sign at a time when Latino support has grown increasingly vital to the party’s success, especially in the battleground states of the Rocky Mountains and desert Southwest.

Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado each withstood the 2010 Republican wave thanks in good part to Latino support. President Obama is counting on strong Latino turnout to hold on to Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico — states he won in the last White House race — and to expand the 2012 competition to Arizona and, maybe, Texas and Georgia.

Full story…

(Reuters) Racial slurs and a noose strung up outside his barracks were among the alleged harassment an African American war veteran said he was subjected to while serving in Afghanistan, according to a complaint filed this week.

Specialist Adam Jarrell, the only African American in a unit of 216 soldiers of the New Mexico Army National Guard, told Reuters on Tuesday that his complaints to superiors were not only ignored, but resulted in increased harassment.

“It’s dangerous when the only people you can count on are the people hanging nooses outside your room, telling you they hate you because you’re black,” said Jarrell, 23, a Sheriff’s deputy in Hobbs, New Mexico, who has been with the National Guard since 2006. He arrived home in New Mexico a year ago.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed the racial discrimination complaint with the federal Office for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice asking for an investigation.

Full story…

(Politico) National Republicans look at New Mexico’s Susana Martinez and would like to see the future of their party: conservative, Hispanic and the favorite to become governor of a key swing state this fall.

But she is dodging the most volatile and important issue to the conservative base in the southwestern U.S.: immigration. While other Republican governors are racing to copy Arizona’s toughest-in-the-country immigration law, Martinez has expressed only tepid support for it. While Republicans in Washington want to reopen debate on birthright citizenship guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, Martinez opposes changing the amendment.

She insists that the Arizona law is a public safety issue and not a political one.

“Susana Martinez believes that states have every right to check the immigration status of someone that has been arrested of a crime,” campaign manager Ryan Cangiolisi told POLITICO.

But the Arizona law allows officers to detain and check the immigration status of people who haven’t been arrested — leaving the Martinez statement well short of an outright endorsement of the law.

Full story…