Nick Jimenez

Sunday, May 7, 2000

Corpus Christi's political change creates tension

I learn a lot from reading the letters to the editor. I have respect for anyone who takes the time to compose their thoughts and put them down on paper because I know what a job that can be.
   It's especially interesting to read the continuing debate on the troubles of Corpus Christi Independent School District Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, who is now under indictment for document tampering, abuse of power and theft.
   Saavedra's predicament and the reaction to it from many members of the community, in my mind, neatly capsules the ethnic and racial prisms through which we view the evolvement of Corpus Christi.
   If I can sum up the argument of many of Saavedra's defenders, it amounts to this: perhaps Saavedra committed some of the violations he is accused of, but he is being held to a standard no previous superintendent was held to. A variation of this is the argument that Saavedra's violations are petty and he is simply the target of Anglos who want to oust any Hispanic who gets in power.
   If I can likewise sum up the arguments of many of Saavedra's critics, it amounts to this: the indictments and investigation have nothing to do with race; he is simply a bureaucrat allegedly caught with his hand in the till. The corollary to that argument is the assertion that race can hardly be an issue for a community where so many of the key political posts are held by Hispanics.
   Put aside for the moment the question of Saavedra's guilt or the charges. The assertions on both sides are what interest me and what they tell us about what Anglos and Hispanics in this town know about each other. I believe it was inevitable that there was a rush to defend Saavedra. For many Hispanics in Corpus Christi, the fact that the first Hispanic superintendent of the city's biggest school district is under indictment is very painful. Making the pain bitter for many is the impression that he is being prosecuted for minor violations.
   That Saavedra holds his office is, I think, evidence of a transition that Corpus Christi has been undergoing for a long time and this will continue for a while. That's why we have a mostly Hispanic legislative delegation, a Hispanic county judge, and a mostly Hispanic commissioners court, a police chief, a sheriff, and so on.
   That would seem to lend credence to those who argue that Hispanics already hold the power - and ought to be held to the same standards as any officeholders rather than seek the protection of race.
   There is a caveat here: in the overwhelming majority of instances of a Hispanic holding a post, he or she is the first. We have no long lines of antecedents. This feeds the idea that to succeed, minorities must not only be good, but super good.
   In short, Hispanic leadership may be surging, but it is in its infancy. While Anglos may feel that the Hispanic hold on leadership positions, especially elective, may be an eventual given, I don't believe that Hispanics are so sure about it.
   To use a sports analogy, Hispanics haven't yet reached the point where they can walk off the court and act like the victory wasn't an upset.
   At some point, perhaps after the second, third or fourth Hispanic is superintendent, or sheriff, or is a state legislator, the huge majority of Hispanics may be able to dispassionately consider that, yes, mediocrity and mendacity cut across all ethnic and racial lines, just as intellectual brilliance and talent do. And the Anglos who feel besieged by the surge in Hispanic leadership may by then sense there is a history behind this sense of protection that shouldn't be ignored.
   So it seems to me that that we have two large blocs within our community unsure about what this ongoing transition will bring. How each segment of the community handles and deals with each other's perceptions will be an ongoing story long after the Saavedra episode is over.
   (Nick Jimenez can be reached at 886-3787 or by email at jimenezn@caller.com.)
  

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