Silly me, thinking that Whitmire had Latinos/as in mind. White man, white thoughts, thus far, all top replacements have been people that are as white as he is.
I think the Latinos that supported him, must have thought the same thing:
As Houston’s new mayor takes the helm of the city’s operations, Latino-led organizations are seizing the opportunity to air their grievances and demand better representation of the city’s diverse makeup at city hall — a campaign promise they hope to see fulfilled soon.
In a letter sent to Mayor John Whitmire on Dec. 19 by the NALEO Educational Fund, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Mi Familia Vota, leaders argue that City Hall does not currently reflect Houston’s diversity. More than 2.3 million Latinos make up about 45 percent of the city’s population, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
“As you noted during your campaign, Latinos are severely under-represented at City Hall,” the letter states. “We urge you to address this disparity by proactively recruiting and appointing Latinos to serve in your Administration, particularly in senior positions.”
Whitmire was sworn in as Houston’s 63rd mayor on Jan. 2, succeeding former Mayor Sylvester Turner, who was in office for eight years. Under Turner’s leadership, diversity across the city’s top positions were often questioned.
Source
Don’t be mistaken; the number of Latinos working in the city is proportional to the “Legal Residents” residing in Houston. But they are on the lowest rung of the ladder regarding pay. Look at the chart below to see what percentage of the highest-paid city employees.
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Back in the 80s, while taking some business courses, I bumped into a professor teaching one of the courses, and he told me, “I didn’t know that Mexicans were smart.”
Well, I don’t know if Mexicans are smart, as I am and I was an American when that professor spoke those words. I am kidding; of course, there are very smart Mexicans, just as they are smart people regardless of their nationality or race.
In my opinion, John Whitmire has been treating Latinos as people there to serve him, the white master. I have known of Whitmire since the 1970s. I believe he has the same opinion about “Mexicans” as that professor that spoke the words, “I didn’t know that Mexicans were smart.” The exception being that John Whitmire may have not come to realization yet.
I joined the Houston Chronicle live forum where they asked John Whitmire questions, and he talks a good talk. But the fact that some of the problems that he stated during the campaign that he would take care of, he kept deflecting that the previous mayor or the judges may make it impossible for him to solve.
I will close with a story. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was chief of staff for a council member. Back then, the Latino representation in the city workforce was very low, even in low-paying jobs. So, our office would keep track of how many Latinos were in each department, and we would release that data to the Houston Post and Chronicle. We were trying to embarrass the departments into hiring more Latinos. One of the worst departments then was Municipal Courts; the other was Planning Development.
Planning Development offered a job to a Latino who was very well qualified. That individual called me and told me not to pressure the department as people would think that he only got the job because he was Latino.
I told him that if he felt that firmly, he should refuse the job, as our office would continue to pressure departments. He took the job.
Does anyone think that those White people that Whitmire is appointing are thinking like the Latino above, that people will think they got the job because of the color of their skin?