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Records of the White House Office of Public Liaison (Reagan Administration)
Morton Blackwell's Subject Files
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual collections.
Collection: Blackwell, Morton: Files
Folder Title: Hispanic
Box: 10
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at: [email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
National Archives Catalogue: https://catalog.archives.gov/
file Hisponic
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Morton Blackwell
FROM:
Manuel E. Iglesias
I am greatly heartened to see that officials of this admin-
istration are actively seeking avenues for communicating to the
Spanish-American community, this administration's achievements
on thier behalf, as well as its concern for and continued
interest in their well-being. I am referring to the recent luncheon
meeting with Mr. Manuel Justis, Director of the National Insti-
tute of Education; Mr. Edward Elmendorf, Assistant Secretary of
Post Secondary Education and his Special Assistant; Mr. Alex
Armendaris, 1980 Reagan. Hispanic Campaign Chairman; Mr. Carlos
Salman, Florida Hispanic Campaign Chairman; Mr. Mario Elgarresta,
Executive Director of the Florida Hispanic Campaign and member
of the Transition Team; Mr. Armando Chapelli, President of a
local company, and myself.
The meeting focussed on how NIE and DOE could improve their
programs to better serve the "Hispanic" community. Discussions
centered around the Cuban-American, Mexican-American, and other
"Hispanic" communities.
All present agreed that funding cutbacks begun in 1981
have affected "Hispanic" civic and educational organizations
across the board. It was also agreed that the leadership of
these organizations was primarily liberal and anti-Republican.
It was the group's consensus that such liberal Democrat polit-
icization of the federal grants/contracts process is not only
wrong, but illegal. Two courses of action were discussed as
means for remedying the situation:
1. refunding of existing organizations in the hope that they
will act as vehicles for serving the "Hispanic" community. It
was pointed out that this is the policy that was followed by
incumbent Republican Administrations prior to a re-election
campaign (Nixon 1972, Ford 1976).
2. providing new funding to organizations whose leadership
is in tune with the goals and objectives of this Administration.
There was quick agreement that time permitting, the second
option would be the best alternative, but that with the 1984
election only 16 months away, this option would only be viable
in the Cuban community. The Cuban community already has in
MEMORANDUM
page 2
place an array of social, civic and educational organizations
that would be able to utilize federal program monies in ways
most advantageous to the Administration. It was suggested,
however, that option two would be unworkable in such a short
time within the framework of the political situation of the
Mexican-American Community. It was further suggested, a sug-
gestion with which I concur, that the leadership of the vast
majority of the Mexican American community is highly political,
anti-Reagan and that the Administration does not have time
before election '84 to identify full representation of indiv-
iduals or groups, to whom we could direct new support.
I wholeheartedly agree with the conclusions reached regar-
ding the Cuban-American Community. In Miami, the liberal organ-
izations that were a mainstay of the Cuban-American political
panorama prior to 1980 have virtually disappeared. They were
a creation of Federal monies and their "leadership" never
represented the Cuban exile community which in 1980 voted over
80% for President Reagan. I disagree with the analysis made
of the situation in the Mexican-American Community. I do agree
with the statement that the vast majority of the "leadership"
of the Mexican-American civil rights, educational organizations
is composed of liberal Democrats. It may even be true that we
do not have the time before 1984 to develop or foster friendly
Mexican-American civil rights/educational organizations or
leaders. But, I vehemently disagree that our only alternative
is to continue to fund political activities of Democrat groups.
The gubernatorial election in Texas in 1982 is a prime example
of the results of such actions. Mexican-American civic organ-
izations, partially or totally funded by Federal dollars,
during the first two years of this Administration, were the ones
that registered a record number of Mexican-Americans: the
precise number of votes attributalbe to White's margin of victory
over Governor Clements. In the Black Community, Operation
Push is a prime example of how Federal monies used ostensibly
to fund Federal programs are used to create liberal political
machines.
This Administration should react to the Mexican-American
Community in a manner similar to the way it reacts to the union
vote. The Administration has been very effective in bypassing
the AFL-CIO and appealing directly to the rank and file. Indeed,
this Administration enjoys the highest level of acceptance by
union voters in two generations, yet it is the target of the
strongest condemnation by labor leaders against any Republican
administration in generations.
At the meeting we discussed the possibility of having the
President issue and Executive Order on behalf of educational
opportunities for the "Hispanic" Community. At present there
is one for Blacks and as a result, their programs get priority
MEMORANDUM
page 3
funding over equivalent "Hispanic" ones. This idea is potentially
farreaching if properly conveyed to the "Hispanic" Community. In
doing so, we must create a viable campaign directed at the main-
stream of the "Hispanic" Community, while assuring that the
Administration receives the proper credit. There exists a
highly developed national as well as local Spanish media,
ranging from television to newspapers and radio. It should
be possible to bypass the present Mexican American leadership
and reach the general population directly.
The implications derived from this meeting regarding
education are parallel to the same issues that are being raised
vis a vis the Spanish surnamed Americans with other departments
of the government. If an Administration wide policy is in fact
determined, it should be done in a consistent manner. This is
especially relevant in terms of Federal funding, because "civic"
organizations like LULAC, GI Forum and Operation Push derive
their federal funds not only from DOE but also from HHS, DOL
and a variety of other public agencies.