UMaine Dons speak of inequality in US

By Deus Ngowi

THREE professors with the Maine University have interacted with nine Tanzanian journalists who are on an exchange program in US, and the main topic was about discrimination and the effort taken to preserve immigrants native cultures.

A Peruvian professor in Social Sciences, Maria Sandweiss, who teaches Spanish, called to mind how US Immigration officials dealt with her unfairly upon her arrival, and that they would not allow her use all her names, on pretex they were too many and long, so that they reduced to the two above mentioned ones.

She commends US for having laws which clearly say that discrimination in all terms, be it gender, nationality, colour, religion, originality is not allowed, but she makes haste to add that some of the laws are just on paper and not practiced at all.

Even in the Public buildings of Maine University, there are on the wall, directions that there is equal opportunity for all, but the question which lingers is that is there a necessity of reminding such a thing if there were no discrimination?

The Professor says stereotype is a big problem against Latinos. When she was asked if such is a situation and could it not be better if she returns to Peru, she said she has a small family in US, job, school system is good for her child and more than that she feels safe.

The outspoken Professor said that she embarked on social – linguistic work, explaining to her students what the situation is like in Latin America – both good and bad so that they could understand her and as to why she was there.

Professor Maria who studied at Universidad Nacional Mayor de Sam Marcois, Lima Peru, said that despite living in Maine State, the Whitest state in US, she does not switch completely to English. She says as a Spanish family, they treasure their traditions.

On her part, Professor Maureen E. Smith, who is a Director of Native American Studies was of the view that the Government give ear to groups whose members have more money first, before coming to the rest and ultimately the decision on anything may favor the haves.

She says in US, they Indians see themselves as a nation, although it only remains as a terminology, probably as a means of consoling themselves. She says Government is limited to a couple of tribes which are huge, hence they get more attention. For example, she says in Wisconsin they have a casino which makes them money, and consequently Government diverts its attention to them. That is the power of money.

The Professor, sadly said there were many sins committed towards Indian immigrants, including abuse of kids at schools. Also, in Maine, Indian immigrants were not allowed to vote until 1960.

With President Barrack Obama at the helm of power, she says she has not seen much nor is there expected something surprising, although she noted that they stand a better chance.

What does Professor Marwin Spiller of Sociology Department at Maine University has to say about social inequality, race and ethnicity? Shortly, he says that to a great extent racism has decreased although it remains institutional, where it is difficult to trace and fight.

However, he says that he feels good to be a Black professor in the most Whitest state in US, but there are some people who hate that there is a black professor at Maine University. He describes US as a place of contradiction and change, and that there have been a lot of social inequalities.

The Black professor says US now has a Black president and others of the same color in different posts in the administration. When he was asked why is Obama popular, he said that he is good in paper, politics and campaign, but also that some Americans were tired ob Bush’s legacy.

He is of the opinion that Obama represents what they aspire to be, that he seems to be a man of real change. However, he says Obama regime will not remove the gap between the haves and have nots, because himself is a rich person and his Black comes second. He says ones he tries to talk of reducing the gap and lending a helping hand to Blacks, it will be the start of popularity downturn.

Meanwhile, Associated Press reports from New York, that Cesar Perales who has been fighting in legal battles for minorities denied jobs, bilingual classes in schools and more Latino police officers, now seems spotted by his critics, just because a Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor is a board member to his Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Conservatives have called the group's stances on capital punishment abortion rights and its advocacy of affirmative action in worker discrimination cases, 'extreme' and 'shocking'. Some have suggested Sotomayor's longtime association with the group is an indication that she is biased and would be unable to render impartial decisions as a Supreme Court justice.

"You have a reputable group that has stood up for the civil rights of Latinos for 37 years. To suddenly be accused of being something bad, and that anyone associated with it should not be allowed to serve on the Supreme Court, to me is shocking," Perales, president of the fund was quoted.

Sotomayor who was appointed by President Obama to the Supreme Court recently, held leadership roles on the legal defense fund's board from 1980 to 1992, starting soon after she graduated from law school and began working, leaving it when she became a federal judge.

Perales has described her role as helping with fundraising and setting policy and said she was not directly involved with the group's legal arguments and activities.In that period, the group brought several lawsuits in which minority workers claimed discriminatory treatment that kept them from jobs or promotions, the AP reported.

"Some people think Latinos ought not avail themselves of their rights. I interpret what is going on as really amounting to Latinos don't have a right to form a civil rights organization and they don't have a right to bring lawsuits to protect their interests," lamented Perales.

While that is the case in US, matters are different in Tanzania, a country with more that 100 tribes, whereby its people live side by side without even having to enquire one’s tribe.

This trend was started by the Founding Father of The Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, who from the very beginning, warned of people of identifying themselves with tribes, religions, color or gender. It is due to that, to date Tanzanians enjoy unprecedented king of unity in the globe, sheltering people of different races and treating everyone alike.