Black Leader Seeks
Coalition Against Whites

he man who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 with black leader Martin Luther King Jr. has called for creation of a national non-white alliance against whites to achieve political power in the U.S.

In an address to the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GAELO) last month, the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery said yesterday's struggle for civil rights by blacks was similar to the fight faced by Hispanic immigrants, and that the two ethnic groups should join forces.

Lowery is chairman of the left-wing Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, and was the keynote speaker celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.

Georgia in recent years has been flooded with Hispanic immigrants mostly from Mexico, and today is regarded by demographers as having the fastest-growing population of illegal aliens.

Lowery said blacks and Hispanics must work together to develop a social and political agenda in the interests of both groups. Lowery said efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration would "criminalize" people, and called for "immigration reform" proposals that aided businesses that want to hire immigrants.

Lowery's call for a non-white coalition was backed at the GAELO meeting by Rev. James Orange, who also worked with Martin Luther King during the black political struggles of the 1960's. Orange said King sent him to California to work with left-wing Hispanic labor icon Cesar Chavez.

The theme of non-white racial unity was backed by Hispanic businessman Ray Ortega.

"What he [Lowery] was saying is that we need to stick together," he said. "The civil rights movement in the '60s and '70s and the civil rights movement of the Hispanics in the 2000s are similar."
Jerry Gonzalez, GAELO's executive director, said his group has launched efforts to make sure that more Latinos are registered to vote. That will help the coalition leverage its forces against the white population. "The Latino vote will be a force to be reckoned with," he said.

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