Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Hal Rothman on what was proven by the May Day immigration rally in the valley

I watched a Mexican guy, clearly an immigrant, cut sushi in a tony restaurant. He was wearing a Rising Sun bandanna, the emblem of Japan, and his knives flew. When I asked him where he was from, he told me "Zacatecas." Twenty-eight years old and a father of three, he had come to the United States like so many others to make his way in the world and do better for his family.

I admire him and people like him. They represent the American spirit as well as the future of this country.

Las Vegas depends on immigrant labor, a fact made clear last Monday. The Las Vegas Sun reported that a crowd attending the rally could be safely estimated to be somewhere from 35,000 to 50,000 people, for what everyone agrees was the largest political protest in the history of the Strip. And what do they want? Simply to have their labor - the work they do that the rest of us can't or won't - allow them to belong.

You have to admire the Culinary Union's deft handling of what could easily have been a tricky issue. The always powerful Culinary supported the march and its goals; more than half of its members are Hispanic, and many are immigrants.

Yet the union has another function, its role as the tourism industry's de facto human resources department. Even as it supported the march, it successfully encouraged its own members to show up to work. The Culinary once again proved its value to the industry as it lined up with its rank and file. Not bad for a day's work.

At this point, only a fool would argue that immigrant labor in the valley is unnecessary. It is the social issues that vex us. The spread of Hispanic labor brings with it a public dimension to Hispanic life that alienates some segments of white America. Hispanic labor puts children in schools, makes some demands on social services and law enforcement, and otherwise acts as any other community, immigrant or otherwise. The difference turns out to be who is asking for service or causing a ruckus.

This kind of immigration is surprisingly similar and at the same time different from the Eastern European immigrants, who came to this country between 1880 and 1920. A group of people who seem foreign to the Americans of their day have again become visible. Hispanic culture is continuously replenished by its proximity to its lands of origination. People travel back and forth in a way not possible a century ago. They carry culture both ways, creating hybrids rather than the assimilation of the early 20th century.

So, in Las Vegas, where the 85,000 Spanish-surnamed people in 1990 became 375,000 in 2004, you can live a life in Spanish and not be inconvenienced. In the valley, there are ZIP codes that are 95 percent Spanish-surnamed and 90 percent home-owner. This is the face of the future.

The Latino-ization of the United States continues in earnest, often beyond the glare of all but the crime report on the 5 o'clock news. Not only Houston, Los Angeles and Miami have enormous Hispanic populations, but so do North Carolina, Illinois and a whole range of other places.

Cobden, Ill., a small town about 100 miles from St. Louis, holds a particular place in the history of Illinois high school basketball lore. In 1964 the Cobden Appleknockers became Illinois' version of the Hoosiers story and there is a team picture, full of clean-cut white players, just like in the movie.

The little town of 900 sent its team to the state basketball tournament against schools that had more students than Cobden had people. They won all the way until the title game, where they faced mighty Pekin. Cobden lost, 50 to 45.

When it came time for the 40th reunion of this vaunted team, those who had not been to their hometown in a while were in for a shock. Three flags flew over Cobden, the American flag, that of Illinois, and by its side, the flag of Mexico.

Here in the Las Vegas Valley, immigrant labor is essential. Without it, the industries that drive the valley would grind to a halt, lawns would not get cut, and I could not afford sushi. Immigrants are here to stay. They have always been integral to Nevada's history and they continue to be crucial forces in the development of the state. Stopping immigration is impossible and unwise; the march this week demanded that the rest of us deal with the phenomenon.

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