Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, said Thursday that “access to education today is as important to Latinos as it was to the Black community in the struggle with Medgar Evers.”
Cartagena was discussing civil rights issues that impact the Latino community and how higher education is part of the discussion during an hour-long Twitter chat. His organization (www.latinojustice.org) was founded in 1972 by three Puerto Rican attorneys from New York with the goal of changing discriminatory practices toward Latino communities.
“We fight for equal access housing & healthcare, public services in Spanish, #workersrights, immigrant/migrant rights & education,” tweeted Cartagena, a constitutional and civil rights attorney with extensive experience overseeing litigation on behalf of Latino and African-American communities.
The question was posed, “Where do you see higher education fitting into the civil rights agenda for the Latino community?”
Cartagena responded, “HigherEd & accessibility to HigherEd for minorities in the country is one of the major battles of the civil rights movement,” adding, “Education becomes the key to getting out of poverty & strengthening the economy of the whole world.”
When asked his position on affirmative action in education, Cartagena replied, “Our position is consistent w/everything we’ve done for decades, the use of race as one factor among many is very important. It ensures a diverse student body and that our colleges produce students that are well grounded in different opinions.”
