By H. Nelson Goodson
November 4, 2013
Milwaukee, WI - The national League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) organization has announced in its website that Milwaukee has been picked to hold its two day 2014 LULAC Women's Conference in March 28-29. LULAC posted in its website that, "This Conference provides professional development workshops and seminars targeted to the needs of "Latinas" and also highlight the contributions that "Latinas" have made to this country."
On Saturday, Margaret Moran, the national president of LULAC was in Milwaukee to confirm the organization's decision to hold the women's conference in the city. Moran held a limited news gathering at the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation (WHSF) facility, which in partnership with LULAC Councils 319 and 322 sponsor the annual Mexican Fiesta at the Summerfest grounds in late August.
In September, the WHSF held a restrictive news conference at the facility focused on a story that Hispanic News Network U.S.A. broke and exposed concerning Fiesta LPOA security and Milwaukee police were targeting Hispanics believed to be in gangs and people with facial and body tattoos not in good taste for Mexican Fiesta officials. Those victims were targeted and expelled from the Fiesta grounds without refunds and banned from the weekend festival without doing anything illegal at the event.
Afterwards, Ruben Burgos and other board members of the WHSF held a news conference and kept HNNUSA from covering their response to the article that exposed their discriminatory policy and treatment of festivalgoers for the last three years.
A call by friends of the victims to boycott Mexican Fiesta for 2014 went viral on the social network and a YouTube news report was even posted. HNNUSA also learned that for years, the national LULAC organization, WHSF and the two LULAC Councils 319 and 322 were denying access to undocumented students who applied for scholarships. They continue to deny scholarships, even though they have come out in support of immigration reform.
With hundreds of women attending the LULAC conference in March, hopefully some or even one of the women attending has the courage to challenge the national LULAC and the Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation Sponsor of Mexican Fiesta, including LULAC Councils 319 and 322 policy to denied scholarships for women DREAMers at a crucial time that LULAC shamefully shows supports for immigration reform, but not giving scholarships to undocumented students.
