12t31t2020 Califonria s Sehate seats belong to all Califomians - Orange County Register

OPINION . Opinion

Californiat Senate seats belong

to all Californians

:R TO
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla visited John F. Kennedy High School in
Granada Hills to discuss the importance for students to register or pre-register to
vote on Wednesday, January 29.2020. (Photo by Dean Musgrove. Los Angeles
Daily News/ScNG)

By FABIAN NARANJO GONZALEZ I

PUBLISHED: December 30, 2020 at 6:22 p.m. I UPDATED: December 30, 20ZO at
6'.22 p.m.

https://www.ocregigter coml202\l12!30tcalilornias-senate_seats-betong_to-all-califomians/
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 1231/2020 Califomia S S6nate seats belong to all Califomians - Orange County Register

In the run-up to Alex Padllla's appointment to represent California in the

United States Senate, it appeared that communities were being pitted against
each other in the fight for representation.

Some activists argued that the Senate seat vacated by Kamala Harris needed
to be filled by a Black woman The Senate seat vacated by Kamala Harris does
not "belong" to any specific demographic community, it belongs to the people
of California.

Is it a blow to representation that the Senate will not have a Black woman?
Absolutely. 8qt the wheels fall offthe wagon in the presumption that a Latino
senator is incapable of representing the interests of all Californians, including
those of the Elack community or Black women.

If this were the case, why then was it possible for millions of Californians,
including Latino men and women, to presume that a Elack senator could
represent their interests when they voted for Kamala Harris? A diverse
coalition of communities suppofted and voted for Barack Obama (our nation's
first Black president) as well as Kamala Harris (our nation's first Black vice
president).

Why was it permissible to assume that these Black elected officials could fully
and capably represent the interests of all people, but yet, Black women and
their interests won't be fully and capably represented by a Latino senator?

Black women may have lost descriptive representation in the Senate, but lt is
not as if though they have lost a voice in the political process; quite oppositely,
they have gained a strong advocate in the White House with Vice president
Harris indeed, we all have. I do not highlight this to quell the genuine
-
concerns of the Black community, but rather mention it so as to balance the
scales and give perspective.

Racial politicking based on racial quotas is a dangerous game. Liberals rally

against Trump and his supporters because of their zero-sum mentality on
issues such as immigration, whereby the gain of one is the loss of another;
and this is the same mindset that the left is now perpetuating. Instead of
arguing over which racial community deserves or has dibs on a Senate seat,
we should be celebrating the fact that once again, California has made history
by showcasing to the world our diverse pool of talent.

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 1231t2020 C€lifumia's Senate seats b€long to all Califomians - Orange County Register

In (his country, elected officials are nothing more than mere temporary
stewards of the office they hold. When we vote for someone, we don,t do it
with the expectation that a particular seat then becomes a woman,s seat, or a
man's seat, or a Black seat or a Latino seat. We vote for the best person, often
from an array of diverse candidates. When a seat opens up, that seat does not
belong to any one panicular community rather, it belongs to all the people.
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Now is not the time nor should it ever be for racial and ethnic
- -
communities to splinter off into segregated silos.

In California, we have consistently proven that we are better and stronger

when we all come together and work together as a unified front. It is time to
put an end to racial squabbling before it puts an end to us.

As Abraham Lincoln once proclaimed: "If destruction be our lot, we must

ourselves be its author and finisher. fu a nation of freemen, we must live
throuSh all time, or die by suicide." Perhaps phrased more succinctly by the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr.: "We must learn to live together as brothers or
perish together as fools."

Fabiin Naranjo Gonzdlez holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University
of Southern California with a specialization in race and ethnic politics, U.S.
campaigns and elections and elite political behavior. He lives in pomona.

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