Article brought to you by: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
San Antonio mayor will be first Latino to deliver keynote speech at Democratic convention
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
September 4th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
September 4th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
He's being hailed as the new face of the Democratic Party. Thirty-seven-year-old Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio, Texas, will become the first Latino to deliver the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention this week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Parishioners at St. Paul Catholic Church in San Antonio to commemorate the occasion held a breakfast taco rally this past Labor Day Weekend."It's a great step when you look at the progressions that happened with the parities that have gone from not recognizing the Hispanic community to having somebody in the very front, you know, being the keynote speaker," parishioner Larry Ybarra said. "That's like a thousand percent improvement over the last several years."
Castro's humble beginnings have been likened to U.S. President Barak Obama's. Castro and his twin brother, Joaquin, grew up in San Antonio. Before becoming mayor, Julian Castro represented this working-class Mexican-American neighborhood on the city council. His brother Joaquin is a state representative in Austin and a Democratic nominee for Congress.
The boys were raised by their single mom Rosie, who encouraged them to stay out of trouble and excel in school.
Local Tea Party activists say there's another similarity between Obama and the Castro brothers.
"I see a very clear similarity between the upbringing that Mr. Obama had in a nontraditional home and being mentored by radicals and the same thing with the Castros being brought up in a nontraditional home by their mother, who herself was a member of the Raza Unida Party, which was very, very radical," activist George Rodriguez says.
Raza Unida in the 1970s was a civil rights organization that campaigned for better working, housing and education opportunities for Mexican-Americans. Castro's mother was one of its leaders in South Texas, breaking barriers by organizing voter registration, getting out the vote and putting new Mexican-American candidates on the ballot.
Julian Castro shrugs has played down the notion that Raza Unida was a radical cell.
"If somebody calls trying to get people to vote radical, then that's quite a difference from the United States, because the democratic process is about the biggest blessing we have in this country," he said.
Alluding to actor Clint Eastwood's speech at the Republican convention last week, Castro told the crowd that when he speaks at the convention, he "won't be talking to any empty chairs up there."
He says his speech will tell his version of the American dream and explain why he supports Obama's re-election.
"I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous - it's something new," Castro said. "But by the time I get up there on Tuesday night, I'll be ready."
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.