Herman Badillo, the first Puerto Rico born U.S. congressman, is simply sounding to the hispanic community the same cry that Bill Cosby raised in the black community a few years ago. You have to rise up and take responsibility for climbing out of poverty.
This reminds me of a book I read on treating the chronically mentally ill. It advised social workers to listen to us and not always just assume that everything we said was just more evidence of whatever disturbance they'd diagnosed us with. From this article, Stalled in America in http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009450, it sounds like hispanics and others are getting the same treatment by overworked social workers. Social workers like to pigeonhole people. That can be helpful for getting us help, but it's a model that doesn't allow for growth. I imagine that it is those same workers, with lots of education, but little idea for what actually works that are influencing educational policy that Mr. Badillo objects to. Social workers are not bad. To some extent, I think we need to listen to them more. But, "you shall know them by their fruits." Take advice from social workers in the trenches that you see honestly making changes and advocating for their clients, not from silly lobbyists.
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