(air whooshing) (upbeat music) - Welcome to "At Issue", thank you for joining us, I'm H Wayne Wilson.

When the Mexican American War ended in 1848, many Mexicans were living in what became U.S. property.

Parts or all of seven states became parts of the United States after that war.

The Treaty Of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 granted rights to those people who were living on those properties, including land rights.

Unfortunately, those land rights were not to be kept.

In 1879, the State of California even passed a constitution, 1879, a constitution rescinding land rights for all Mexicans who had land.

We're gonna be talking about the issue of Latinos in central Illinois and the fears they have and the successes they've had on this edition of "At Issue".

Let me introduce to you our four panelists for that discussion.

First, let me introduce to you, Mari Lopez.

Mari is Nutrition Program Assistant at The University of Illinois Extension.

Thank you for being with us, Mari.

- Thank you.

- [H Wayne] Also with us is a business owner.

Bernardo Ortiz is the co-owner of Panaderia Ortiz in the North Valley of Peoria.

Bernardo, good to see you.

- Yeah, thank you, thank you very well, yes.

- [H Wayne] Also with us is Catalina Zavala.

Catalina is the Outreach Program Director for Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- [H Wayne] And also joining us, Angela Jimenez, who is with the University of Illinois Extension.

Angela, thank you for being here.

- Thank you.

- And I want to start with Catalina.

The population of the Hispanic community, the Latinos is about 4% in Peoria, but growing, the fastest growing.

- It's growing every day.

- And what is your sense as to the comfortable, the level of comfortableness amongst Latinos?

- Not too good.

I mean, they still not too comfortable.

Some of the Latino families are scared and some of them are okay, but I see a lot of people are scared in Peoria.

- Because you're at Friendship House, that's the focal point for a lot of activities involving the Latino community.

What kinds of services are you providing?

What's the number one, number two service that you provide that they are in need of?

- The number one is I arrange the community for some educational programs and also the mammography.

I'm very big on mammography and, of course, a woman 40 and older to get the mammography.

It is very important because I see women die from breast cancer.

- It seems to me that that's, you know, healthcare would, for someone who grew up in central Illinois, healthcare would be an obvious thing, we have lots of healthcare opportunities here.

Why is it that at least some Latinos are not familiar with healthcare opportunities?

- That's because a lot of the places, they probably have the service, but they do not tell everybody, or I don't know, but they don't know.

- Is it the question of money?

- Yes.

- Do you know what percentage of the Latino community might have health insurance?

- Very, it's very low, it's very low.

- Is that because of the types of jobs that- - Because of the types of jobs, a lot of jobs like the restaurants and cleaning companies, they only work part time and they do not have a benefit to get insurance.

- You mentioned restaurants, let's talk to the co-owner of Panaderia Ortiz.

Your business is located in the North Valley of Peoria and you started that business eight years ago without knowing how to be a cook.

(laughing) - (laughing) Yeah, yeah.

- A little bit of background, you had worked in Chicago and Round Lake, Illinois, and then you came down here.

Why?

- Oh, my, you know, my dad lived over here and he called, he told me, "Come and make your own business, you know, 'cause here is now no bakeries, no Mexican bakeries."

So, I come over here and I open my business.

- But how did you learn to cook?

(laughing) - Oh, one of my friends, he teach me how to cook.

Yeah, 'cause I didn't know how to make one conchas, you know, so he teach me very good for a couple of years and he went back to Mexico, so I just keep going, you know.

- When you came, you were born in Mexico?

- Yes, I was born in Mexico.

- [H Wayne] And you came up to America, did you speak English?

- Yeah.

- A little bit, yeah.

Sorry for my English.

(laughing) - Well, how much did you speak when you came to Chicago?

- Ah, when I went to Chicago?

- [H Wayne] Yeah, when you went to Chicago, how much English?

- No.

- None?

- None, no, uh uh.

Not even yes.

(laughing) - So why was it that you decided that you needed to, because your mom and dad are in Mexico.

- Yeah, they still live in Mexico.

- Why was it that you decided that you needed to leave your home country?

- Of course, there is no work, you know, it's so hard to do something, so that's why I decided to come over here to make some money, to send it to my dad and mom.

Yeah, mm.

- So you're sending money to your parents.

- Yeah, I have my family, they're in Mexico.

Also, Mary and I got five kids.

(laughing) - So, it's a family business.

- It's a family business, yeah.

It's a family business.

- Angela, I was talking to Catalina about the issue of, is there an uncomfortable level amongst the Latino community?

Do you sense that with those people who come to the Extension?

- Sometimes yes, it's something different and they are worried because we do ask, like, a little of questions.

Questions, see how they're doing and everything and they are worried about it.

But after, like, they getting to know us, especially my Aunt Mari is more, she's like my aunt and she knows more people than I do.

So, once they get to know us and they open up.

- Is that one of the issues is that the people are afraid to share, that they don't open up at first?

- I think so, they are escared to speak, mm hm.

- Mari is a bit bashful, so we'll work her into the conversation very naturally.

(all laughing) - What it is in the Latino community is that if they not trust you, they're never gonna tell you nothing.

They have to know you, they have to come in and they have to know you, they have to see that you're trustable.

But if not, (whistling).

- Even, I mean, even coming to another Latino, they are not comfortable sharing any information?

- Depends which Latino it is.

So you need to earn the community in order for them to trust you.

- So, how does Friendship House overcome this issue?

I mean, you're the face of Friendship House when it comes to Latino programs.

- I think it's the love and the dedication that I feel for them.

- [H Wayne] They sense that?

- Yes, and I tell them, too.

(both laughing) - But you're not bashful, as opposed to Mari.

So, I want to talk about the relationship with you and Bernardo because Bernardo is a small business and you're struggling right now with the COVID pandemic and yet you still are helping Friendship House.

- [Bernardo] Yeah.

- Why is that?

- Oh, she come to the bakery, she come before and she asked me if I want to help them, you know.

Right, I give to the, I give, I had a church, I give my assist to one church.

So there's a lady who, she didn't come back, you know, of course, I think she went somewhere else.

Then I called her, I called Catalina, "Okay, I'm gonna help you with sweets right now."

I used to help the church.

- But you're providing what to Friendship House?

- Just sweets, you know.

- [Catalina] The Mexican bread.

- Mexican bread.

Yeah, Mexican bread.

(Catalina speaking Spanish) Oh, okay, okay, 'cause you know, she's so nice.

You know, everybody love her and she'd be in and talk to me all the time and, you know, everybody like her.

She's nice, nice person.

- [H Wayne] You can't say no to Catalina.

- [Bernardo] Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right.

(all laughing) - So, the bread that he brings down, used at the food pantry?

- Yes, and it's very well given.

People like it and they even call, some families even call and said, "They say you're giving Mexican bread in the bags."

I say, "Yes", they say, "Good."

So.

- So the food pantry is open?

- Three times a week.

Monday from 12:00 to 2:00, Wednesday from 12:00 to 2:00 and Friday from 12:00 to 2:00.

- And bread each one of those days?

- [Catalina] Yes.

- And you call that bread?

- Ah, pan.

(laughing) - Pan.

- [H Wayne] No, but you used another word.

- Conchas, conchas?

- Conchas.

Conchas, yeah, okay.

Conchas is Mexican bread.

- Mm hm.

- Okay.

We were talking earlier about hesitation amongst Hispanics.

Is there a sense of fear when Hispanics and Latinos come to the Extension?

- Um, well, I will say yes, because it's a time for them to get to know me, especially from there, I'm the youngest one and so it did take time for them to warm up to me.

Both of my aunts actually worked there before me and they know them and they trust them more than they trust me.

So, once they started to getting to know me and seeing what I do and they started to open up a little bit.

- I wanna broaden that conversation, though, and not just the trust in you, but they live in an American society.

Is there a, for instance, and please everybody else chime in here, because do you get a sense that in certain situations, when you're speaking amongst yourselves in Spanish, there might be some people who don't speak Spanish that are kind of looking at you suspiciously?

- Definitely, yes.

- [H Wayne] Bernardo?

- There is some people and there is a lotta nice people, so, you know, there is a little of it.

Yeah, but sometimes, yeah, sometimes you feel that way.

Some people look at you, like, ah, you know.

- [H Wayne] You're smiling, though.

(Bernardo laughing) - You've had eight years to, but English speaking people come into your restaurant.

- Oh, yeah, a lot of people, yeah.

Yeah, they love my sweets, my cakes, you know.

- Even though they don't know exactly what they are.

(laughing) - They ask me, they ask me, "What is this, what is this?"

so I explain then, what it is, you know.

I give a little try, you know, and they buy, you know.

- So, once again, we have this rift between cultures and it's difficult sometimes for the communication and the understanding of the different cultures to take place.

What kinds of programs are at Friendship House to minimize that rift, to bridge the gap between cultures?

- We have in Friendship House two programs a week, it's Por Amor, it's a group where we get some women that they come and needle and they make blankets and we give them to the hospitals.

I also have a senior group on Thursdays, they come, they get together, we discuss.

They laugh, they cry, they share a lot of stuff and they play Loteria.

Loteria is a Mexican bingo and I give 'em prizes and they bring food.

They eat and we break the ice, sharing, you know, problems that they might have, like maybe, for example, maybe applying for a medical card, maybe applying for Social Security or driver's license and I will offer my help.

- Are some of these people younger people who fall into the DACA program?

- Mm hm, yes.

- What, how do you go about helping those individuals 'cause there has to be fear that at some point?

- Yes, they come and ask me, "What do you think?

Do you think that we should reapply?

That we should apply, be qualified, we've been here?"

and some of the families, like, they came 15, 20 years ago.

They even asked me for a reference later to verify that they were here and I do, I give 'em a letter and I encourage them to apply.

- When you're talking about, you know, identification, some Latinos don't have any identification?

- No.

Only when the Mexican Consul, you know, the Mexican Consul comes to Peoria, maybe twice a year?

But because of the epidemic, they do not came last year or they did?

I don't know.

- [Bernardo] I think there was, once, for sure.

- Oh, they came once last year but they have, in order for you to get an ID from them, you have to have some documents, too, like birth certificate and another ID.

It's crazy, but it's another ID to prove that it's you but if you don't have those documents, you cannot even get an ID, either.

- Which leads to what type of job might these individuals have when they have a job?

I mean, is it paid by cash?

- Yeah, pay by cash.

Maybe cutting the grass, working with somebody else that has documents or working in a restaurant, just washing, or some Latinos, they so smart, they learn English and they even work as a waiter or waitress.

- But the lack of identification makes it difficult for them to fully participate in society.

- Very, very difficult, especially to fill out income taxes.

- Mari, when people come into the Extension, what kind of services are they, are you providing there?

- We service nutrition program and exercise and what else?

- [H Wayne] Nutrition and exercise?

- Yep, mm hm.

- How do you go about, because some of these people coming in probably speak very little English.

- Yes, sir.

- So do, is there, I mean, yes, you're providing exercise, yes, you're providing nutrition programs, but are you helping them to understand that maybe they need to learn a little bit more English or they need to move forward in terms of helping them, just talking to them so that they're more comfortable?

- Yeah, we have class in bilinguals, bilingual.

- [H Wayne] Bilingual?

- Yeah, bilingual, yeah.

- Mm hm.

We have in school districts, 150, mm hm.

- With Peoria public schools?

- Yes we are, mm hm.

- And these are adults, right?

- [Angela] Mm hm.

- That are taking this class through Peoria public schools?

- Since we work a little bit with everybody, we also find out, like, where they're having, like GED classes or else special bilingual classes, like, and start taking English classes.

So, sometimes we refer them to there and say like, "Oh, do you know they're going to start these classes there?

If you're interested, we can help you out."

So, we give them a little bit of information so they can get up because sometimes they don't even know about that.

- How did you learn English?

- On my work.

(laughing) Yeah, 'cause I used to work in the kitchen over there in Chicago, I used to work over for 12 years in one restaurant and nobody, there were nobody speaks Spanish, you know, so I learned little by little, you know.

I was listening to everyone, you know.

Yeah, you work with somebody who only speak English to learn easy, you know.

Not much, you know, that's nice, but how do you say the base?

The basic, the basic?

- The basics?

Yeah, uh huh.

- Mm hm, mm hm.

- I suppose if I heard Spanish enough, I might learn a little bit of Spanish.

- Yes, you will.

- Yeah.

- You come to work in the bakery and maybe you will speak Spanish.

(all laughing) - [H Wayne] Did I just hear a job offer?

- [Catalina] Yes.

(all laughing) - What's the salary, Bernardo?

(all laughing) I think I'm gonna pass.

Don't be offended, but I think I'll pass on that one.

There are 20 million adults in America who don't have a credit rating.

No credit rating.

I mean, not, I don't mean a low one, I mean no credit rating.

Many of those are Latinos.

- [Catalina] Yes.

- How much of an impact does that have on Latinos who were trying to get loans of any kind, whether that be for a home, what have you?

- It's very hard for, especially for somebody to get a house.

They cannot get a house if they don't have credit or they cannot get a car, they don't have credit.

I know that a lot of the Latinos have cars or they have houses and they put 'em in somebody else's name.

So, what are they gonna do when this other person claims the house and they say, "Well, this is my house or my car."

- So getting a loan from a bank and the banks, one of the main things they look at is, "What's your credit rating?"

- Right.

- If there's no credit rating or a low one?

- They cannot get anything without credit.

- And because some of them work in jobs where they're paid in cash, there's no way- - So, there's no earnings, no earnings appearing in this.

I mean, nobody can tell that you're working.

Or a lot of the families, get the contract for deed.

- Contract for deed?

So, they're buying it over a long period of time.

- [Catalina] Yes.

- But that has its limitations, also.

- Limitations.

- So when, you indicated, Bernardo, that you came up from Mexico.

You wanted to get a better job?

Were you afraid in Mexico?

- Oh yeah.

Oh, it's so bad over there, so I don't think I'm not gonna go back there, maybe one day, but it's just too hard, too scary right now over there.

- [H Wayne] And your mom and dad are safe?

- Yeah, my mom and dad are there, yeah.

- [H Wayne] But they're safe right now?

- Yeah, 'cause a lot of people they know, they know them, you know, so they okay.

- Catalina, I wanna talk a little bit about political power.

There are six senators in the United States who have Latino, three Cuban heritage, three Mexican heritage.

There are 41 members of the House of Representatives who have Latino heritage.

So it, and that's growth, there's a lot of growth there, a lot of those are in the last election, but do you feel there's a lack of political power amongst the Latinos?

- I think we're getting better.

I think we're getting better and I also encouraging the people that getting citizenship to vote 'cause a lot of the people, even though they're citizens, they don't wanna vote, either.

So, last time when, when I ask the people, they say, "Well, I'm not gonna vote."

I said, "I'll take you if you need a ride" so I offered to take them to vote and we're getting better and I'm so proud that we have some Latinos in there.

Very proud.

- The Federal Reserve, Latino families have about $20,000 on average in net worth and white families have $100,000 in net worth.

Back to that original question about money, it's hard when you don't have property, it's hard when you can't get a job that doesn't, that only pays in cash to develop net worth.

What needs to happen to turn this around?

- It needs to happen that we need the State to pass a law where everybody can get an ID, a state ID.

At least a state ID because, or they have to pass so somebody can, the community, they've been here for awhile, maybe they can get a work permit.

And I know the President talk about that, but I don't know if it's gonna pass or not, but I will love for people to have a permit to work legally in this country.

- And the proposed legislation from Senator Menendez in New Jersey, a positive?

Now, it hasn't been voted on but- - I'm very happy for that and I hope it passes.

- From a positive point of view, Mari, what positive things are happening through the University of Illinois Extension to help the Latino community?

(Mari speaking Spanish) (Catalina speaking Spanish) - Mm, well, the population is grown and I think they eat more, pero they know how eat more healthy.

I think.

- So, what you'd like to see is more growth in the population, the Latino population?

- Mm hm, yeah.

Especially with, when I go to the high school, the kids know how to eat more healthy.

So they are happy when we are in, we teach and they take that recipe and that when we back and they say, "My mom tried this food and she like it".

So.

- Language seems to be a barrier.

Do you sense that, that the Latino community being fully assimilated, incorporated into society, language sometimes provides a barrier, is a barrier?

- Oh, yeah.

- Even in your business?

- Even there, yes, mm hm.

- It is a barrier, yes, 'cause a lot of the Latinos already speak some English, but they still need somebody, like, especially if they go to the doctor and they feel not too comfortable because sometimes the doctor in medical terms, they say something that they don't understand, so they still ask me to go with them.

- And with that, we'll continue the conversation after the cameras are off here on "At Issue" and I will not be speaking in Spanish, (laughing) I do not know any Spanish, but we'll try to continue the conversation here.

Let me say thank you to, to Catalina Zavala who is with Friendship House in Peoria, and also Mari Lopez at the University of Illinois Extension, thank you for being with us.

- Thank you.

And also to Bernardo Ortiz, co-owner of Panaderia Ortiz and to Angela Jimenez, University of Illinois Extension.

- Thank you.

Thank you all for being with us.

- [Catalina] Thank you so much.

- [Bernardo] Thank you for inviting us, yeah.

- And we'll be back next week With another addition of "At Issue".

This time, we'll be talking to the Superintendent of Peoria Public Schools, Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat.

A lot of issues there, please join us next time on "At Issue".

(upbeat music) `