HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) February
27, 2008 — A group of Hispanic
leaders said Tuesday Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo officials
haven't done enough to include
Hispanics, so they are calling for a
boycott of the three-week show that
starts Monday.
"We
request our friends across the whole
state of Texas not to attend the
Houston Livestock Show," said former
state Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos.
Among complaints from the
newly-formed group VIVE Tejano-Houston
— made up of representatives from
the Tejano music industry,
Houston-area politicians and members
of other professional organizations
— is the type of performers at the
show's main venue on Go Tejano Day.
Ruben Cubillos, co-founder of the
group, said that they object to the
hiring of non-Tejano performers to
play at the show's main venue that
day.
Leroy Shafer, the show's chief
operating officer, said Go Tejano
Day is about Hispanic culture, not
just one type of music. This year's
Go Tejano Day on March 16 will
feature Duelo, a norteno band from
Roma, and Los Horoscopos de Durango,
a duranguense act from Chicago.
He
said that a Tejano act won't take
center stage because the genre's
popularity has been waning. Tejano
bands are scheduled to play on
smaller stages.
Show organizers say this isn't the
first time Go Tejano Day lacked a
traditional Tejano artist on the
main stage.
"If, in fact, they're asking people
to stay away because they're trying
to keep this genre of music on a big
stage, then they're asking people to
go against the very essence of what
this day is," Shafer said. "They're
asking them not to come out and
celebrate being Hispanic."
Cubillos also says that not enough
of the show's scholarships go to
Hispanic students and that the show
doesn't have enough Hispanics at the
executive level.
Show organizers said that nearly a
third of the 927 students who
attended Texas universities on show
scholarships last year are Hispanic.
The
executive committee, the show's
highest level of volunteer
leadership, includes 11 active
members and six lifetime members,
but no Hispanics. Those members are
elected based on years of service
and leadership, as well as economic
contributions to the show.
