Editorial: Strategies for Diversity Require Diversity

In this issue: Gonzalez enters runoff for Mayor of San Francisco Green Party candidate takes a turn in the debates Green City, Part II: Santa Monica sets the pace for the 21st century Growing Greens: California Campus Greens meet, discuss how to grow organization, reach voters. Next Step: Greens in the Assembly Message to Greens: Presidential candidates run in California?s primary The recall Editorial: Sunflower gathers strength from the roots Editorial: Strategies for Diversity Require Diversity The dog and pony shows of corporate politics are history! Opinions vary among Green Gals on the 2004 election dilemma GMOs-who decides? Proponents of good health prescribe surgery: insurance-ectomy Greens plan 2004 Congressional challenge Californians elect Greens into local offices Adults represent children when voting on ballot initiatives David Cobb tells why he seeks the presidential nomination FAQ Letters to the Editor News Clips

Sit in on Green Party gatherings at international, national, state, and local levels, and you are likely to encounter the subject of diversity. And if the discussion moves to strategies for outreach to diverse ethnic and immigrant groups, no single answer will be found. It all depends on the group we are trying to reach. Two main approaches are issues versus campaigns.

by Karine Megerdoomian, co-editor

Outreaching to the African-American population, according to Donna Warren, Green Party candidate for Lt. Governor in November 2002, would only work if we actually work on the issues important to the community. Often Latino organizers also feel that working with them on issues relevant to their community and becoming known locally is the most efficient way to garner their support. This requires serious community organizing and issue-based campaigns side by side with the local groups.

As an Armenian, I noticed in my attempts to reach out to the Iranian community that they try not to get too involved in political organizing. Although there have been attempts to organize as a community, in general they shy away from issue-based campaigns. For this group, it's more important to have an Iranian candidate. For example, most of the Iranians in San Diego are actually conservative but when Sara Amir ran for Lt. Governor, Iranians voted for her, a Green, just because she was Iranian. It seems to work the same in the Armenian community. Presumably an Armenian candidate will make sure that issues important to the community (e.g., genocide and relations with Armenia) are addressed.

In some instances, it will be important to focus on certain issues and work on those alongside the community groups. In other cases, focusing on issues will not be as efficient as recruiting and mentoring candidates from within the community. To help our discussions on diversity to be more fruitful, it is important to move toward developing effective strategies. These strategies will be, inevitably, diverse.

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