Dear Editor,
I paged through this year’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics with great excitement, only to have it turn to disappointment when I saw who had been left out: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. I was shocked that Hispanic Business would name Hispanic senators and judges to the list, but overlook the country’s only Hispanic governor, a man with a stellar domestic and international resume who may be our first Hispanic presidential nominee in 2008.
I tried to come up with an explanation: were you downplaying those without Spanish surnames or those with one white parent? Both would be unfortunate, but the presence of Cathy Lyons, Frankie Muniz, and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez indicated to me it wasn’t so. I can’t get my head around it! I just hope in the future you give this incredibly successful, influential man his due.
Sincerely,
Andrea
Cambridge, MA
The list is actually quite interesting and well-done; it’s worth a read. It’s just inexcusable to write a list that includes Sen. Mel Martinez, Sen. Ken Salazar, federal appeals court judges Carlos Lucero and Sonia Sotomayor, and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, but forgets Bill Richardson. Que lastima. Another omission: 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jose Cabranes, who is probably more influential in legal circles than 2nd Circuit colleage Sotomayor (who is also very important.) If only they’d gone a little lighter on folks like Malcolm in the Middle’s Frankie Muniz, who is neither involved with the Hispanic community nor is particularly influential. Teenage sitcom stars v. state executives moonlighting as nuclear weapons negotiators? Here at the BRB, we know the real story.