My Point of View/By Rolando Larraz
I was not afraid last year to criticize those Cubans who were in the caravans trying to cross the border to the United States just because I am Cuban; I cannot be accused of being anti-Cuban.
When I write about illegal immigrants I am not afraid to be accused of being anti-immigrant because I am an immigrant; I am not like the Italians, the Jews, the Greeks, or any other immigrants that pretend they are not immigrants.
Many people have the erroneous idea that when someone talks about illegal immigrants they are only referring to Mexicans, which is completely erroneous because the Mexicans are not the only illegals in this country; I know other Latin nationalities that are here illegal also, I know Chinese and Greeks illegals that are here also.
When I criticize Blacks it is not because I am a racist. (I have been in relationships with black women.) I criticize something that some have done something wrong and those deeds need to be criticized; color has nothing to do with the criticism.
The same goes for when I criticize someone for any reason that is gay. I have friends (male and female) that are super gays and I get alone with them perfectly fine.
In my humble opinion nowadays people are afraid to criticize anyone because they are afraid of being accused of being anti anything: anti-immigrants, racist, homophobic, anti-police, etc.; but, I am not.
I criticize the Las Vegas city attorney because I believe that he is a “Little Caesar”; a useless inept public official and his sexual
preference has nothing to do with his performance.
When I criticize the police corruption and abusive behavior it is because I have suffered their abuse in my own skin and have witnessed their corruption too close to my own home, yet I recognize the good job that the majority of them do in and for the community and through this newspaper we always are the first to recognize the good they do
and let everyone know.
I always had the mindset that my death was going to be of no importance to anyone. I have been of the mentality that because I never did anything extraordinary in this life no one is going to miss me or even notice when I am gone.
Heck, people have a hard time accepting the fact that I, along with my friend the late Agustin Menendez, started the first Spanish language radio show on KRGN-FM and that I was the founder of the first Spanish newspaper in Clark County: La Verdad Newspaper back in 1963. People couldn’t care less that my brother Antonio and I started the first Spanish television show on KVVU Channel 5 in Henderson in 1965 and that I was the founder of the first bilingual answering service in Nevada, offering jobs to the bilingual people in the Spanish community.
None of these efforts on my part would be recognized with my departure from this life because the only one that always recognized all my efforts, Edmundo Escobedo Sr., who once was the editor of the Las Verdad Newspaper before he founded his own El Mundo newspaper, is no longer with us.
I never expected to be recognized in life or after I die because I have a big mouth and I speak my mind. I do not have two faces and always speak loud and clear.
I don’t look for, or become friends with, people because of their positions or how powerful they may be. I was friends with Sheriff McCarthy, but when I thought the injustice he was committing with Undersheriff John Moran could not be ignored, I
spoke my mind and he never spoke to me again; only later on, Sheriff Moran stabbed me in the back and I never spoke to him again either.
I used to believe that District Attorney Steve Wolfson was a nice person; I supported his wife for Judge while many criticized me for that, but when I learned how insensitive, arrogant and corrupt he is, I used the pages of my newspaper to express my opinion about Steve Wolfson despite how powerful and almighty he thinks he is.
However, after seeing the events of the last few weeks I may have the opportunity of being remembered as a high class figure as is now the case with George Floyd, the man who was “nobody” and now has had the glory of having three — not one, but three — funerals and is being remembered internationally.
President Ronald Regan died and had one service and one funeral; President George GW Bush had one service and one funeral, even if neither one was in office when they died.
Let’s not think just about Republican presidents, let’s think about Democrat president John F. Kennedy, who died in a violent manner at the hands of a criminal element while being a sitting president and he had only one funeral.
This man, George Floyd, had been arrested for committing a crime. He also had several encounters with the law and yet still became famous.
While I’m not trying to become famous — and neither was he — it seems that it’s all a matter of timing and striking a chord with the mindset of the masses at that one particular moment. Maybe George Floyd would prefer to still be alive — but on the other hand, if he knew his death could finally bring some sanity to the way police treat blacks (such as we all witnessed during his homicide at the hands of Derek Chauvin and the three officers who did nothing to stop it) he would have volunteered to suffer for that cause.
Maybe after my demise, the people in Las Vegas will recognize my humble and ongoing contribution to this community.
My name is Rolando Larraz, and as always, I approved this column.
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Rolando Larraz is Editor in Chief of the Las Vegas Tribune. His column appears weekly in this newspaper. To contact Rolando Larraz, email him at: Rlarraz@lasvegastribune.com or at 702-272-4634.
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