Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Shuts Out Latinos for 33rd Year
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced the selection of the seven individuals who will receive the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors, and while some are gleaming with pride, the Latino community is outraged.
For the 33rd year, none of the nominees are Latino artists.
The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) and the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) have written letters to Caroline Kennedy, President Obama, and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus requesting "major changes in the process by which Kennedy Center Honorees are selected and asking why there is a constant pattern of exclusion of Latinos."
NHLA Chairman Hector Sanchez said this is a priority because Latinos have been locked out in 33 of the 35 years of the Kennedy Center Honors' existence.
"Out of 170 people that have received the award only 2 have been Latinos," Sanchez said. "The only two Latinos to have received the award are Placido Domingo and Chita Rivera and no Latino has received this award in a decade. This is unacceptable."
Domingo was honored in 2000 and Rivera in 2002.
The NHLA was established in 1991 to "bring together Hispanic leaders to establish policy priorities that address, and raise public awareness of the major issues affecting the Latino community."
The NHLA and NHFA asked members of Congress to introduce legislation to withhold future funding for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts until full Latin representation happens.
They also requested that George Stevens Jr., the producer of the show, co-chair of the President's Committee and creator of the Kennedy Center Honors show, "in protest for his refusal to name Latino artists as Kennedy Center Honorees."
The organizations said well-known artists such as Rita Hayworth, Fernando Llama, Ricardo Montalban, Celia Cruz, Anthony Quinn, Rual Julia, and Jose Ferrer could have been honored by the center.
Among the many names that have been previously recommended for the honor are Rita Moreno, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana, Ruben Blades, Julio Iglesias, Gloria Estefan, and Edward James Olmos.
"The secrecy in which the selection is cloaked has created a virtual lock-out of Latino artists," NHFA Chairman Felix Sanchez said. "We have tried to meet with the Kennedy Center president, Michael Kaiser, and David Rubenstein, who's the chairman of - and they have basically rebuffed us because they say, you know, they don't want to meet with individuals trying to promote a specific individual for the honors."
In a statement to NPR, the Kennedy Center said it has been and remains very supportive of Hispanic artists.
"In the last year alone, the Kennedy Center International Committee was in Spain honoring Pedro Almodovar, Sara Baras, Placido Domingo, Paco Pena and Tamara Rojo with the Kennedy Center Gold Medal in the Arts," the statement read.
The NHLA said until the nation can present Latino modernity and inclusivity to the nation, Latinos will remain at the periphery and a pattern of constant exclusion of Latinos requires immediate attention.
The president and First Lady Michelle Obama will receive the Honorees and members of the Artists Committee who nominate them, along with the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees at the White House prior to the gala performance. The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on the CBS Network for the 35th consecutive year as a two-hour primetime special on Wednesday, Dec. 26 at 9 p.m.
Recipients to be honored at the 35th annual national celebration of the arts are: bluesman Buddy Guy, actor and director Dustin Hoffman, comedian and television host David Letterman, ballerina Natalia Makarova, and rock band Led Zeppelin. While Led Zeppelin is being honored as a band, keyboardist/bassist John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page, and singer Robert Plant will each receive the Kennedy Center Honors.