IS TRADITIONAL COMPADRISMO GETTING A BAD RAP?

By Juan Montoya
Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear someone or other decrying "compadrismo."
The term has become associated with favoritism and illegal employment practices on behalf of acquaintances or relatives, qualifications notwithstanding.
Yet, to the majority of local residents, the term compadre carried very different overtones. To them, it signifies a near-blood relation with another person and a relationship which carried great responsibilities.
"A compadre to me is someone who you can always turn to in a time of need or in a crisis and he will always be there for you," said Hilario Gonzalez, who christened his compadre Jose Sandoval’s son. "It is a great honor for someone to ask you to christen their child. But it is also a great responsibility because you virtually become a second father to the child and in a formal sense, adopt him if your compadre dies before you."
The Mexican Catholic church concept of becoming a godfather or godmother has changed very little over time. The ceremony involves christening the child while the parents and godfathers (male and female) witness the event. The traditional ritual is followed in the majority of churches. Usually, the ceremony requires attendance of instruction by the prospective godfathers and mothers. In the most informal of cases, the parish priest advises the godparents of their responsibilities to the parents and to the child.
To most Hispanics, being named someone’s compadre is serious business. When one becomes a compadre, your mate also becomes comadre to your compadre’s wife. In such a way, lifelong relationships are established stretching over generations.
More recently, however, the formality of a christening does not have to be followed for these relationships to be established. One can become a compadre with a fellow worker, a drinking buddy, or a friend. In that case, a mere acceptance and a handshake seals the deal.
"We haven’t christened each other’s child but we still consider each other compadres," said Tony Campos of his friend Gonzalo Noriega. "When I see him or he sees me, we know that we are with someone who we can count on when we need it. Even though it’s not official, it still counts."
But it is exactly this type of informal relationships that sometimes give compadrismo a bad name. Women, for example, say that they have been passed over for employment or promotions because of an official’s relationship (political or otherwise) with another person.
"I have worked in several governmental bodies and it’s always the same," said a female county employee. "Men tend to associate together and issue promotions to their compadrotes even if they can’t perform the job as well as a woman."
And once an elected official gets in office, it’s not unusual to see a host of his "compadres" land lucrative jobs because of their relationship with the officeholder. In most cases, the only qualification they hold is the relationship with the elected official.
"That’s been happening forever," said a city employee. "It happened during the time that non-Hispanics held those positions and they called it the good-old boy" system. Today, instead of calling it compadrismo, when non-Hispanics do it, they call it networking. The results are still the same."
Regardless of whether one agrees with compadrismo, many say the system is here to stay. They say that in a community like Brownsville used to be, those relationships will continue to exist and influence employment and political practices.
"It’s noticed here more because the economic conditions are tighter and the opportunity for good-paying employment are few. So when someone lands a job because of who they know, it’s called compadrismo. In any other small city in the United States, it goes by a different name."
The practices associated with compadrismo will probably continue to exist, albeit with variations as communities expand and the traditional associations change as the border area undergoes urbanization.
And who can argue that knowing someone who can help one politically or economically gives one a step up over the competition? Until that changes, compadrismo is here to stay.