Lunch, the only time of the day when all the different ethnic groups were gathered in an enclosed space, was tense. Different speakers were applauded by different contingents, depending on their ethnicity and politics.

Not even President Clinton's closed-circuit address to our conference commanded the attention of the entire group. Clinton's one remark which drew substantial attention, according to the convention publication, was referring to all those in attendance as "non-white."

But the controversy generated by this remark was not the usual one, based on the fact that Hispanics often consider themselves white. Rather, people were annoyed that the President had referred to us all as part of one category.

Some unity.

Iunderstand that some minorities have reason to feel they have been marginalized or oppressed by society at large. Because of this, I also understand why some don't believe in large unions where under-represented interests can easily get lost.

But people cannot thrive in tiny, segregated groups, subdividing every time they discover differences within them.

There is enough commonality in the experience of all ethnic minority groups to foster our unity right now.

And minority groups should support each other and work to join each other--as well as people who are not today considered minorities--in a society that does not necessitate any group's subjugating its interests, beliefs or lifestyles.