Hispanics not getting the message that they are stealth Republicans

7 thoughts on “Hispanics not getting the message that they are stealth Republicans”

1. I read this to mean that Republicans have a debate internally about some parts of the immigration issue.

   I don’t think, Jason, that this disqualifies Republicans from campaigning on the values we share with Hispanics, like hard work, responsibility, and personal morality. I believe that many Hispanics ARE Republicans for these reasons, they’ve just been put off by the immigration issue. I hope they’ll learn that this is about growing the economy for everyone, and that’s more important to them.

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   1. I value hard work and personal responsibility too. But if somebody were to view me as less of a citizen due to my skin color, or my gender, as Republicans do to both, I’ll never vote for them. Self-respecting Hispanics will not support the party of Tom Tancredo. Self-respecting women will not support the party of Rush Limbaugh.

      The “you’ll like me even though I hate you” argument is an insult to my intelligence.

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2. I became a Democrat after I found out that I am Latino…

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   1. You are of Spanish descent, according to your own bio which means you are Hispanic, not Latino. If you are going to throw the terminology around, you might want to use the correct word, out of respect for both Latinos and Hispanics who have a much more direct and recent line to their respective cultures.  

      U.S. official use of the term “Hispanic” has its origins in the 1970 census. The Census Bureau attempted to identify all Hispanics by use of the following criteria in sampled sets:

      Spanish speakers and persons belonging to a household where Spanish was spoken

      Persons with Spanish heritage by birth location

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      1. The term “Latino” was officially adopted in 1997 by the United States Government in the ethnonym “Hispanic or Latino”, which replaced the single term “Hispanic”: “Because regional usage of the terms differs – Hispanic is commonly used in the eastern portion of the United States, whereas Latino is commonly used in the western portion.

         and

         The U.S. Government has defined Hispanic or Latino persons as being “persons who trace their origin [to] . . . Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures.”

         The American Heritage Dictionary, however, agrees with you that the terms are not interchangeable and should be used distinctly, not as halves of the phrase “Hispanic or Latino,” though it does acknowledge that the terms ARE used interchangeably in American English:

         Though often used interchangeably in American English, Hispanic and Latino are not identical terms, and in certain contexts the choice between them can be significant. Hispanic, from the Latin word for “Spain,” has the broader reference, potentially encompassing all Spanish-speaking peoples in both hemispheres and emphasizing the common denominator of language among communities that sometimes have little else in common. Latino-which in Spanish means “Latin” but which as an English word is probably a shortening of the Spanish word latinoamericano-refers more exclusively to persons or communities of Latin American origin. Of the two, only Hispanic can be used in referring to Spain and its history and culture; a native of Spain residing in the United States is a Hispanic, not a Latino, and one cannot substitute Latino in the phrase the Hispanic influence on native Mexican cultures without garbling the meaning. In practice, however, this distinction is of little significance when referring to residents of the United States, most of whom are of Latin American origin and can theoretically be called by either word.

         So I think you’re right in terms of word origin, but culturally it’s ambiguous, since Ali has spent much more of his life around Spanish-speaking people of Latin American origin, in Pueblo and as a teacher in California, than around people of Spanish origin. He does speak Spanish, which it’s my understanding he learned from people of Latin  American origin. Many Latin@s were, like Ali, born in the US, and like Ali, can trace their genes to Spain if they go far enough back. Passing through Latin America on the way doesn’t necessarily make them non-Hispanic, unlike the native Mayan/Aztec cultures which have no relationship to Spain (and are not always Spanish-speaking, for that matter).

         I’d say Ali can call himself part-Latino if he wants to. He has at least as much right to the term as the next guy of distant Spanish descent born and raised in the US who speaks a little Spanish, which could describe quite a few of the Latinos I know.

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         1. 🙂

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3. Definitely not your father’s Latino’s.

   Oh, wait.  Maybe they are. But like your father’s Oldsmobile, headed for the junk bin of history.

   Cubans voted Republican for several generations, mostly because it was the R’s that proclaimed to hate Castro and wanted the embargo to remain in place.

   Fast forward two, three, even four generations.  Young Cubans don’t get Grandpa’s anti-Castro religion.  More and more are registering as independents and Democrats.

   And mostly, they have no buy-in on the western, Mexican immigration issues.

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