The Elusive Hispanic/Latino/Chicano Vote
Sun Jan 25, 2004 at 07:44:53 PM PDT
For the past decade the media has placed an increased importance on the Latino vote in determining electoral outcomes. Emphasis on this voting "bloc" is of course justifiable because we now constitute the largest minority voting bloc in the country and hold particular sway over key swing states like AZ, NM, NV and increasingly CO, OK and even NC and VA. By 2025 we will constitute over 25% of the US population and by 2050 well over 1/3 of the population. Oddly, this subject has received little real attention so far in this cycle -- with the exception of immigration reform -- and even less attention in the blogosphere.
Misplaced and wrong-headed tactics characterize the approach taken by both the Republican and Democratic parties in courting our vote.
What the two parties don't realize is that we are not a traditional minority group and cannot be appealed to in just one way (something that marketing professionals are finally beginning to realize if only because more and more of us are managing those accounts).
Not an actual racial group, we are instead a racial amalgam. Take my complicated racial makeup (look also at Markos for another example). I am the product of an Irish father and a Mexican mother. Sounds simple doesn't it - wrong. My mother's family (in San Antonio since its founding in 1713) were Canary Islanders originally from Spain. As Spaniards, they were already a mix of Germanic barbarians (Visigoths), Romans, North African Moors, and Sephardic Jews. With the move to the Canary Islands there was certainly further mixing with North African Berbers and even Arabs. Coming to Texas there was intermarriage with the indigenous people (nomadic Apache, sedentary Caddo, and imperial Aztec and Maya). And I am just etnically Mexican. Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Dominicans represent an equally complex mix with a great deal of Sub-Saharan African and native Caribbean thrown in for good measure. Southern Cone South Americans are of course far more Euro-centric (Italian, German, etc.)
Already you can imagine an aesthetic difference so add in cultural difference as well and you may begin to see the problem.
Moreover, add in regional differences. Many Latinos in the Southwest like myself have a longer history in the continental United States than most who came through Ellis Island. More cogently, the Chicano activists of the 70's would say "We didn't cross the border, the border crossed us." A Puerto Rican-American is a linguistic redundancy as Puerto Ricans as of 1917 are legally American citizens.
This is an excellent jumping off point then to explain why immigration reform should not constitute the sole strategy for wooing Spanish-speaking voters because it presumes that all Hispanics/Latinos/Chicanos are affected by this issue. Puerto Ricans are free to move anywhere they wish within the continental United States, Cubans already have a special relationship as political refugees, and a very sizable portion of Mexicans are already into the 4th if not 5th or 6th generation here.
The Republican strategy has been to promote the advancement of neoconservative's like Henry Bonilla (TX), Mel Martinez (FL) and others. They have predominantly appealed to the socially conservative character of their respective Spanish-speaking constituencies.
On the Democratic side, Congressmen (particularly from TX, CA, and NY have generally built coalitions based on support of Veterans issues(a very large percentage of the nations veterans are Latino) and New Deal economic policies.
Bush, in part, succeeded in garnering a larger share of the Latino vote in 2000 because of the "compassionate conservative" message blending aspects of both the Republican and Democratic strategies and will continue to enjoy the support of many Texas Hispanics though less so in the Valley (as South Texas is known) thanks in part to broken promises.
In short, there is no one right way to woo Latino voters and often appealing to the sole common thread - the Spanish language - appears disingenuous if not occasionally insulting.
Democrats should realize that like state primaries they must tailor their message to Latinos based on regional concerns rather than adhere to a belief that we are all the same. If they must speak in blanket statements they should focus on education, family values (above all else don't mention abortion) and patriotism or more simply speak to us like the Americans we know we already are as you would speak to a Northeasterner, Southerner, Midwesterner and West Coaster.
Permalink | 6 comments