Latinos in the US, and their culture, are experiencing increasing hostility from the Republican party, reaching its Zenith this weekend with the Super Bowl halftime show. We’re seeing Latino citizens subject to ICE hostilities, and family members who are here legally are being deported. Of those being deported, only 14% have criminal records. Even the Cuban community in Florida, which always saw itself as immune, are seeing friends and relatives being subject to harassment and deportation.
One of the reasons the GOP holds power in all three branches of government is because Trump and Republicans garnered more Latino votes then at any time in history. They literally owe their power to the Latino voters they are now directing so much hate to.
It reminds me of the Aesop’s fable about a scorpion who convinces a frog to give him a ride across the river. The scorpion tells the frog that of course he won’t sting him since he needs him to cross the river. However, the scorpion does sting the frog, and as he dies, he asks the scorpion why he did it. The scorpion replies, “what did you expect, it’s my nature.”
The GOP has shown over and over again their hostilities to Hispanic culture and Hispanics coming into this country, and have even shown hostilities to those born here who are legal citizens. Yet, the GOP also know they can not win, and thus get power, unless they peel off a portion of Hispanic voters from Democrats.
So the GOP gins up their propaganda machine to persuade Latinos to vote for them. They hit them from multiple fronts. Democrats are socialists, they say. They appeal to Latino machismo culture, making Democrats seem effeminate. They promise that only “criminals” will be deported. They tell Latinos born here that new arrivals are taking their jobs. They convince religious Latinos, that they are the party of religion, and so on.
But once they win with the help of Hispanics, like the proverbial Scorpion, the GOP turns and stings the very people who helped them gain power. They use the power given to them to demand English as the only “official language” and direct hatred to them when Spanish is spoken in the US. They ramp up deportations to include not just undocumented criminals, but Latinos who are here legally, even those who are on line to take their citizenship oath. And being a Republican voter, or even an influencer who is pro-MAGA does not give you immunity from harassment and deportation.
So like the proverbial frog, Latino Republicans have been stung by the very Scorpion who could not have won the election without them.
