Keeping those ‘brown’ people in check; conspiracy or reality?

For all the times that I write commentaries here about people ganging up on the growing Latino population in this country, I worry at times that I’m spewing conspiracy theories.

Then, I read pieces such as one written recently by Patrick Buchanan, and it makes me think that, if anything, I’m going soft on the criticism of the ideologues who spew their nativist tripe.

THE GIST OF the thoughts that Buchanan (himself a former presidential candidate who has run unsuccessful bids for office that tried to appeal to all the people who have hang-ups about ‘all those Mexicans’) expressed on the WND.com website is that he doesn’t think much of efforts to appeal to Latino or black or Asian or any other ethnic-sort of voter.

He sees the modern-day Republican Party as the one that has an overwhelming composition of white people, and should probably focus its attention on turning out as many of them as possible come future Election Days in order to achieve electoral victory.

Buchanan reminds the readers of the “Southern Strategy” – the campaign tactic of 1968 in which Republican Richard M. Nixon appealed to those southerners who were disgusted with the Democratic Party for going so hard in favor of civil rights.

His strategy was to make Republican voters of them by making it clear he wouldn’t hold it against them that they had their objections to civil rights for all.

SO IS BUCHANAN hoping to get all the people who have a hang-up about immigration reform united against the Democratic Party to the point where they will vote Republican?

All too believable.

Yet also all too foolish. Because even by Buchanan’s own admission, the number of white people who cast ballots for president dropped between 2008 and 2012 – a trend that is only going to continue in future years.

After all, President Barack Obama only got 39 percent of the white vote in last year’s elections. A record low, but he still won re-election by an overwhelming margin.

BUCHANAN CALLS IT, “the crisis of the Grand Old Party.” I, and the real majority of our society, call it the coming of the 21^st Century.

The sooner that he, and all the ideologues, accept that reality, the sooner they can become a part of the solution to the problems that afflict our society.

  -30-

Intolerance, or a malcontent?

I can remember many years ago when Republican party officials in Illinois used to put out regular press releases any time anyone who was even remotely a Democrat did something that could be construed as switching political parties.

PANTOJA: The newest Dem?

They literally had a running count of the number of people who, in their view, had come to their senses and become members of the GOP.

I ALWAYS THOUGHT the gesture of boasting about party conversions was kind of tacky – and also is something one doesn’t want to get too hung up on because it does take place both ways!

Besides, one can take a look at the modern-day Republican Party in my home state and see how weak and ineffectual it has become at achieving its primary goal – winning elections.

Perhaps all that happened with all those past conversions was that the malcontents left, thereby making Democrats in Illinois not only stronger, but also dragging down the Republican Party with their whining ways.

So it is with that in mind that I’m not sure what to make of the fact that Florida officials are trying to make a big deal out of the fact that the Republican Party’s former Latino outreach director in that state has jumped ship – so to speak.

PABLO PANTOJA SENT a letter this week saying he was becoming a Democrat because of a recent study prepared by a Heritage Foundation researcher who implied that all these Latino immigrants have lower IQs – and therefore shouldn’t be encouraged to become a part of our society through the immigration process.

As I previously wrote on this weblog, that study was just too stupid to take seriously on any level. Even the Heritage Foundation quickly disavowed it – which led to the researcher in question stepping down from his post.

So the idea that Pentoja suddenly saw the light and came to the realization that many of the political people he was trying to become aligned with weren’t all that thrilled with his own work – which was meant to bolster the numbers of Latinos within the GOP, when many of them are part of the GOP because it does NOT have many Latinos to begin with.

I’d argue that it’s about time he looked around him and saw a dose of reality! Better late, than never, I suppose.

ALTHOUGH A PART of me suspects that people like Pantoja were in the Republican ranks for various reasons – as is their right.

They can associate with whomever they want, and be involved politically with whatever organization they so choose. But why do I suspect that there are underlying factors that will turn out to have a stronger pull on them than any repulsion they felt because of a stupid study that only knuckleheads thought had any legitimacy to it whatsoever?

Will he wind up slinking back to the GOP? Or will be become disgusted enough by electoral politics that he will someday refute the whole process?

Personally, I wish him the best (even though I don’t know him, or anyone who does). Because anyone who’s getting smacked about by the Republican Party in Florida as much as Pantoja is these days (they’re saying it’s “sour grapes” because he didn’t get a preferred job he applied for) can’t be all bad.

  -30-

Japanese auto dealers working harder to sell to Latinos?

It seems that automobile sales went up 14 percent between 2011 and 2012. But amongst Latinos, auto sales went up 23 percent during that same time period.

So is it any wonder that dealers seeking business wherever they can find it are going to be more aware of who has the potential to buy, and will do what they can to reach out to those people.

A NEW STUDY by the Polk auto market research firm found that the Japanese car brands actually sell better amongst Latinos these days. Toyota gets 18 percent of auto sales to Latinos, and Honda and Nissan also do better than the traditional Ford and Chevrolet.

That study says the Japanese dealerships seem better at showing “respect” to the Latino market. They want our “green” (as in cash) badly enough. It’s something all business ought to learn from.

Toyota officials say that in certain markets, they make a point of having bilingual salespeople – and ask upfront what language one is more comfortable dealing in.

A little investment, and respect, for the Spanish language can result in the extra sales that make a dealership all the more profitable.

  -30-

How well do walls work? Or, are there a lot of 51-foot ladders?

We have all those ideologues who would like to see the 1,900-plus miles of the U.S./Mexico border turned into something resembling fortifications.

All that talk of building walls along the border. It just seems like a waste – both of time, money and labor that could be put to better use.

PARTICULARLY SINCE THERE is a new study by the Council of Foreign Relations, which says that the enforcement efforts are unsure because there is little hard information that would indicate if they work at all.

The best guess these days is that about half of all people who try to cross the border at a place other than an official border-crossing station actually get caught.

Which makes it the classic half full/half empty situation! Or maybe they’re using those 51-foot ladders that one-time Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano talked about to use to scale 50-foot walls?

  -30-

Comprehension, not condescending, key to business interests getting a share of Latino community's dollars

I find it humorous, but not surprising, that an Italian/Lebanese-American is making money off of selling pizza to Latinos. That may well be the “American Way” in its truest sense – and not the nonsense-way in which ideologues often try to describe it.

Forbes magazine recently used Antonio Swad as a colorful anecdote about the changes corporate interests are going through in order to sell their products to the growing Latino population.

FOR SWAD IS the man who created a Texas-based chain of stores that sell carry-out pizza. Pizza Patròn is a company that operates in communities that have dominant Latino populations, yet Swad doesn’t have an ounce of any Latino ethnicity in him.

Not that it stops him from running a successful company – one whose value Forbes estimates at $40 million. Not bad for an immigrant – the American success story, and one that doesn’t exclude all those Latinos whom the ideologues would like to think “don’t belong.”

As the magazine points out, Swad isn’t focusing his efforts on just the Spanish language. His is the company that once went so far as to say it would accept Mexican pesos as payment for pizzas – to take advantage of those people who still have some foreign currency on them.

He’s willing to take the trip to the bank to have it exchanged for U.S dollars – so he gets his money.

NOW I’M NOT about to imply that accepting pesos is something that every company ought to do if they want Latino business. It makes sense for Swad’s company because of his stores’ proximity to the border region.

There are other ways to reach Latinos in other parts of the country. That’s the key – one has to put some thought into who they’re trying to reach. Or as Forbes put it, businesses, “must communicate in their culture.”

That bothers some people – usually the ones who want their own ethnic-inspired hang-ups to prevail and would probably rather see business operate in ways that put their hang-ups above the almighty dollar.

Which, when you think about it, is a rather un-American thought to have!

PERHAPS IT IS why I found it amusing last year when there was a so-called controversy amongst the ideologues concerning Tide laundry detergent.

I’m referring to those television spots they aired in certain markets that depicted a stylishly-dressed Spanish-speaking grandmother and her English-speaking grand-daughter to provide “translation.”

Those spots even included sub-titles, but in Spanish for the words spoken by the English-speaking grand-daughter. Not that it’s difficult to follow for anyone who speaks either language. But it was a sight gag – one that I’m sure made many people laugh (almost as much as those Parkay margarine ads of old done en Español).

The next time you see a Latino of a certain age group (40s???) laughing hysterically at the sound of the word mantequilla, you’ll know why.

  -30-

Reading material

My “deep” thoughts related to Mother’s Day (my mother is no longer with us) put me in enough of a funk that I had trouble focusing on anything else.

How long until Disney tries quinceanera concept takeover?

So for those of you who came here expecting some commentary about the Latino perspective (insofar as there is ever a Latino perspective) on an issue will have to return Tuesday.

BUT FOR THOSE who feel compelled to learn something new, I stumbled across a few stories worth noting.

It just seems ever so comical that Disney corporate officials ever thought they could trademark the concept of the Day of the Dead holiday.

While the Miami Herald gives us a first-hand perspective about how the Quinceañera enables many Latinos to hang on to their ethnic origins – while also cleaning out their wallets and bank accounts.

Malcolm X’s grandson was beaten to death last week in Mexico City – supposedly he wouldn’t pay when someone tried to charge his group a $1,200 tavern tab. While some people remain confused about the notion of tourists in Mexico finding that their U.S. dollars have value south of the Rio Bravo del Norte/Rio Grande.

  -30-

The nativist nightmare? We’re going to school!

More of the high school graduates from last year who are Latino enrolled in college than did white graduates.

I’m sure that statement makes some shudder, because it goes a long way toward stomping all over the nativist rhetoric they so often spew about people who just don’t fit into this society – and shouldn’t be given a chance to.

THE STATEMENT IS based off a new study by the Pew Hispanic Center, which found that 69 percent of the Latinos who graduated from high school last year enrolled in college for this academic year.

That compares to 67 percent of white students who graduated.

It’s also one heck of a boost from the year 2000 – when only 49 percent of Latinos who graduated from high school immediately enrolled in college. Continued education really is the means to getting ahead in life. The high school diploma, by itself, just doesn’t cut it anymore in 21^st Century life.

Although personally, I find another part of the Pew study to be even more significant – the drop-out rate is significantly on the decline for those same Latino high school students.

THE IMAGE OF a growing Latino population born in this country creating a larger number of misfits that drag down our society. It’s just a bunch of bunk – although I suspect the nativists who spew that kind of talk are really looking at themselves in the mirror and projecting themselves onto us!

For the record, the Pew study says that 14 percent of Latino high school students dropped out in 2011 – half of the 28 percent who dropped out in 2000.

Yes, it’s true that the number of white high school students who dropped out also declined during that same time period. But going from 7 percent to 5 percent isn’t anywhere near as significant as those 28 to 14 figures.

Now obviously, there’s still a gap – for it seems that Latino college students, as a whole, are less likely to be enrolled in college as full-time students and are more likely to fail to complete work on a bachelor’s degree.

BUT JUST THE facts that the drop-out rates are on the decline, along with the increase in those enrolling for higher education, it means it’s likely that the gap is closing and we’re more likely to see better rates of degree completion.

Which is a part of the assimilation that our critics want to believe we’re incapable of.

Mostly because they don’t want it. They’d rather see this society held back by people just like themselves, rather than be advanced further with our growing – and developing – numbers of people.

  -30-