The concept of socially-conservative Latinos has never been a shock to me. So it doesn’t surprise me to learn that Latinos are in the Republican Party, and that some consider themselves to be among the Tea Party types who will speak out in defense of Arizona and the immigration opponents and much else that some people would consider downright backward.
It’s a little too simplistic to say that this conservative streak comes from the Catholic Church.
BUT THERE ARE those among us who have no problems accepting the social agenda that conservatives often tout, particularly on issues involving abortion and gay people.
So when I read a pair of reports that wound up on the Internet, my initial reaction was something along the lines of “eh” even though I’m sure the entities that put these reports together (the Wall Street Journal newspaper and Dallas’ Channel 11 – a CBS affiliate) want us to be shocked at the very concept of Latino conservatives.
In the case of Dallas television, it was a slow news day Sunday, so a reporter-type went to a “Tea Party” gathering. Big surprise, you’re in Texas, and many Latinos are from families that have lived there for generations.
So there were Spanish surnames among the gathering.
WHICH MEANS THEY found Latinos who think of themselves as so assimilated into the society that they’re willing to defend its more jackassed moments. “It’s difficult being Hispanic and conservative,” one of them told the television station – as though the masses are now supposed to feel sorry for this particular person.
Now I come from a family where it was my grandparents who were the immigrants. I can remember as a kid hearing rhetoric from them that indicated an interest in assimilation, and not much interest in looking back at the state of the “old country” (although I can remember my maternal grandfather mocking my grandmother’s claims of various European ethnicities in her family background by telling us kids that grandma, “is just a Mexican like everyone else here”).
I also know there is little about my experience that wasn’t shared by many other people in this country with ethnic backgrounds tracing back to Latin American nations.
Which is why it doesn’t shock me to learn that some people (including some of my cousins) of Latino ethnic backgrounds don’t share the same level of interest in geneology. Then again, I have other cousins whose knowledge and interest is so much more intense than my own.
WHETHER YOU WANT to believe it or not, I truly am somewhere in the middle of the mix when it comes to reflecting the thought process of the growing Latino population.
That is why Latinos who want to associate with those Tea Party types (personally, I find most of them to be so boring with their constant rants about what is wrong with this country, instead of recognizing the improvements that have been achieved in recent decades) don’t surprise me. When I read in that Dallas television report that someone said these Latino Tea Party types were out of touch with Latinos, I’d say we’re all over the place, so it is that variety of opinion that construes the true Latino perspective on issues.
There also was another report published by Rupert Murdoch’s business-oriented newspaper (the one he’s trying to make more general interest), which tells of Latinos who had considered themselves to be loyal to the GOP – only to now question their political future in the wake of Arizona’s new law that is going to require local police to aggressively enforce federal immigration laws.
The newspaper found people who say they feel betrayed by the hard-line Republican Party support for this policy – and the trash-talk being dealt out by the GOP toward anyone who implies the Arizona policy might be even slightly flawed.
DO I EXPECT a lot of defections? That is probably overstating the effect that will occur, for I think a lot of the Latinos who have gone GOP because of the social agenda will find a way to justify their continued allegiance to that political party in the future.
The real effect is more likely to be in terms of gaining new members, which is what any entity has to continually do to prevent itself from aging, dying off and becoming irrelevant.
Particularly when it comes to the Latino population, it is a young one, with many people who have not yet achieved voting age. Or in the case of those who are not yet citizens, they have not yet achieved the ability to cast a ballot in U.S. elections.
Which is why Latinos in Arizona account for 30 percent of the population, but only about 12 percent of those registered to vote. The gap between those figures eventually will close in future years (I will guess within the next decade).
WITH THE WAY the GOP has allowed its conservative fringe to dominate its thought process on so many issues, I just can’t see many of these newcomers to the process deciding that they want to have anything to do with the party that at times seems embarrassed by the fact it once was the Party of Lincoln.
If anything, the Republicans threaten to become the party of “grandpa,” out of touch with the realities of life in our society during the 21st Century. Which is why I will always believe that if the GOP had had any sense, they would have taken the initiative on implementing immigration reform. It could have created significant support to bolster their ranks.
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