Who you calling 'amiga,' Mr. Candidate?
Updated 3:43 pm, Friday, October 11, 2013
Last week, the Republican National Committee announced it has hired Hispanic state directors and field directors in seven states to get that “opportunity for all” message out to Latino voters.
It's about time. Then again, it's the off season and nobody who might object is paying attention.
But, in the spirit of bringing the Grand Old Party to a brand-new constituency, here's a short list of fairly-obvious-yet-oft-ignored points that might help make grassroots the new red, just for starters.
Latinos are not all alike.
Culturally, Puerto Ricans are not like Chileans any more than Cubans are like Guatemalans. Even Mexicans from the U.S. are quite different from Mexicans from Mexico, even though we're all North American. You already know this, yet that Latino label remains an umbrella label for everyone from Pitbull to Sebastien De La Cruz to Jennifer Lopez.
Ask Marco Rubio; he gets it. And make no mistake, we can tell when you don't know the difference, especially in places like South Texas where a guy from Honduras sticks out like a sore thumb.
Don't serve up clichés.
Don't tell us how much you like enchiladas. The ol' Mexican Food Shout-Out is an indication that, regarding anyone or anything Mexican, the speaker's most significant point of reference is the #3 Super Combo Dinner.
That goes for any messages using the ever-popular Spanish vocabulary cheat sheet: amigo, compadre, gracias, adiós, gracias a Dios and caramba.
We don't expect everyone to walk on eggshells, it's just that one should avoid the colorful hilarity of cracking cascarones if one doesn't want to sweep up afterward. (See what I did? Eggshells, OK. Cascarones?) Unless it's April in S.A., that's veering into the realm of awkward. Savvy politicians know the difference between what adds punch and what spoils the soup.
We're not all about the immigration.
Don't assume that our culture makes us lean a certain way on this very divisive issue. For many of us, immigration is incidental; health care, education and the environment are bigger deals. Again, we're not a bloc; sometimes all we have in common is Spanish.
By the way, most of the Latinos who live in South Texas are not from Europe, so referring to this group as Spanish is way off the map. And many of those in question have never even set foot in Mexico, even if they do self-identify as Mexican.
That, by the way, has nothing to do with identifying with Mexico the country — it's all about the culture, because even though that label is the same as the one borne by Mexican citizens, it doesn't mean the same thing to Mexican-Americans. Not that there's anything wrong with being called Mexican, of course, unless you're not in the country legally. In that case, you don't have a vote and none of this concerns you.
Let's be clear; nobody is asking for special attention. It's the RNC that is looking for votes. That's what's behind the outreach.
But if that outreach brings the much-needed promise of better representation to Americans whose cultures are largely conservative, there's hope.