“Latinos think they’re white,” bemoaned a liberal commentator making an attempt to clarify November’s election. He’s incorrect, in fact, however solely missed the reality by a hair: Latinos suppose they’re Individuals.
Democrats are having a tough time explaining the “Latino vote” this yr. That’s as a result of it doesn’t exist. Most got here into this nation poor, uneducated and talking Spanish. And over the generations, they’ve develop into common Individuals in each sense of the phrase.
The Census Bureau says there are over 65 million Hispanics dwelling within the U.S. That’s 19% of the inhabitants, and the overwhelming majority have been born right here. They’re not guests or short-term residents – they’re our neighbors, coworkers, and fellow Individuals.
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The stereotype of Latinos as Mexican berry pickers is laughably outdated. Latino enterprise possession has exploded, surging 40% in recent times – the quickest development price in three many years. U.S.-born Latino median family earnings hit $62,000 in 2021, displaying exceptional progress from the place their mother and father began.
They’re working companies, main corporations, and shaping American tradition. Many are educated middle-class professionals who got here from locations like Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil – fleeing not persecution, however unhealthy financial insurance policies.
But the left appears caught in a time warp, treating Latinos as in the event that they’re nonetheless newly arrived immigrants who want authorities safety from racist gringos. They seem genuinely shocked when Hispanics don’t mechanically test the “D” field on their ballots, and are apoplectic that almost half of the nation’s Latinos voted for Trump.
Right here’s what the political panderers don’t get: Whenever you construct your life in America by means of onerous work, you are inclined to imagine in American values.
That shouldn’t shock anybody who understands fundamental human nature – individuals who obtain success by means of free markets sometimes need to shield these alternatives, not destroy them. Come to consider it, when’s the final time you’ve seen Latinos burn down their neighborhoods in protest of a racist cop?
Like several massive group, they face challenges. Whenever you take a look at most financial statistics, they generally lag behind the nationwide common. However their upward mobility is robust and constant – every technology doing higher than the final, identical to each different immigrant group in American historical past.
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We’ve heard lots concerning the migrants who’re coming to America illegally, and we’ll quickly have an administration take that situation critically. It shouldn’t have been a shock to anybody that permitting a limiteless variety of unknown individuals to flood throughout our border would create large issues.
However that’s a separate situation from the tens of thousands and thousands of Latino Individuals who’re already right here, constructing companies, elevating households, and dwelling the American dream. They’ve develop into built-in into American society simply as totally as Italians, Irish or every other group that got here right here.
The political class must get up to this actuality. Treating Latinos as a monolithic voting bloc made sense when most have been latest immigrants going through comparable challenges. However right this moment? They’re as various of their views as every other Individuals.
Some are conservative Catholics apprehensive about conventional values. Others are progressive urbanites targeted on local weather change. Many are small enterprise house owners involved about taxes and rules. And sure, some help expanded authorities providers.
In different phrases, they’re common Individuals. The one individuals who don’t appear to grasp this are politicians and pundits nonetheless caught within the Nineteen Eighties.
Ken LaCorte writes about censorship, media malfeasance, uncomfortable questions, and trustworthy perception for individuals curious how the world actually works. Observe Ken on Substack
Syndicated with permission from Ken LaCorte.
