GOP must realize our nation’s future speaks Spanish
WASHINGTON — The new year has begun with an avalanche of Republican retrospectives: What went wrong? What must the GOP do?
In attempting to navigate my own thoughts, I keep bumping into advice my father gave me a long time ago: “Learn Spanish. You will need it to survive in the world you will inherit.”
Living in Florida then, the trends were becoming obvious. They were literally in our neighborhood, where in 1960 a recently arrived Cuban family moved in a few doors down. Having just escaped Castro’s Cuba with only a few coins sewn in the hems of the mother’s and daughters’ dresses, this family of six spoke little English.
We became close friends and eventually, as much out of fascination and affection as pragmatism, I did learn their language—and they mine.
My father’s advice was prescient, if somewhat exaggerated. I haven’t needed Spanish to survive, though being bilingual has helped. A lot. As I often tell college audiences, I was hired for my first job not because I had a journalism degree (I didn’t) but because I spoke Spanish.
What was clear to my father even then is that our hemisphere could not long be segregated by language. Nor, apparently, can we be kept apart by borders, no matter how many fences we build or drones we deploy.
Meanwhile, and not incidentally, our new, 113th U.S. Congress has welcomed 31 Hispanic members. Three are in the Senate, including GOP superstar Marco Rubio of Florida and Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, as well as Democrat Robert Menendez of New Jersey. All are Cuban-American.
Of the 28 Latinos in the House of Representatives, all but five are Democrats.
Why so few Republicans? Therein lurks the relevant question for the GOP and perhaps the most important answer to the puzzle: Learn Spanish.
I offer my father’s imperative not literally but as metaphor. When even some of the Latino candidates don’t speak their forebears’ tongue, one needn’t feign fluency. Though endearing at times, nothing sounds more ridiculous—or inauthentic—than a politician pandering with a faux accent or foreign phrase. (Think Barack Obama droppin’ his g’s in the South, or Hillary Clinton’s rendering of James Cleveland’s freedom hymn at the 42nd anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Ala.)
May I just say, oy?
Metaphorically, learning Spanish means learning people. Knowing them as human beings, not as statistics on a game board. Recognizing their humanity and finding new ways to talk about immigration that don’t alienate entire swaths of the population.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said it best shortly after the November election: “If we want people to like us, we have to like them first.”
Jindal, an Indian-American, should know. The unlikeliest of good ol’ boy governors, he has managed to transcend race and ethnicity in his home state to become incoming chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Anti-Latino rhetoric is especially unwelcome in post-Katrina New Orleans, where most will admit that the growing Latino population rebuilt the city. Instead, dinner conversation during a recent visit with local leaders centered around the state’s evolving cuisine, which is becoming a Cajun-Latino hybrid.
Upon waves of immigrants are new palates born.
And, potentially, storm-tossed political parties.
The GOP was always a natural home for Latinos, who tend to be conservative and Catholic, though decreasingly so. Fewer than 60 percent of second-generation Latinos are Catholic, according to the Pew Research Center.
Even so, the Republican narrative of hard work, entrepreneurship and personal responsibility would seem to appeal to recent immigrants who are attracted by those very opportunities. Why aren’t Hispanics hearing the GOP call? Because this aspirational language is drowned out by the rhetoric of rejection.
You don’t need a dictionary to translate the following: Last June, Obama, who won 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, announced reprieves from deportation for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants who were here illegally, while Mitt Romney promised to end the reprieves if elected.
Whatever the legitimate arguments on either side, one shows heart and the other doesn’t. Recognizing this deficit of spirit, rising nonwhite Republican stars are beginning to form a constellation of “opportunity conservatism,” to borrow Cruz’s term. The ideas aren’t lacking, they say, but the messaging has been disastrous.
Whether these new ways of communication ultimately can change the complexion of the GOP remains to be seen, but the future is clear enough: Lose the Hispanic vote, and you lose. And the message to Republicans, if they want to survive, should be obvious.
Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Her email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.
Jan 9, 2013 at 1:54 p.m.
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@Rick_Raff ... ACTUALLY, from my personal experiences traveling, I know most people in France, throughout Europe, as well as virtually everyone under 30 in China is likely to be literate and FLUENT in English. While they respect and learn our language to grasp our culture better, sadly we can't claim the same curiosity, same dedicated effort, and the same hunger for knowledge toward greater global understanding when it comes to some Americans.
Jan 9, 2013 at 1:35 p.m.
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moosoo-Are you saying then that they are getting special treatment? Please explain to this delustional mind of mine what you mean with some details. Thanks
Jan 8, 2013 at 11:39 p.m.
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la la land should be the description of any conservative candidate for president that thinks he/she will get elected with a traditional voting base. OR just because he is Hispanic(Rubio)
That type of thinking gets Hilary a free pass in 2016.
Jan 8, 2013 at 11:01 p.m.
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I don't see any women or people of color in this repub picture. Looks all white to me.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzTEV0El...
Jan 8, 2013 at 10 p.m.
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I hope future "Spanglesh" politicians and bureaucrats don't discriminate...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Righ...
"Multilingual balloting
The Act requires municipalities that receive requests for ballots in other languages to comply with the request."
http://www.greenlining.org/news/blog/201...
"Californians speak more than 200 languages, but today our initiative petitions speak only one: English. That leaves millions of voters out of the process of qualifying propositions for the ballot.
More than 6 million voting-age Californians are “limited English-proficient.” That includes nearly half of our nationalized citizens — at least 2.1 million eligible voters whose ability to speak and read English is limited.
These voters have the same right to participate in our democracy as every other American, a principle the Voting Rights Act has enshrined in federal law. In counties with large numbers of voters who are not fully proficient in English, officials are required to provide materials such as ballots and voter guides in the major languages spoken.
The languages covered include Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese."
Jan 8, 2013 at 6:06 p.m.
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Donnow- I think that anyone that thinks because the retrogressive party has a few candidates that happen to be Hispanic is progress should not be talking about someone living in la la land. But if that thought comforts you about the future of the right wingers, go with it. Oh, by the way did you hear about the new theory that the earth may be round?
Jan 8, 2013 at 2:50 p.m.
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All people expecting to live/work in this country for an extended length of time/permanently MUST learn English, which should be the only official language of the land. Has anyone ever asked how much it costs to provide all the government documents in both languages?
Jan 8, 2013 at 2:24 p.m.
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Our nation speaks english as also English is the international standard for business. What Hispanics need to realize is that they live in an English speaking country. If they want to live in a Spanish, German or French etc... speaking country, they are welcome to leave.
Jan 8, 2013 at 12:46 p.m.
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There is nothing in this article that suggest people coming to this country should not learn English. IMO most Americans refuse to learn another language out of laziness and stupidity. I myself am learning Spanish, simply to broaden my education and to become more enlightened of other cultures. Once a person learns Spanish,other languages become easier to learn such as Portugese and Italian. I have a child that speaks 5 different languages. She is able to travel the globe and communicate wherever she goes. The one common language she finds throughout the world is English. Other cultures are more than willing to learn our language but the arrogance of Americans lead us to believe that we somehow shouldn't be expected to put forth the effort to learn thiers. It's called education people, some of you might want to try it.
Jan 8, 2013 at 9:16 a.m.
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Why are they "Hispanic" members? Are they not American citizens? Don't they speak English? The US is made up of many ethnic backgrounds that we never had to cater to. They learned English!
Jan 8, 2013 at 7:40 a.m.
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JJBrown Jan 8, 2013 at 4:37 a.m.So your first sentence is a forgone conclusion????
Jan 8, 2013 at 7:38 a.m.
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Good observation donnaw@5:07am. A common language border to border has contributed to the success of the U.S.
There is a lesson in the Bible story about the Tower of Babel.
Jan 8, 2013 at 7:31 a.m.
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Liberals exposed: Al Gore tries to dodge taxes by selling his failed left wing network BEFORE the new year only to sell it to anti-American Al Jazeere. Taxes good for you and not for them. Another rich white guy from the left.
Big world
Jan 8, 2013 at 7:11 a.m.
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wasp...and our world deals with facts and you live in la-la land.
Jan 8, 2013 at 6:08 a.m.
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Poorichard & midnite - I hope you folks are just as happy in your little world, as the rest of us are, in our great big one.
Jan 8, 2013 at 4:54 a.m.
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We all are aware that Democrats work for Wall Street, the banks, big corporations and insurance companies NOT the American people...Dems only strive to enslave population.. Just WHOM do you think bankrolls Millions into their election races...hmmm?
Democrats get all that and union laundered money too.
You have to be a complete rock dweller to think Democrats don't get Wall Street, banks or Corp money too.
Jan 8, 2013 at 4:50 a.m.
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Did this woman actually do her home work? The GOP have more Hispanics in elected office and will have several running for future President.
Reagan granted a pathway in his time too. Times change, opinions shift. Dems have lost ground since 2008
Jan 8, 2013 at 4:37 a.m.
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We all are aware that Republicans work for Wall Street, the banks, big corporations and insurance companies NOT the American people...Just WHOM do you think bankrolls Millions into their election races...hmmm? Face it, they are the champions of the Top 2%...bought and paid for. WHY would a Latino vote to be further suppressed by Arizona Laws and Self Deportation talk???
Jan 7, 2013 at 7:11 p.m.
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If Obama got 71% of the Hispanic vote it's only because he lied to them and they bought it hook, line and sinker.
The Republicans are not rejecting them-just treating them the same as everyone else, equal and fair.
Jan 7, 2013 at 5:07 a.m.
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Just imagine what our country would be like if we catered to every different immigrant and insisted everyone here learn the language of the newest group to come here. We would have enclaves of German, Swedish, Armenian, Italian, French with schools having to have classes on English as a second language classes for each new class of immigrant. When you called companies you would hear "press one for Italian, two for German, three for French, etc, etc," The catering to the Hispanic language does the Hispanics no good either. It prolongs their learning of English. What's the motivation to learn English if you can do everything in Spanish?
Jan 7, 2013 at 1:35 a.m.
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vnvet7071, you do realize that "Hispanic" is not a synonym for "immigrant", right? There have been Hispanics in the United States for its entire history -- at least since the incorporation of Florida Territory and the Louisiana Purchase.
Jan 6, 2013 at 10:14 a.m.
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Those 31 Hispanic members that have entered our U.S. Congress, I would bet have learned English and that is what got them where they are today. They were the smart ones, the others, No comprende.
Jan 6, 2013 at 8:44 a.m.
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Our nations future also speaks Chinese, Japanese, etc., but they should ALL speak ENGLISH in the UNITED STATES! We aren't supposed to need to learn another language to be around those from other countries. They are supposed to speak English! What a bunch of crap to say we need to speak their language. Send them packing if they don't want to be an American!
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