This morning I had a conversation with an acquaintance from work. Having immigrated here from Costa Rica in the 70's while still in his teens, "Rosario" is the head custodian. While talking politics, he shared some comments on politics and current issues that were contradictory with themselves-- at least to me.
Rosario is the consummate independent. He is extremely opinionated; he's just never hitched his wagon to any political party and looks at each politician and issue in isolation. (For this reason I describe him as an "independent" rather than "moderate" because, as I see it, a moderate is someone who's too uninformed, uncommitted, or indifferent to pick a side of an issue and ultimately jumps on the popular bandwagon.)
He's voted for George W. Bush, but he also voted for Barack Obama. Understandably, he leans toward candidates whose policies are favorable to Latinos. For whatever reason, he believed the Republican fit that description in 2004, the Democrat in 2008. I can respect that.
If at this point you'd accuse Rosario of being a political chameleon, here's where it get really interesting.
First and foremost, he emphasized he came to the U.S. legally and proudly considers himself an American. He and his wife both work hard, pay their bills on time, and expect not one red cent of welfare from the government. He loathes those who come over here for nothing other than to collect welfare checks, commit crimes, and feed off the system while never integrating themselves or their families in the American system. He speaks fluent English, although with a strong accent, and his young son, who I've met, speaks perfect English as well.
Based on all this, one would think -- as I did -- that Rosario is the type of Latino-American who despises illegal immigrants, supports the efforts of Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and admires politicians like Cuban American Senator Marco Rubio.
Wrong!
Rosario is a strong proponent of the DREAM Act and is disgusted with any politician who opposes it -- especially Marco Rubio. He argued that Rubio doesn't represent him or many Hispanics.
He considers Joe Arpaio an abusive thug and even told me about an instance when he handcuffed a Hispanic woman to her hospital bed while in labor (an incident I couldn't believe happened but it apparently did).
The last thing Rosario said is the most discouraging of all: While he believes the U.S. is the most humane and civil nation in the world, he believes that whites in America have and still do suffer from a sense of superiority over non-whites. He sees it where he lives; he's the only non-white in his community and senses his white neighbors look at him and his family with suspicion.
So here is a man who is living the American dream for himself and his family. He has the diligence and integrity to come to the U.S. legally, to pull himself up from his bootstraps without taking a dime from the government, and presumably teaching his child the same work ethic. These are Republican ethics. (That's not, of course, to say that Democrats don't behave this way, but it's sure not the way Democrat politicians look for in their electorate).
Yet his recent voting patten and positions on issues are blatantly Democrat.
This isn't the first minority American to exhibit this split personality -- hell, look at many blacks and my fellow American Jews.
My friend Rosario should be a Republican; he's the type of immigrant that makes America work. But as long as he sees America as a place of "white superiority" and sees opposition to the DREAM Act as inhumane, it seems he's not going to be voting that way for a while.
What could Republicans do to reach out to hard-working proud minority Americans like Rosario?
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