Latinos Criticize Lack of Prominent Roles at Democratic Convention

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Latinos Criticize Lack of Prominent Roles at Democratic ConventionTucson Weekly ^
| MON, AUG 24, 2020
| Chase Hunter
Posted on 08/24/2020 12:04:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
in the just-ended Democratic National Convention, one set of numbers was particularly striking.
John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio, got four minutes to speak, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, got just 60 seconds.
For Joseph Garcia, director of Chicanos Por La Causa in Arizona, the numbers were not surprising.
“The message is not: Yes, we welcome you into the party,” Garcia said of the number of Latino speakers. “Part of it is figuring, ‘Latinos got nowhere to go. They have to vote for us because they’re not going to vote for Republicans with their harsh line on immigration and other issues.’”
The message that Arizona convention delegate Leyna Negron heard was that the party values her vote, but not her voice.
“We need to be included in more than just discussions of ‘get out the vote.’ We need to be seen in leadership positions,” Leyna Negron said. “And that’s not happening.”
But Jessica Mejia insists that’s not the case. Mejia, the Arizona state director for Biden for President, said this year’s DNC was the “most diverse national political convention in history.”
Campaign officials pointed to Arizona native Kristin Urquiza, who spoke Monday about her father’s death from COVID-19, and Aldo Martinez, a DREAMer and an activist for his community. They noted that several Latinos were part of the keynote address that was delivered by 17 “rising stars” of the party.
A number of Latinos were included in the list of establishment speakers, including former Obama administration Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Tom Perez, the first Latino party chairman.
“Latinos are a core part of the American story and will be a powerful force in this election,” Mejia said in an emailed statement. “Joe Biden has a clear vision to lift the Latino community: to build a more fair economy, invest in public schools, and expand access to affordable health care for our families.”
But Garcia pointed to the Latinos who were not given speaking slots, including Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and his brother Julian, a housing secretary in the Obama administration and a presidential candidate until Jan. 2.
Garcia said the focus seems to be more on the African-American vote than the Latino vote, something Arizona Latino Republican Association spokesman Rey Torres agrees with.
“The two most interesting colors to either party happen to be Black and white,” Torres said. “There’s no room for brown, right now.”
He said both parties need to work on advancing Latino leaders if they hope to vie for their votes in the future.
Latinos are expected to be an important demographic in key swing states like Arizona and Florida, which may put Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over the top. The Census Bureau estimates that there were 5.7 million Latinos in Florida in 2019 and 2.3 million in Arizona.
“We’re not a monolith,” said Gilbert Romero, an at-large Bernie Sanders delegate to the convention from Arizona, “so they have to get serious if they want to keep us.”
Romero was particularly upset by the number of Republicans who spoke at the convention – besides Kasich, they included former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The convention should showcase the country, he said, and should honor the people who have “worked in Democratic politics, people who are doing advocacy in our communities and advocating for the policies we care about.”
“This is our party. And my community, our communities, have been voting loyally for the Democratic Party since John F. Kennedy,” Romero said.
“Republicans shouldn’t have more space in our party than a young Latina from the Bronx. That doesn’t seem right,” he said, referring to Ocasio-Cortez.
Negron said Ocasio-Cortez, who worked as a bartender before being elected to Congress in 2018, represents more than her ethnicity, she represents working-class Latinos.
“When you think about Latinos, so many of us are service workers or retail workers. We’ve been hit hard by the pandemic. And we want to know that our voices are being heard,” Negron said. “Politicians represent us, but they aren’t us. Except for maybe people like AOC.”
Negron sees Ocasio-Cortez as “the voice of the future of our party, so it’s just a real disservice to us all that she was limited to 60 seconds. It really feels like exclusion.”
“This is the party that’s supposed to be most friendly to me. And I don’t see me in the party,” Negron said.
Romero said the party needs to embrace progressive policies like Medicare for All, a Green New Deal and comprehensive immigration reform or “run the risk of losing Latinos to the Republican Party.”
For now, however, Negron said Latinos have little choice.
“We’re under attack by this administration and we know that the Democrats are the best for our future. So, we don’t have a choice,” she said. “And that’s why it’s so easy to exclude us from policy discussions and speaker positions because they know they have our vote.”
TOPICS:Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/ElectionsKEYWORDS:democrat; hispanic; latino
You’ve been given the privilege of voting for Dems, what more do your want?
2
posted on 08/24/2020 12:06:42 PM PDT
by Huskrrrr
It’s not their turn.
It’s BLM’s turn.
3
posted on 08/24/2020 12:07:57 PM PDT
by Mariner
(War Criminal #18)
Isn’t this a bit late… after the fact.
4
posted on 08/24/2020 12:08:25 PM PDT
by Moorings
Why don’t they start their own political party?
5
posted on 08/24/2020 12:08:53 PM PDT
by Cowboy Bob
(Mocking Liberals is not only a right, but the duty of all Americans.)
Lol. Idiots think that loyalty to psychotic baby-killers is going to be rewarded. Any RAT will sell out another for a few bucks or a joint.
6
posted on 08/24/2020 12:08:57 PM PDT
by Seruzawa
(TANSTAAFL!)
Sadly, it’s OVER, Jim.
Done. Finished. History.
Too late to beat the dead horse.
7
posted on 08/24/2020 12:09:05 PM PDT
by Paladin2
Dems have promised both Blacks AND Hispanics that “You are our #1 Most Favored Minority”.
BLM has forced Hispanics to realize that it ain’t them.
8
posted on 08/24/2020 12:09:09 PM PDT
by Buckeye McFrog
(Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
Regardless of what party I wanted representing me, I’d have to ask myself if i wanted Alexandria Cortez speaking for me. She’s way over the top.
9
posted on 08/24/2020 12:09:35 PM PDT
by oldtech
She insulted blacks in her 60 seconds.
Negron sees Ocasio-Cortez as “the voice of the future of our party If Sandy Cortez is the answer, then the question was stupid.
11
posted on 08/24/2020 12:12:15 PM PDT
by Sirius Lee
(They are openly stating that they intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live.)
They are correct. The latino population exceeds the black population in many cities. The Dem party still acts as though it’s around 1975, long before the waves of immigrants began coming in and staying.
But the squeaky wheel still gets the grease. So if the latinos want greater focus, they’re going to have to make noise about it. It doesn’t need to be a harsh and hostile kind of movement i.e La Raza or one based on willful breaking of laws i.e. Dreamers; but enough to distract and redirect party donors. Same thing can be said for the republican party to a lesser degree.
“…Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, got just 60 seconds.”
Any more of her would have set peoples’ view of Latinos back decades. They know as well as we do that the less time she’s given to speak, the less stupid stuff she spouts.
we know that the Democrats are the best for our future. Wrong.
So, we don’t have a choice,” she said.
Oh yes you do.There is a chap in the White House who gave Latinos the lowest unemployment rate for Latinos in history. One hombre by the name of El Presidente Trump.
“And that’s why it’s so easy to exclude us from policy discussions and speaker positions because they know they have our vote.”
There is a name for women who keep going back to the same man that keeps abusing them year after year. He may want to look it up.
Hoping that Trump responds by attacking the democrat party use of racial division and announces key people are selected on merit not by color of skin or national origin.
15
posted on 08/24/2020 12:15:41 PM PDT
by mosesdapoet
(mosesdapoet aka L.J.Keslin posting here for the record hoping somebody might read and pass around)
Speaking for myself helping the kids in my family set up apts and connections as they start grad school, check in for the GMAT, the Bar, Med school, clinch F16 assignments out of UPT, I cannot imagine my Irish ancestors of whom I have stories, whining like this over the NONA policies while they were laying bricks at the Empire State Building, working for Otis elevator, putting up gargoyle s at the Chrysler building or placing ornamental plastering at radio city music hall instead of getting my parents and their siblings educated and moving in
And I mighT add aunt LorettaA sounds pretty smart now when in 1984 she said those democrats ruin everything in nEw York
16
posted on 08/24/2020 12:19:37 PM PDT
by stanne
I expect little change in the Black and Hispanic vote this year. I think we will win but it will not be because of those groups as usual. The black male will go for us at maybe 25% which would be a huge difference but all the other groups forget about it. People here are dreamers
17
posted on 08/24/2020 12:22:07 PM PDT
by dp0622
(I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE COVID GODFATHER I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. YOU CAN ACT LIKE A MAN!)
18
posted on 08/24/2020 12:22:23 PM PDT
by bk1000
(Banned from Breitbart)
Hispanics need to get more involved in GOP politics, because the GOP expresses their aims much better than the Dems. They are big entrepreneurs and very family focused.
However, there’s a lot of Dem pressure in Hispanic areas and I think a lot of them are just scared. So the GOP needs to do better outreach and make it look cool and macho to vote for Trump and be a GOPer.
19
posted on 08/24/2020 12:23:28 PM PDT
by livius
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