The Future Of Latino Politics
How will young Latino voters influence future elections?
Young people who are perceived to be very lax when it comes to voting are beginning to show a reversal in that trend, that they're becoming more engaged. It's almost like when we had the 60's and 70's where, again, people were active, and I think to some degree it is because of the social issues that are coming before us; war in Iraq, poverty increasing, lack of health care. And so I do think you're seeing young American's becoming more engaged because they see it hitting them in the face. And so I think that you're going to find is that while there are lower voting numbers for Latino's than there are general population numbers, as young Latino's become of voting age and as more Latino's become US citizens, you're going to see a dramatic increase in the number of US citizen Latino's who can vote and will vote, and that can have a dramatic shift in the politics of this nation.
How can more Latinos be convinced to vote?
I'm very proud to be a son of Mexican immigrants, I'm a Latino, a U.S. born Latino. But I'm first and foremost American, so as we talk about what should Latinos do, I think, first and foremost, about what Americans must do. I'm an American of Latino descent and so I know certain things or feel certain things about this country that come from my background, my experiences. I want Latinos to know this - that this is a nation that's given us more opportunity than other nations could have, otherwise our parents wouldn't have come here. And so what we have to do is open that door up even wider so that next generation of young kids who comes here not knowing anything about this place, can have that same valuable experience. That means that we have to do this as Americans, but recognize that others will look at us and say "You're not fully American," and that's why I'm still Latino. Because someone will want to call me some name I don't want to be called, and before they call me that, I'll tell them "No, what you're looking at is an American of Latino descent". So, I'm Latino and I'm very proud of that, because I'm an American here and I'll prove to you why it's of such value to have this diversity here in this country. To sum that up, be proud of who you are, recognize your power, but understand that at the end of the day you're doing it in America and we should be very proud to be American.
How will Latino voters affect the US political landscape in the next 10 years?
The coming swell of young people who will be eligible to vote - a good percentage of them will be Latinos, because as I said, Latinos are demographically far younger than the average American. If we're smart, we'll attract them to policy and politics so that they will want to participate as soon as they turn 18, which will mean the texture of our politics will look somewhat different. We'll have to, as political figures, be able to respond more directly to a constituency, a population that has oftentimes been neglected or even attacked, and I hope that as the years continue to accrue, that Latinos, young Latinos or young and old, will begin to realize, "We've got some clout. We don't need to be wealthy to have a political influence. Our vote, because of our growing numbers, can be the influence we need." And so if we can help this constituency understand that it's got a lot of political clout, I think you're going to begin to see a change in the texture of our debates, political debates, and I think you're going to find politicians thinking twice about so easily scapegoating immigrants, or those who speak or sound differently. And I hope that's the case because being a first generation, having parents who speak English but speak it with an accent, I know no better Americans than my mother and father. They never ask for anything. So no one should ever look at them and point a finger and say they're the cause of our problems, because quite honestly, they've helped build this country.
