GOP Cubans/

Puerto Ricans

v. GOP Mexicans?

 

C O N T E N T S

* "Florida 2012 Primary Election Statement," Somos Republicans (February 1, 2012)

* "Somos Republicans: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?" by Joseph F. Cotto, BC Blogcritics (February 13, 2012)

 

Florida 2012

Primary Election Statement

Somos Republicans (February 1, 2012)

 

We were hoping our Cuban American and Puerto Rican brothers would disregard their leadership lead to support anti-immigrant Mitt Romney. The Florida primary results show the total disregard a good majority of Cuban Americans have for conservative Mexican Americans, South Americans, and Central Americans who aspire, like Cuban Americans, to be an integral part of this country. This vote shows the lack of solidarity with the majority of Latinos, even while Cuban Americans and Puerto Rican serve themselves with the big spoon when it is time to distribute the political and economic/business opportunities/leverage generated by the critical mass of Latinos, mainly Mexican Americans (65%), but also Central Americans and South Americans. These latter don't have the same opportunities of citizenship that Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans enjoy, and thus, in general, Cuban American put aside the priorities of the majority of Latinos. For a long time we have put the Latino agenda in the hands of Cuban Americans, and look where we are. It has been a tremendous disaster; we could not be more despised and disadvantaged in this country, in spite of our numbers and great contributions.

 

The overwhelming vote of Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans for anti-Latino immigrant Mitt Romney should open the eyes of conservative Latino Republicans not belonging to the Cuban and Puerto Rican communities, to the fact that we do not count on their support for our political, economic/business agenda, and thus, they should not count on us, except on a previously negotiated basis on which we, Mexican Americans, hold our votes and power in the hands of our own leadership. For this, we must accelerate the pace to build this Mexican American leadership that this major ethnic group needs to hold to represent the interests of its constituency within the Republican party. No more leaving our issues in the hands of other "Latinos". If the Republican Party wants the votes of the largest Latino Group, Mexican Americans, and its brothers Central and South Americans, they will need to negotiate with us, not with Cuban or Puerto Rican Americans. In Light of the Cuban American leadership support for anti Latino immigrant Mitt Romney ("illegal immigrant" is a code word for Latino immigrants, and Cuban Americans fool themselves if they think the Latino haters do not put us all in the same basket - as as small sample, you just had to hear the expressions of disgust within the Georgia Republican party when Mel Martinez was head of the RNC; Latino students at GA state reported that a professor coming from Florida said in class, in front of all the students, that Miami was a third world country infested with Cubans).

 

We welcome the friendship and brotherhood of those few Cubans and Puerto Ricans who embrace us, and who will accept our rightful leadership role. The Republican Party should know, and we will make it evident through our organization and future coalitions, that we will not align with Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans any longer, except when there are clear mutual interests, and that Mexican Americans no longer consider themselves represented within the party by Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans. If the Republican Party wants the Mexican American community's support, the by far largest Latino group, they need to have one of us, Mexican American.

 

Republicans must acknowledge that if Mexican Americans are marginalized, we will not fulfill our potential as a key pillar to America's economic and political future in the world. America will be poor if Mexican Americans are poor and powerless. We will not allow this. To the innuendo and racist rhetoric through the construction of code-alkaloid language such as "illegals" and "Anchor babies", we will respond with harder work, greater love for this country, and greater organization. We will not give up the Republican Party because these are our values, but we will support only those who embrace us. We will identify and clearly explain to Republicans that they have substituted Republican values for hate, and that the "hate coalition" which has taken over the party uses hate to hide and distract from the fact that they are big spenders, big government, big brother policy. They use a minor civil violation to dehumanize "some" immigrants. Those who call themselves Reaganites do not belong in the immigrant hate coalition. We Mexican Americans are more than willing to work hard to contribute to build the bright future of this country, and warmly embrace all of those who embrace us. Likewise, we will be well aware of those who do not.

 

Further information: info@somosrepublicans.com

 

 

Somos Republicans:

With Friends Like These,

Who Needs Enemies?

BY Joseph F. Cotto

BC Blogcritics (February 13, 2012)

 

Somos Republicans, the self-proclaimed largest grassroots organization in the United States for GOPers identifying as Hispanic or Latino, has had it.

With who? Their fellow Republicans, of course. Specifically Floridian ones of Cuban or Puerto Rican ancestry.

 

Why? Because they had the audacity to vote for former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney a few weeks ago during the Sunshine state's presidential primary. Cubans and Puerto Ricans, it would seem, were expected to stand in solidarity with those of predominately Mexican descent in supporting an open borders candidate. This, though, for the Somos crowd, is only the beginning of the story:

 

The Florida primary results show the total disregard a good majority of Cuban Americans have for....Mexican Americans....and Central Americans who aspire....to be an integral part of this country. This vote shows the lack of solidarity with the majority of Latinos, even while Cuban Americans and Puerto Rican(s) serve themselves with the big spoon when it is time to distribute the political and economic/business opportunities/leverage generated by the critical mass of Latinos....

 

....The overwhelming vote of Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans for anti-Latino immigrant Mitt Romney should open the eyes of conservative Latino Republicans not belonging to the Cuban and Puerto Rican communities, to the fact that we do not count on their support for our political, economic/business agenda, and thus, they should not count on us, except on a previously negotiated basis on which we, Mexican Americans, hold our votes and power in the hands of our own leadership....

 

....We welcome the friendship and brotherhood of those few Cubans and Puerto Ricans who embrace us, and who will accept our rightful leadership role. The Republican Party should know, and we will make it evident through our organization and future coalitions, that we will not align with Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans any longer, except when there are clear mutual interests, and that Mexican Americans no longer consider themselves represented within the party by Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans. If the Republican Party wants the Mexican American community's support, the by far largest Latino group, they need to have one of us, Mexican American.

 

As one of the few Puerto Rican-Jewish writers in publication today, and quite possibly the only one who is a native Floridian and a registered Republican to boot, I do not find this to be offensive, but laughable. Indeed, as the Somos stereotype goes, I not only voted for Romney, but did so in large part due to his stance on the illegal alien issue.

 

It must be asked why those of us who are natural born American citizens, and happen to be of Cuban or Puerto Rican background, are automatically assumed to be sympathetic toward illegals. Is it because many speak the same language that our forefathers spoke? Is this an allowance for criminality and collectivist politics? I do not think so.

 

All of this hogwash goes back to that label devised by the feds during the mid-twentieth century: Hispanic. Originally used to merely divide and conquer the electorate for purely partisan gains, it has devolved into a pseudo ethnoracial construct. Today, all persons having ancestors who lived in North American lands settled by the Spanish Empire are beholden to it. Hispanic, and its stepchild Latino, have destroyed the uniqueness of each Latin American nation's culture. In popular vernacular, a Venezuelan is no different than a Dominican, and a Mexican is indistinguishable from a Cuban. This is mass madness, and a profound insult to the legacy of Spanish colonization.

 

Never before has a Puerto Rican been expected to side with an Argentine, or vice versa, based on some sort of ethnic connection. Barring language, and even then there are distinct dialect variations, Latin American countries have no more common ties to each other than Western European ones do. The Somos Republicans should keep this in mind before going off on another tangent pertaining to their rightful place in GOP leadership or similar nonsense. They are a case study in why individual achievement should be awarded over group membership.

 

This, after all, is only the American way. As the Somos Republicans want to enjoy the full American experience, I suggest they do exactly that.