Democrats look at “Lah-teen-ohs” and see one monolithic group. Cubans are no different from Mexicans, who are no different to Colombians, etc. For liberals, Hispanics are all the same and can’t figure things out on their own, so they need their guidance. This racist approach led to Democrats losing a significant chunk of the Hispanic vote.
Mary Anastasia O’Grady breaks it down in The Wall Street Journal:
There’s No Such Thing as the Latino Vote
Hispanics in the U.S. are individuals who have agency. And they bring it to the polls.
It may take Democrats some time to figure out what led to Tuesday’s election debacle. Some are blaming misogyny and racism. That might feel good but it won’t get the party very far.
The honest explanation is that the spike in inflation leading to a higher price level, alongside elevated crime rates and four years of migration chaos, left Americans fed up. Student-debt forgiveness, threats to seize gas stoves, drag-queen story hour and men in women’s sports didn’t help. This was a throw-the-bums-out election.
Ms. Harris was warned and could have offered solutions to kitchen-table issues. Democrats instead chose to rely on their old standby strategy of identity politics. It failed.
The human desire to be part of a group is real. Small tribes whose members have a lot in common may be prone to vote as one. But the larger groups get, the more diverse their priorities become. This reality hit home for Democrats and journalists on Tuesday among what they like to call the “Latino” vote.
Democrats seem to believe they own Hispanic voters because people with Spanish heritage are victimized by gringos and free markets and prefer socialism over capitalism. If that were ever true, it isn’t anymore. Some 45% of those who self-identify as Hispanics voted for Mr. Trump. I suspect it might have been higher if he were a more likable fellow.
Politicians have always tried to mobilize special-interest groups. In the 19th and much of the 20th century, Irish-, Italian- and Polish-Americans, who also happened to be Catholics, were a valuable political commodity in big cities like New York, Boston and Chicago. They had common interests in better working conditions and public services in the slums where they lived. But as generations went by, naturalized immigrants and their offspring adopted an American mindset and their group identity waned. They married other Americans and, while proudly connected to their heritage, they went different ways politically. Top electoral priorities of economic mobility and educating and protecting their children trumped solidarity with their ethnicity. They assimilated.
Today Catholics are a diverse group—those who practice and those who don’t—and hold diverse political views. There is no monolithic Catholic vote.
The term Latinos is an American invention designed to allow for legal preferences that lead to the creation of political constituencies. But the group isn’t a race, a common socioeconomic designation or even an ethnicity.
People from Latin America are white, black, brown and Asian. When “Latino” first gained usage in the late 20th century it seems to have referred to Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Mexicans. But today people who trace their origins to the region also hail from Central and South America. They’re Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadoreans, Peruvians, Guatemalans and Panamanians. Their cultures aren’t the same even within countries. Norms in Medellín are different than in Cartagena, though both cities are in Colombia.
Brazilians come from Latin America but speak Portuguese. When I asked around about how they self-identify on the census, I couldn’t get a straight answer. A friend polled nine Brazilian-Americans. “Four said that they don’t answer the question, some said Latino and one said Hispanic,” my pollster reported.
Many Brazilians have German or Italian roots. In the south of the country Brazil shares a border and a cultural connection with Argentina. Further north, Brazilians are largely isolated from the Spanish-speaking Americas. People from Guyana, where many have roots in India, speak English. To what tribe do they belong?
Most people with Latin American heritage are Christian. Some are Catholics, some evangelical Protestants. Many have given up the faith. If they have a common value it’s strong family ties. But some are staunch conservatives and others socially liberal.
According to the Pew Research Center, “the Census Bureau estimates there were 65.2 million Hispanics in the U.S. as of July 1, 2023, a new high.” That was 19% of the population. The overwhelming majority was born in the U.S.
The stereotype of the Hispanic as the Mexican berry picker is outdated. Those agricultural workers are important to the U.S. economy and some Hispanics belong to organized labor, making them a natural fit for the Democratic Party. But union membership outside government is now about 6% of the nongovernment workforce. Many are doctors, lawyers, accountants and entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs who care deeply about economic freedom. An educated middle-class, from places like Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil, has also fled to the U.S. They’re running away from the collectivism of the left.
Perhaps the most valued asset of many Latin Americans who have landed in the U.S. is their belief in their own agency as individuals. That’s what brought them to America and that’s how they vote.
Write to O’Grady@wsj.com.