Republicans Need Latinos, So Attacking Sotomayor is "Just Not Smart Politics"

Latinos are proud of their heritage

The whole logic behind "Latinos should not be considered Latinos is they only speak English" is pure idiotic nonsense. Whoever subscribes to this idea does not know a single thing about heritage and what that means.

That's like saying that the Irish stop being Irish because they don't speak Irish Gaelic. In the US most Irish speak English and they remain Irish to the core and are proud of their Irish heritage.

Same thing goes with Latinos that Speak English as their primary language or as their only Language. You got a lot of Latinos in the US who don't speak a word of Spanish and yet they identify themselves as Latinos (i.e. a lot of the Hispanic celebrities that attend the ALMA AWARDS speak English only) and are very proud of that heritage. It's pure stupidity to claim that once they abandon the Spanish language they stop being Latino or Hispanic.

And he is a news flash to those pencilnecks that are basing being Latino on the Language alone. To be Latino means a lot more than that. Is the food you eat. Is the music you listen to. Is the books you read and how you see the world based on the idiosyncrasy that is inherent to the Latino and Hispanic heart and soul. Its the same thing that makes African Americans and any other ethnic group view the world with a unique perspective. All that and more comes with being Latino or Hispanic.

The people here who subscribe to the idea that you stop being Latino if you stop speaking Spanish are just a bunch of gibbons (especially those that write from Spain). These people are VERY resentful of any Latino abandoning the "mother language". And they are quick to "punish" them by stripping them of being Latino or Hispanic. Like if such a thing was possible. That may happen just in your inner world, fellas. But it doesn’t happen in the real world. You don't get to tell me I'm not Latino because I don't read "The Man of La Mancha" in it's original language or speak Spanish only 24/7. Screw you.

Enrique

Joan,

Being Latino is not a question of race but a question of culture.

I don´t accept that somebody who has lost the Spanish language can be called "Latino". That´s nonsense and ridiculous.

When the grandchildren of immigrants from Latinamerica or Spain become Americans (and that means becoming Anglos), then they are NOT Latinos.

I think the Latino category in America is just a political construction without any base.

There are more people of Japanese ancestry in Brazil than in America...are they called Asian-Brazilians? No, they are just Brazilians (Latinos)

There are more people of Italian ancestry in Brazil and Argentina than in America...are they called Italian-Brazilians or Italian-Argentines? No, they are just Brazilians and Argentines (Latinos)

There are 15 million Brazilians and 1 million Argentines of German ancestry...are they called German-Argentines or German-Brazilians? No, they are just Brazilians and Argentines (Latinos)

And so on....

Response to Enrique (6/19/09)

Enrique, your perspective is not one that we are used to seeing.

Your point is certainly a logical and defensible one: that being Hispanic/Latino is a question of language and cultural affiliation, not the ethnic background of your ancestors.

Of course here in America people in recent years have turned the "Hispanic/Latino" category into something that's more like race, even though all the races are present in Central and South America.

As the generations go forward and Hispanics/Latinos assimilate, how important will the Hispanic/Latino category be?

Perhaps it won't be nearly as important as everyone assumes. Many people will be partly Hispanitc/Latino in a couple of generations. Who knows if they will consider themselves Anglo, Hispanic or Black?

Latinos leave to be Latinos if they speak English

If the children of a Latin couple has English as their mother language and cannot speak in Spanish, then they are NOT Latino at all.

Only-English speaking Latinos DON´T EXIST. That´s ridiculous. Nobody in Latinamerica or Spain think that a guy who doesn´t speak fluent Spanish can be a "Latino".

The same way as the former President of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, is a Latino even if his grandparents were German, as his family was assimilated, the same as millions of Argentines who emigrated from Europe and the Mideast (like former President Carlos Menem, of Syrian ancestry) the same happens in the U.S.

I am from Spain and I don´t consider Hispanic or Latino a guy or a girl who doesn´t speak Spanish and who doesn´t keep the Spanish culture. If they lose their culture and become Americans (that means English) then leave to be Hispanics or Latino.

And the same happens in Latinamerica. Just look at Giselle Bündschen, one of the 15 million Brazilians who have more or less German ancestry. 25 million Brazilians and 30 million Argentines have Italian ancestry. 1 million Argentines have German ancestry...etc. Anyway, they are Latinos...but several million Americans of Spanish and Latinamerican ancestry have becomen Anglos as they have lost the Spanish cultural legacy to become Americans...and, yes, Americans are Anglos. English. Becoming American means becoming Anglo. Period.

The same way as becoming Argentine means becoming Latino. Period. It doesn´t matter if his parents were Swedish blondes. Their children will be Latinos, assimilated to the Spanish cultural legacy.

IT IS A TROUBLING THING...

that our nation - our government - must pander to various "victim classes" which are based on skin color, sex, sexual orientation or cultural identity.

It seems that "progressive enlightenment" is changing the face of America into a brittle mosiac - held together only by geographic proximity rather than an indivisible union of goals and purpose.

Sotomayor

I'm sorry, but all this "politically correct" crap is getting on my nerves, as well as, everyone I talk to about it. What ever happened to nominating the BEST person for the job, not by their color, not by their race or gender, but by their qualifications, which is the MOST important thing in this situation. If Sotomayor has judged racistly in the past then she needs to be eliminated. WHO CARES IF SHE IS LATIN!!

This local analysis stuff

is all fine and good, but the future of national Democrats depends on whether we can spur some economic recovery, get universal health care done while the door is open, avoid terrorist attacks in the USA and stop the nuke programs of North Korea and Iran.

Stumbling badly on any of those could spell swing-back out of indecision by those various "burb" people.