If the presidency of Barack Obama was responsible for the conservative awakening in the Hispanic community, then the 2010 midterm elections may go down as the event that changed America’s perception of the Hispanic community. Thanks to hardcore leftist elected officials and high-profile Hispanic activists, America has held the view that all Latinos believe in law breaking, open borders, and the importation of Latin American socialism into the United States. These liberals have tried to follow the template set up by the Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. It goes something like this: Anoint yourself the leader of a minority community by perpetuating victimhood and government reliance. And then take your voting bloc and sell your community down the river in exchange for a seat of power at the Democrats’ table. There was only one problem with the plan; Hispanics didn’t want to give up on the American dream just yet. Not the left’s DREAM Act — the actual American dream.
One of the best results of the conservative awakening in the Hispanic community was the surge of Latinos elected to high office in the 2010 elections. Marco Rubio will be the next senator from Florida. Republican Brian Sandoval will be Nevada’s first Latino governor. Susana Martinez is the newly elected GOP Latina who replaces a liberal Hispanic governor in New Mexico. Bill Flores beat Pelosi rubber stamp Chet Edwards in Texas’ 17th district. And while we’re in the Lone Star State, Quico Canseco defeated Ciro Rodriguez. Bear in mind that Rodriguez is one of those Latinos whose values are more in line with Fidel Castro than an American congressman. These are just a few examples of Latinos — over six million voted in the 2010 midterms — flexing their conservative muscles and making their views known through conservative representatives.
I’ve long held that Hispanics owe a debt of gratitude to African Americans. They, more than any group, have shown us what allegiance to the Democratic Party can bring: the disintegration of the African American family, the targeting of black mothers for abortions by left-wing groups like Planned Parenthood, the lowering of the bar for African American students in state-sponsored schools. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Oddly enough, I have the Reverend Al Sharpton to thank for my current view. Back in 2003, when the good reverend was seeking the Democratic nomination for president, he said this: “We must no longer be the political mistresses of the Democratic Party.” It was a rare moment of honesty and admission that he and compatriot Jesse Jackson may have made a mistake in taking the African American community down the road of victimhood, represented by the Democrats, instead of the road of empowerment, represented by the conservative wing of the GOP. Sharpton’s words changed my life. I was bound and determined that my family, any Hispanics that would listen, and I would never become victims and reliant on an all-powerful government for our existence. But I knew I had powerful forces aligned against me. I saw many leftist Latinos seeking to take the Hispanic community down Sharpton’s road of victimhood.
Take your pick of any Latino hate group. La Raza, Nation of Aztlan, the Brown Berets — these are the anti-American groups that have sullied the reputations of all Latinos. They get a lot of press. But they’re not alone. Groups like LULAC, Border Angels, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and countless others have made it their mission to portray Latinos as a bunch of victims who need to be compensated for some slight perpetrated by white America. They shout slogans like, “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.” They fly Mexican flags on the streets of America to protest adherence to the law. They protest semantics, calling anyone a hate monger who dares call those that break the law “illegal immigrants.” It’s all part of a well-coordinated campaign to blur the lines between American Latinos and those that enter the United States without permission. The idea is to make citizen Latinos invested in those who break U.S. law to come here. And it has been wildly successful. Many first-generation Hispanics still regard illegals, from any Latin-American country, as “their people.” But the veil of deception perpetrated by the aforementioned leftist groups has begun to lift.
There are a couple of reasons for the weakening of the leftists grip over the Hispanic community. The large lurch left shoved down America’s throats by elected liberals is one reason. Since Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and President Obama took the reins of power, Americans of all ethnic stripes have been treated to a front row seat of unvarnished liberal socialism. The Hispanic community had a different reaction from other minority groups. The fracture is a result of the common denominator shared by most Hispanics. Many have fled or had ancestors who fled countries where leftists stifled prosperity and ground the human spirit to dust. It was the primary reason that Hispanics fled their home countries to live in a land of individual freedom. Latinos with any historical perspective took one look at the “axis of socialism” represented by Obama, Reid, and Pelosi and recoiled in disgust. The second big reason is generational. Fewer and fewer Hispanics feel any fidelity to the nations of their “roots.” They are, in short, Americans. They love the fact that they live in a country that was founded on the premise that “we the people” rule. A government “of, by, and for” the people is simply better than governments from nations like Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, and Cuba. To these “liberty-loving Latinos,” the voices saying they represented the Hispanic community turned out to be leftist apologists who sought to import the same policies that many Hispanics fled from in the decades prior. The liberal, loud-mouthed, leftist Latinos are not able to contain the conservative awakening in the Hispanic community. The conservatives are organizing.
In past articles I’ve talked at length about the various conservative Latino groups that are springing up all over the country. From the Conservative Hispanic Society to Amigos De Patriots, Hispanics that reject leftist thought are finding a home and a voice. Another group is the The Americano. This is Newt Gingrich’s Hispanic partnership web site. It has long been my view that liberal Latinos are so adamantly against Hispanics learning English because they’re afraid that Hispanics will begin to think for themselves as a result. Many leftist Latinos want to control the information that Spanish speakers get. This is illustrated in many of the so-called Spanish language “news” sources here in the U.S. For the most part these sources are the Spanish equivalent to MSNBC, biased, liberal and unfair. The Americano is dedicated to making sure that Latinos have all the facts and perspectives so they can make up their own minds. This December, The Americano is holding its first Hispanic forum. The Americano celebrates the vibrant and rich traditions of Hispanic heritage. It strives to give Latinos who believe in traditional Hispanic values a voice. This forum will be the first of many that will acknowledge Hispanics’ role of strengthening, not destroying, Western civilization. Hispanics will come together in united purpose and launch one of the first battles for the heart and soul of the Hispanic community.
Alexis de Tocqueville once said, “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” The forces of liberalism have sought to change what makes America “good.” And they will not give up their power easily. The battle has been joined. The phrase “we’re taking our country back!” — though cliché in recent years — still is the best description of the conflict. Now, Hispanics are pledging to defeat leftist thought and polices that have done so much to enslave countless millions, douse the flame of liberty, and kill the human spirit. Some Latinos operate from first-hand knowledge of the destructive power of liberalism. Others are educated in world events and have no desire to sell-out their children’s shot at the American dream. Whatever their reason, they are here to fight. They are here to fight because there’s no place else to go. If America falls the way of countries like Cuba, Venezuela, and Mexico, there is no other beacon of freedom on Earth to run to.
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