Although you won’t find a single word about Latinos for Trump in some quarters of the internet if your life depended on it, a part of the American media seems to have realised – shock! horror! – that not all Latinos look like Speedy González.
Yes, dear identitarian Leftists in the US and Australia: not all Latinos felt insulted when the Pussy Grabber in Chief called illegal immigrants rapists, nor did they all support the Black Lives Matter protests or see themselves as targets of racism; not all Latinos want minimum wages, for these Latinos aren’t working poor. Not all Latinos oppose American imperialism in America’s back yard.
Some Latinos learned the rules of the game in liberal democracies. They are savvy enough to organise themselves politically and are not beyond stocking fears in the public, fears they ultimately know are unfounded.
How prevalent are those surprisingly “atypical” Latinos? Frankly, I have no idea. I think there isn’t any reliable data, is there? But the knee-jerk reaction some pundits have when asked that question (i.e. that’s only Cubans or Venezuelans) is reckless.
How about Asians, or even blacks? And what if the Republicans decide to court those atypical POCs? For that matter, how about feminists and LGB+ people?
Eric Hobsbawm, of all people, saw that identity groups are for themselves, something identitarian Leftists appear blind to. Allies are not necessarily friends. Coalitions shift.
Even if the Dems make it past the 270 Electoral College votes, the disappointing results of the US elections will prompt the customary blaming exercise. The expected “blue wave” failed to materialise. Someone, other than themselves, will have to carry the guilt and Homer Simpson and Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel are by far the most convenient scapegoats, for no longer the identitarian Leftists remember Tom Joad: it’s politically correct to demonise the “(white) working class”; nobody will come to their defence and you can even feel good about yourself for doing that.
I am tired of that.
UPDATE:
06/11/2020. Basing himself on the Edison Exit Poll, Matt Bruenig says that “Trump did better in 2020 with every race and gender except white men.”
The peculiar circumstances of these elections (abnormally large number of early and mail-in voters plus the COVID19 restrictions) may have affected those results. Additionally, Bruenig didn’t report the margins of error.
Still, that’s the data we have. If we believe them, pretty much every single oppressed identity swung towards racist, xenophobic, misogynistic Trump.
Will the “(white) working class” – by which it’s normally meant “male blue collar workers” – never learn?
No comments:
Post a Comment