Beyond Latinx: Of Course Latinos Would Move Right

The big headline from last week’s election was Trump winning an estimated 46% of the Latino vote, the largest share since they started tracking it, and a majority of Latino men.

Some assumed Latinos would be like the black vote and always favor Democrats by wide margins. We Latinophiles here at Expat Chronicles have a more informed view, and it’s not just because of the absurd English term, Latinx. There are key differences.

• Latinos chose to come here.
• Latinos revere their European heritage.
• Latinos are, by and large, conservative Catholics.

Latinos are, by and large, conservative Catholics

The Latino vote will mirror the political evolution of Irish and Italian immigrants. A century ago, the Irish vote was synonymous with Democratic political machines. Today being of Irish extract doesn’t mean much. It’s not even tracked anymore. The Irish-American vote is only mentioned in Irish newspapers.

While Latinos are converting to Protestant denominations faster than Irish or Italians did, they have Christian family values. They may accept their gay children, but they won’t celebrate it. “Latinx” is an absurd term in cultures that maintain traditional gender roles. They don’t see abortion as simple healthcare. They see police as the good guys.

Irish and Italians are whiter than Latinos, and much more blended with the other American ethnicities, so they have been absorbed by the generic “white” category. Latinos, on the other hand, are still considered Latino after three or even four generations in the United States. The term “Latino” will be increasingly meaningless.

To read: The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy by Mike Madrid

Some ethnicities (Cuban and Venezuelan) may be more conservative, and some (Mexican, Puerto Rican) more liberal. But like the Irish, Italians, Polish and other working-class Catholics., Latinos will ultimately be all over the political map. And like those whiter ethnicities, someday they won’t be worth tracking.

Latinos revere their European heritage

This is a less “by and large” statement, and it depends on the country, but many Latinos are proud of the Spanish heritage which gave them their language, religion and surnames. New expats are shocked at how much and how blatantly white skin is valued. You see it in the star actors, commercial advertisements and fashion models. You see it in the deference they show you, as opposed to their countrymen.

Many Latinos, particularly the immigrants and decreasing with each generation born in the U.S., are prouder of their Spanish heritage than their indigenous or black heritage. Many identify as white. They consider themselves less victim and more conquistador. They are less sensitive about racism. Examples galore of jokes and pop culture phenomena that would never fly in Gringolandia. I couldn’t count how many times complete strangers remarked that my starting a family in Peru was “mejorando la raza.”

Latinos Chose to Come Here

As gringos in Latin America, we expats have similar experience of Latinos in the United States. There are dozens if not hundreds of comments on this blog lamenting the arrival of more gringos in their corner of the region. If waves of our own kind follow us here, it wouldn’t be the same place we came to. We left home for a reason, and we came here because we like it the way it is. That explains why some Latinos oppose liberal immigration policies.

Some don’t subscribe to the oppression narrative that white people and/or the United States are evil. Latinos left their country for mostly economic reasons. Their country is comparatively poor, and Latinos will have strong opinions why that is. On the contrary, they think it’s quite nice here and may not see a need to upset that.

Others see immigrants as economic competitors who drive wages down, which is why traditional conservatives favored immigration. It’s good for business. Cesar Chavez demonstrated against illegal immigration and even founded a newspaper (featured image above) to advocate against it. He knew that he could never organize farmworkers into unions or effectively strike amid large waves of poor migrant labor.

Random Hits

Some Latinos are fleeing political disasters inflicted by the left. Cubans and Venezuelans fled socialist dictatorships, while many Colombians and Peruvians fled the chaos of Marxist insurgencies. Those environments create hardwired, “us vs. them” mentalities that will last a long time.

Many Latinos took a big risk in leaving home, particularly those who walked and entered illegally. They are go-getters. They are the Pan-American embodiment of the Europeans who chose to leave on a boat vs. the ones who stayed put. That distinction explains most of the differences between Europe and the United States. That gene is a common American characteristic. It favors commerce over security, competition over cooperation, etc.

Backlash against the English word, “Latinx,” may have moved the needle a little. Not as much as the total Latino swing. I am glad the word is falling out of use. I still hear it once in a while, but much less than its peak around 2020. The new one I see is “Latine,” which is a little more compatible with the language. The problem lies with the idea of eliminating gender, which in Latin America is immutable.

Anything else? What did I miss?