Communicating Conservatism: Reaching Hispanic Communities
Conservatives know that a key component of the left’s ongoing demagoguery is to portray us as uncaring, mean-spirited, and racist–the universal insult. Conservatives are described as opposing not just core minority beliefs, but also their very identity. This suggests that we have to either disassociate ourselves from certain ideas or change our ideas altogether in order gain support among minorities.
The truth is that we do not have to change the heart of our message when communicating with minority groups. This is especially true with Hispanics. The personal values of Hispanics are conservative. From birth Hispanics ingrain in their children notions of family, hard work, and opportunity. The rapidly growing Hispanic middle class is, in fact, discovering the need for lower taxes and less government regulation of small businesses.
But in order to connect with this natural core constituency, conservative leaders must work on how our message is communicated. Most Hispanics are on the other side simply because that side talks to them. Too often I have heard Hispanics say that they have to stomach the left’s radical agenda because they are convinced conservatives are anti-Hispanic.
Proper communication starts with promoting our successes. For example, the rate of home ownership among Hispanics is at an all-time high. Before Republicans took over Congress in 1994 the rate was at 39.4. In 1998, it jumped to 45.7. The rate of Hispanic-owned businesses underwent an astounding 231.8 percent change from 1987-1997. Conservatives know that these trends are not the result of leftist, Clintonian policies. Why would we not want to take credit for them?
Taking credit for results is only a start though. Conservatives must also be able to distinguish between nationality, ethnicity, and cultural identity. This may be uncomfortable for many conservatives who resent addressing people as members of a particular ethnic group. “Can’t we all just be Americans?” is a typical response, and one that demonstrates the natural conservative distaste for “hyphenated Americanism.”
But it is not just semantics. It’s a real problem. You hear people constantly using “Mexican” to refer to nationality, ethnicity, and cultural identity, when technically these are three different, non-interchangeable terms. As someone who was born in the United States of immigrant ethnic Mexican parents, my national identity is American; my ethnic identity is Mexican. Since I have lived in the U.S. all my life, it would be foolish to deny my American cultural identity. But since my parents passed on much of their heritage and worldview, it would be equally foolish to deny my Mexican cultural identity. Culturally, then, I am both American and Mexican. Hyphenated terms like “Mexican-American” are nonsensical since they improperly confuse ethnicity for nationality, nationality for culture, and so forth. Academics and their pop-culture mouthpieces speak loudest out on issues of ethnicity. It is in the left’s interest, of course, to stifle attempts at clarifying these aspects of individual identity.
Once they understand these distinctions, conservatives will know that Hispanics do not reject their American nationality. The longer Hispanics live in the United States, the more they see themselves as Americans in the national and cultural sense. At the same time, Hispanics cannot, and should not, deny their obvious ethnic identity or forsake all cultural roots. Many Hispanics look fondly on their heritage just like, for example, ethnic Irish or Italians do.
The debate over bilingual education in American grade schools serves as a good example of how slight modifications in the delivery of the conservative message can lead to a positive outcome.
Hispanics want to learn English. They know that learning English is a huge determinant of success for their children. And more than anything else, they want success for their kids. But, again, Hispanics are proud of their culture; they enjoy being who they are. Hispanics who speak Spanish, even if it is only broken Spanish, like maintaining that part of their culture. A phrase like “English Only” can easily sound threatening. For older Americans of Hispanic decent, “English Only” can remind them of a time when they were punished in school, sometimes physically, for speaking their native tongue, even if only to a friend on the playground.
Conservatives, meanwhile, correctly understand that bilingual education does not work. This belief is shared by most Hispanics. Remember that it was Hispanic families who protested the reinstatement of bilingual education classes in Los Angeles two years ago. Hispanics’ dislike of bilingual education does not, however, outweigh their dislike of what they perceive as attempts to control the language they may choose to speak. This is hardly in line with the conservatism I know.
We should be communicating our message not as “English Only,” but as “English Plus.” It is hardly controversial, for conservatives or anyone else, to recognize the value of a second language. Why would we choose not to say so? Saying that we want to make sure that children learn English in order to succeed, and that we encourage, welcome, or perhaps even admire, the ability to speak a different language, conveys our message without making us seem mean-spirited. We keep our principles and win more hearts.
Lionel Sosa, the media expert who produced George W. Bush’s recent Hispanic media campaign, likes to tell the story when he was hired to do work for Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign. “We’re here to do some commercials for the Hispanic market,” Sosa told Reagan. “Well, that ought to be easy. Hispanics are [conservatives], they just don’t know it.” As usual, Reagan was right.
The unconvinced among us will be left to rally a movement that will only dwindle. Demographic realities show a quickly growing Hispanic population, not just in California, Texas, Florida, and New York, but in places like Oregon, Nevada, Illinois, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, and Idaho. Two-thirds of the population is born in the U.S., and the fraction is increasing. The Hispanic birthrate is increasing four times faster than that of non-Hispanics.
The rising generation of conservatives is in a better position than any other to reach out to these constituencies. We did not live with Jim Crow. And most of us did not have to live with the serious bigotry that our parents might have. We can bring this fresh perspective to our movement.
The leftist orthodoxy predicts that we will fail because our philosophy is purposefully antithetical to the concerns of minorities. Failing to respond to the challenge equals tacit acceptance of the leftist definition of conservatism. Our principles deserve better.