Oped#2//dt1st/mark2nd
By DOMENICO MACERI
In an effort to reach out to the Latino community, Newt Gingrich sent out a greeting in Spanish last year on Cinco de Mayo. It came from “El Hablador de la Casa,” which Gingrich’s staff thought meant “Speaker of the House,” but in fact translates more precisely as “Big Mouth of the House.”
Accurate, perhaps, but not great politics.
Gingrich’s linguistic flop notwithstanding, using Spanish to try to connect with Latino voters may generate positive results for politicians provided that words are backed up by substance.
Latinos are very sensitive to language and at the same time very vulnerable. The more than 20 states that passed English-only laws, and California’s Proposition 227, which eliminated bilingual education in the public schools, are strong reminders of attacks on Latinos. Assaulting a language means bashing its speakers.
The opposite works just as well. Showing interest in a language can easily be interpreted as concern for its speakers. Thus, a number of non-Hispanic politicians have made good use of their Spanish to garner support from Latino voters. Al Gore recently gave a talk to the League of United Latin American Citizens using Spanish he had learned as a teen-ager in Mexico.
Similarly, Texas Gov. George W. Bush often uses Spanish in his speeches. Unlike many other Republican politicians, who routinely get small percentages of Latino votes, Bush received 49 percent of the Latino vote in his reelection as governor of Texas last year.
It would be foolish to attribute Bush’s total success with Latino voters to his use of the language. It’s his moderate policies that have made the difference. He has managed to create a tolerant climate in Texas with regard to Latinos and immigrant issues, and has been helped by the fact that Texas has no initiative process similar to that of California, which might have generated anti-Latino propositions.
Another Republican has shown that the GOP can compete successfully with Democrats for Latino votes. John McCain of Arizona received the support of 55 percent of the Latino vote in his two elections as U.S. senator from Arizona. He does not speak Spanish, but his rhetoric has not turned Latinos away.
McCain consistently rejected some basic tenets of the Republican Party on immigration and minorities. He has strongly opposed English-only laws and other anti-immigrant proposals that were supported by Republican leaders. The senator received an award from LULAC for his support of “English Plus,” which values bilingualism as an asset in today’s global economy.
McCain’s speech to LULAC, which followed Gore’s, was also very well received although he did not use Spanish. It was his consistent record of supporting issues dear to Latinos that mattered to those in the audience.
As the number of Latino voters continues to increase to more than 7 million in the next presidential election, politicians’ use of Spanish may mean an entree to Latinos’ hearts. Unless they show a genuine understanding of Latino issues, however, the language won’t do them one bit of good.
Domenico Maceri teaches foreign languages at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.
