Public officials need to be devoted to their heritage
Every nationality comes with a narrative, and Americans are accustomed to celebrating their narrative of origin in festivals. But there is a different quality to the discussion when that narrative spills from holiday customs into politics.
For the so-called “Hispanic” community, the narrative cannot be told with one voice, any more than Irish- and GermanAmericans can share the same tale because they are Europeans. As an Ecuadorian, I see that the diverse Hispanic narrative has become particularly important in recent years for Central Florida.
In Florida, the nature of the immigration patterns over the past decades has created a set of anomalies that are only going to get addressed through some new wave of political recognition and elections.
Today, more than 80 percent of all Hispanic legislators in Florida are Cubans. Florida has sent two people of Cuban heritage to the U.S. Senate. Recently, the governor chose a CubanAmerican to finish the term of Mildred Fernández, who is Puerto Rican. Why not another Puerto Rican or person of any other nationality? It is clear that it is because of the close ties of the Cuban community leadership to the Republican leadership of the state.
Most all Hispanics in Central Florida know that they are under-represented. It is a statistical fact and the recent county redistricting battles reminded Hispanics that they have to fight for recognition.
For years, minority communities have had a sense that the system is rigged, and would allow for success only by “super-assimilation,” the prevailing impression in some political circles is that to be successful as a minority individual, you have to act white and verge on denial of your ethnic heritage.
Hispanics of different ethnic backgrounds share a sense that subliminal assimilation is a constant requirement throughout their lives and careers if they want to get to the mountaintop. And some communities have played this better than others.
I believe that any person can “represent” a community, but the example of some elected officials is to emphasize the connection to an ethnic group while running and promptly forget it until the next election. Some ethnic groups forget all about their heritage and become totally assimilated, vacuuming up the available top jobs by sticking rigorously to the standards of the Caucasian power structure. Better, in my mind, to have a fighter who is not of our ethnicity, but will stand with and for the community.
Some communities have moved forcefully to acquire and maintain positions of power in government that are not elective. Pursuing appointments to top government advisory positions and jobs has almost become a specialty while the appointees ignore others of the group that they purport to represent.
In short they are career minded, not community minded. Some “Hispanic leaders” spend all their time proving that they can control the desires of their community and assist community leaders in squashing dissent. I have seen a lot of that lately, as supposed representatives of the Hispanic minority lead the charge to defeat changes wanted by the community in redistricting or in the Orange County charter.
That is why it is important for all Hispanics to think seriously about who is best suited to represent them, and it may not always be someone who pretends to have the same blood.
Some ‘Hispanic leaders’ spend all their time proving that they can control the desires of their community and assist community leaders in squashing dissent.