The narrative of America because the land of the free has ceased to be many citizens’ high precedence.
Donald Trump known as Latino migrants rapists, murderers, and drug sellers. After one among his ultimate rallies, at which a comic described Puerto Rico as “a floating island of rubbish,” many individuals, myself included, thought Latinos would decisively flip towards him. We have been improper. Exit polls present that 46 % of Latinos voted for him, and amongst Latino males, he received 55 % of the votes—an enormous enhance from 36 % in 2020.
Many People are baffled. How might Latinos—a lot of whose members of the family could possibly be focused by the mass deportations that the Trump workforce is promising—make this alternative? However seeing the outcomes—and listening to from Latino Trump voters—it made excellent sense to me. This was, merely, a vote for capitalism.
American values are particularly highly effective in teams with massive immigrant populations; these values are what draw individuals right here. Although a lot of America’s earliest immigrants got here right here in search of reduction from famine and poverty, our freedoms—to worship freely, to talk freely—are what we grew to become well-known for. The promise was mythologized on the Statue of Liberty: our welcome to the drained, poor, huddled lots, who yearned to not develop filthy wealthy, however to be free. Within the twentieth century, immigrants fled spiritual persecution and political oppression to seek out in America freedoms that they, and their descendants, cherished and took severely. I used to be raised by my grandfather, a Puerto Rican veteran of World Struggle II. We didn’t have some huge cash, however I used to be taught that our political freedoms and our ethical obligation to democracy mattered extra.
On the identical time, from the very starting, the land of the free has additionally been concerning the freedom to make and spend cash. America put God on our cash, however for a lot of People, cash is God. This nation put revenue over morality by way of centuries of slavery. Particular person expediency within the title of capitalism is as American as the correct to bear arms. All over the world, no concept has been marketed extra successfully than the American dream. America: the place even companies could be individuals! And once we discuss somebody residing “the American dream,” we aren’t referring to their journeys to the voting sales space or the best way they make the most of their freedom of meeting. We’re praising individuals who have achieved monetary success and amassed materials issues.
We deify and elevate these individuals within the media, in social settings, and on-line, and we hardly ever query the moral worth that will have been paid to get them there. Simply have a look at Trump, the “self-made man” whose father’s real-estate fortune launched his profession. Till Trump grew to become a political villain, he was an American success story. He was often on Oprah and sung about in hip-hop songs, and he had that cameo in House Alone 2. And the reality is, for a lot of People—Latinos included—he nonetheless is that man. He’s residing the dream; he has buildings together with his title on them.
Latinos broke for Trump for a lot of sophisticated causes, together with sexism, spiritual conservatism, racism (or a want to assimilate into whiteness). However the easiest reply is commonly the very best: To many, Trump represents prosperity. And the flexibility to financially prosper is what America is all about. Folks consider this, as a result of America informed them so.
In polls, Latinos constantly put financial points on the high of their record of considerations. After the election, the media was filled with voters reaffirming this. As one Pennsylvania voter of Puerto Rican descent informed NBC Information, he wasn’t bothered by Trump’s feedback concerning the island: “For me, it’s work. It’s the financial system. It’s groceries.”
Why, one would possibly ask, was this narrative a lot extra persuasive to Latinos than to Black People? Maybe as a result of the American dream wasn’t created with Black individuals in thoughts. The civil-rights motion was painstakingly constructed by exploiting America’s political rights to meeting and free speech. When Black People within the North couldn’t purchase houses due to redlining, many might nonetheless—regardless of obstacles—vote. Maybe Black voters understood higher than many Latino voters an important reality: Entry to the American dream is elusive, however America’s freedoms are indispensable.
One of many nice takeaways of this election is that the narrative of America because the land of the free has ceased to be many citizens’ high precedence. This election was a battle for the soul of the nation—however the combat wasn’t between American beliefs and un-American ones. It was between our greatest and worst selves.