Politics

            Politics is one of the most important, if not the most important aspect of any culture or society. Policy dictates what is acceptable, what is unacceptable, and what can be done to improve a situation. For minorities, politics can be a very tricky concept. According to the Latino Politics article by Rodolfo de la Garza, between the years 1970-1980, the number of Hispanics in the United States increased from 9.6-14.6 million. By about 2002, the Bureau of the Census reported that Latinos totaled 38.8 million, becoming the nation’s largest minority. By becoming the largest minority group in the country means that we as Latinos have become crucial to society, especially in the political world. All recent elections, especially the presidential ones, have been helped or hurt by the Latino community, which is why politicians have made much of their campaigns based off of appeal to or against Latinos. For Democrats, especially current President Barak Obama, have fought for better immigration reform to allow people who have already established lives and families here to continue to thrive here, especially since many of them are productive members of society. In fact, a few months ago, the President signed an executive order allowing close to 4 million illegal immigrants to remain here with temporary amnesty, allowing families to stay together. On the opposite side of that are the Republicans, who strive to make immigration reform that prevents undocumented immigrants from coming over and for kicking those who have made it back to their own country. Like when the Arizona governor signed the SB 1040 back in 2010, allowing law enforcement to pull over anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant and demanding documentation or proof that they are in fact a citizen. Laws like these are why it is so important that Latinos should become more involved with politics. Unfortunately, in the same exact article, it explains how the acquisition of party identification is positively associated with years of residence in the United States but is negatively affected with age. In short, immigrants and their first-generation children will see the importance of being involved in voting and keeping up with political agendas, but as their lineage continues, less and less of their kin will want to be involved or will not see the importance of politics. This doesn’t mean that Latinos have given up on their political voice though. According to the Demanding Equal Political Voice…And Accepting Nothing Less: The Quest for Latino Political Inclusion by Louis DeSipio, contemporary Latino politics is founded on generations of prior struggles for inclusion with a consistent set of demands, including and equal protection of the law and the ability to participate equally in American society regardless of race or ethnicity. Politics are very crucial for the Latino population as it centers largely on race and immigration. The fight for equal political voice has been going on for a long time in this country and will continue on for a certain time. But as time progresses and ideas start to change, hopefully Latinos will be able to change the ideas of the American people about them and look on toward a brighter tomorrow for Latinos and Hispanics everywhere.