The U.S. Congress and the Soft Bigotry Against Latino Chiefs of Staff
By Victor Landa, NewsTaco
I want to draw a contrast between a headline and a reality. First the headline:
Will Trump appoint any Hispanics to his Cabinet?
It comes from the Dallas Morning News, and it’s a good question.
The answer, as far as I can tell, is no, Trump will not name a Latino to his cabinet – not one has been mentioned, whispered about, rumored or been seen entering or leaving the gilded Trump Tower in New York.
And here’s the reality from another of yesterday’s headlines:
Democratic staffer exposes the soft bigotry of Senate Democrats
This one is from the New York Daily News.
The story talks about how there is a deep lack of diversity among U.S. Senate Chiefs of Staff. It’s written from an African-American point of view and the writer, Shaun King, makes the point that only 2 of the 100 U.S. Senators have an African-American Chief of Staff, and one fo those is Republican:
“Think of how many times diversity was touted by the Democratic Party in this previous presidential election then look at these numbers and tell me if it passes your smell test.”
So I did some digging, and these are the only Latino Chief’s of Staff in the U.S. Senate:
- Alberto E Martinez – Chief of Staff, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
- Pablo E Carrillo – Chief of Staff, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
- Bianca Ortiz Wertheim – Chief of Staff, Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM)
Notice that two work for GOP Senators. On the Democratic side? Only one.
So much for Democratic diversity. So much for campaign rallies and eating tacos on the trail and photo ops with Latino celebrities.
There are, by the way, by my count, 10 Latino Chiefs of Staff in the U.S. House of Representatives. These are Latino-sounding last names, so my count may be off by one or two:
- Adam J Elias – Chief of Staff, Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL11)
- Angela K Ramirez – Chief of Staff, Rep. Ben Lujan (D-NM3)
- Carlos S Sanchez – Chief of Staff, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX20)
- Carmen M Feliciano – Chief of Staff, Del. Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR0)
- Daniel E Bernal – Chief of Staff, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA12)
- David Montes – Chief of Staff, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ7)
- David R Orosco – Chief of Staff, Rep. Steve Knight (R-CA25)
- Juan A Hinojosa – Chief of Staff, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL5)
- Juan E Lopez – Chief of Staff, Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA16)
- Mary M Rosado – Chief of Staff, Rep. Garland Barr (R-KY6)
This is important, and unacceptable at the same time because in the wake of the 2016 presidential election many people are looking to the Latino community with accusatory eyes, talking about how the slumbering Latino political giant slept through the election, once again. But some basic truths are being ignored, once again.
[pullquote]There’s a new political correctness that doesn’t allow bigotry to be called-out among white voters.[/pullquote]A new political correctness
Latinos did increase our participation at the polls. We came out in droves to make a statement. But so did rural whites, and they did so because of poor campaign messaging and a deep-rooted sense of anger – let’s not forget blatant bigotry. There’s a new political correctness that doesn’t allow bigotry to be called-out among white voters. We should say instead that they responded to feeling left behind. And while that may be true, it’s also true that there was a palpable, loud, very present strain of bigotry that found a place and a voice in the Trump campaign – we just don’t talk about it in polite conversation.
That said, the Latino increase at the polls was equalled by angry whites so the percentage remained the same – 11 percent. And that’s not the entire story, because as much as some may look to the Latino vote as a failed proposition, as much as writers on the right are saying that this election proved that the GOP can win the White house without the Latino vote, that proposition’s shelf-life is short, demographics are looming. The GOP can’t rely on angry white voters for much longer because their numbers are dwindling, but neither can Democrats rely on Latinos if they don’t see them – that’s the point of the Chief of Staff count.
It’s and easy formula
Only one Latino Chief of Staff among all Democratic U.S. Senators. Only. One. And among Representatives? Only 10 among 435 (2.39 percent).
We can’t point a finger at Trump’s lack of diversity in his cabinet while ignoring this fact. Senate Democrats and Representatives are as blind to Latinos as is Trump. The proof is they don’t hire us in their most trusted position.
Maybe if they did Latinos would have a voice in the Senate inner-circles, which would translate to policy and legislation relevant to the Latino community, which would lead to more Latino votes.
[Photo by Erik Drost/Flickr]
