On November 4, 1952, I watched my father as he was glued to the car radio listening to the results of the presidential election. The irony was that he did not vote at that time but was interested in the outcome.
We had migrated to Sterling, Colorado from Central Texas to work on a farm that spring. When we came, we brought our party affiliation with us as our extended family as well as ourselves were Democrats because that is what most Texans were.
The only people we knew in that State that were Republican were the Black folks who still revered Mr. Lincoln, the iconic Civil War President. The Democratic Party at that time was, in part, a holdover from slave-holding and racial segregation in the South.
Some of that changed with the implementation of the President Nixon led “Southern Strategy” during the 1972 mid-term elections that saw southern Conservative Democrats become Republicans and the more Liberal community remain Democratic. It was then that much of the Black community felt they had lost their political home as Republicans and became Democrats.
The civil rights movements of the late 50s, 60s and 70s did little to change party membership, but did question their value in the face of poverty and discrimination. After that period, much of the political efforts by Chicanos and then Latinos were concentrated on local and state leadership.
These were the times of important standard bearers like Ruben Valdez, Sal Carpio, Polly Baca, Richard Castro, Federico Pena and Ken Salazar who captured the imagination of a community that was deep into a transformative experience of its own that began to change its political outlook.
One of the major challenges the Latino community faced was a cultural disconnect with its roots due to loss of language, sense of history and most of all, identity and place in America. The Chicano Movement did a lot to ameliorate that condition and yet it was not enough.
However, the immigrant waves, especially from Mexico, in the last third of the 20th Century carried with them the language, a notion of geographical history and most of all, a sense of healthy identity shared by their children in school, work and public life.
This proved to be a boon to the Latino community as it set about consolidating the relatively new world view while its new arrivals established themselves in their adopted country. The transformative work has lasted decades and has left less time for political involvement.
Although Latinos have not been as involved as they could be in the national political landscape, their new generation has begun to activate away from the traditional party allegiances practiced in the past. What had been the high point of 82% support for Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party in 1976 has slowly dwindled every presidential election to 56% for the Democratic Al Gore against 44% for George W. Bush and now 42% for Donald Trump against Kamala Harris.
Also, there is evidence to show that the Latino community is increasing its engagement in the national political process. The 2020 election saw for the first time that more than half of the eligible voters (52.5%) voted.
It is common to say that Latinos make up a very diverse community. It is true that they manifest every color, every race, every walk of life and many nationalities.
The increasing engagement is beginning to show that no one political party can count on unequivocal support from the community. This is diversity at its best.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
