Senator JD Vance’s belief that women without children of their own should not be leaders in this country has created massive condemnation among the majority of Americans that have seen attempts to diminish the role of women across the board by people like Vance, his running mate Trump and the Republican Party in general. This concept goes beyond Roe v. Wade and is as serious or more than a woman’s right to choose.
His interviews on this matter constitute an emergency call to White America to reverse a birthrate trend that will soon have that group at less than 50 percent of the population. This issue is also tied to the demographic predictions about the rise of the “minority majority” that have been with us for over two decades.
The concern taken on by the Republican candidate for Vice President reminds me of reading about the German Nazi regime that planned for the replacement of soldiers lost in wars of conquest and for the growth of a population that would settle the new conquered territories. Among the outcomes of these plans was a program called “Lebenborn” instituted in 1935 by Heinrich Himmler and the SS. Lebenborn “provided welfare to its mostly unmarried mothers, encouraged anonymous births by unmarried women at their maternity homes, and mediated adoption of children by likewise “racially pure” and “healthy” parents, particularly SS members and their families.” That reference is made so that we can better consider the direction of Senator Vance’s ideas on the matter.
JD Vance is about families with lots of babies. The insistence on denigrating women without children shows a greater intent hidden in the pile of extreme right wing ideology.
Vance and Trump focus on Latino immigrants on the border includes the issue of numbers. Numbers portray a reality indicating that in addition to the plural majority in California (largest state in the country) and New Mexico, Latinos have now reached a plural majority in Texas, a State that is at the center of the current immigrant surge.
New York appears to be next as Latinos are within 2.6 percentage points of equaling the current majority. New York has the fourth largest population next to Florida which is third.
It appears that the heritage of a people that lost so much in the American conquest of the Southwest is evidencing a process of recovery from the silence of the last two centuries. That is the genius of democracy that, helped by demography, can allow for a people to become politically relevant again.
Latinos are the fastest growing significant group in the country. The gradual process of becoming the majority across important regions of America takes us quite a ways in the journey that started in 1966 under a label that refers to Latinos as “the invisible minority.”
It is important to Latino heritage that the notion of a conquered people be reversed. The community, especially in the Southwest and other areas of conquest, requires a place at the head of the table.
It is clear that Vance and other extreme elements of the Party he represents do not appreciate the rise of a people from the ashes of “Manifest Destiny.” Much has happened in the last 200 years that established our way of life.
Much is happening as the forces of democracy fight for justice and model ideals. Much will happen in the next segment of our national history as a renewed America takes shape.
Latino heritage month is also a month of possibilities. Let us celebrate them.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of laVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to news@lavozcolorado.com.
