WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
District 32 Bronx County, New York
You should know that even though the so-called experts, political pundits and pollsters are having their say, I believe that there are more Hispanics supporting Donald Trump than what “they” say.
According to a Univision poll, 70% percent of Hispanics reject Donald Trump, and according to this same poll, 30% percent are with Trump. This by itself is a record for the Republican Trump, who will only need 10% percent more to reach a 40% percent of Hispanics supporting his bid. As you know, there is a very small percentage of Republicans who have ever obtained 40% percent of the Hispanic vote in any national election.
It is important for the pollsters to take into consideration that when we speak about the Hispanic vote, we have to separate it into various groups. Among them are Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Mexicans, and Dominicans.
I guarantee you, my dear reader, that each one of those groups have a different opinion of Donald Trump. Also, in order to have an understanding of some of the idiosyncrasies that exist among Hispanics, we have to divide Hispanics into 3 groups: the Puerto Ricans who are American citizens by birth, the documented immigrants, and the undocumented immigrants.
When I walk the streets of New York - especially in Bronx County - and speak with Hispanics, much to my surprise the things that I hear from them are very different than what the papers and the pollsters are saying about them and Trump.
The Puerto Ricans, who claims to be the first Hispanic group who came to this country and received many abuses, were rejected, receiving many “macanazos” (hit with the police baton), open the door for every other Hispanic group, and ate the bones. Now, they feel rejected, displaced and taken for granted, receiving less benefits than they need, while others eat the meat.
For this reason, many Puerto Ricans are carrying strong emotional burdens deep inside. Many Puerto Ricans go about their lives, unwilling to publicly expressing their feelings and publicly going along with it all. This is due to the fact that unions, newspapers and even elected officials have made them feel like it is a crime to express their true feelings.
Many Puerto Ricans are like walking political time bombs, ready to explode, and they might think that in Donald Trump they have the person to press the red button.
The second group is the Cubans. The majority of Cubans who live in the United States have been expatriated by the dictator Fidel Castro, and they are dying to see Cuba free of that dictatorship. After seeing and hearing Donald Trump, little by little they have been aligning themselves with Trump to the point that even in Florida, where their former Governor Jeb Bush and their current U.S. Senator Marco Rubio reside and who are also candidates, Donald Trump is taking all of the Cuban votes in that state.
The Dominicans, after seeing the Dominican Republican government’s confrontation with immigration laws involving Haiti, they have been placed in a predicament. It seems that the same ones who are criticizing Donald Trump are the same ones who have turned against the Dominican Republic, calling for boycotts and even stigmatizing the government of the Dominican Republic as racist. This is all because the Dominican Republic wants to be respected and wants to have its immigration laws respected.
These realities just might give Donald Trump a little advantage with the Dominican vote here in the United States.
In regard to the Mexicans, I believe that this sector of the Hispanic community will be the most difficult, if not impossible for Mr. Donald Trump to convince. This is a result of statements he made on June 16, 2015 when he declared his candidacy and stated: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists."
For this reason, the majority of Mexicans have turned against Trump.
On the other hand, my dear reader, there are so many documented immigrants who came to this nation through legal channels. They sacrificed themselves, paid the price and waited their turn, and after becoming American citizens, they themselves do not support illegal immigration.
I personally have hear some of them saying: “If I sacrificed myself and waited my turn, then they have to wait their turn, too.”
You should know, my dear reader, that the sentiments and frustrations from these different groups of Hispanics should be taken into consideration by the political pundits before deciding who is supporting Donald Trump and who is not.
As my philosophy teacher from Lehman College in the Bronx used to say: “Children of my heart, that blue sky isn’t blue and it’s not a sky.”
I am Senator Reverend Rubén Díaz and this is what you should know.
