Il ruolo dei Latinos nelle elezioni americane.

Latinos è il termine con il quale vengono identificati in lingua inglese i latinoamericani, prevalentemente ispanici, provenienti da paesi dell'America latina e abitanti degli Stati Uniti d'America. La comunità dei latinos rappresenta il 13% degli elettori americani. Che ruolo hanno avuto i Latinos nelle ultime elezioni?

Paula Meninato attivista dell'associazione Mamàs Con Poder ci racconta una comunità oltre gli stereotipi.

As the election ends, we must remember the organizers, activists and community members who have worked around the clock to achieve the amount of voter engagement we are seeing today, including in our Latinx community. Despite the devastating toll the Coronavirus has had on our communities -- with more than 36,500 Latinx people dying from the virus -- this November, we have shown, we are committed to using our power to ensure that the U.S. government knows we demand to be heard.

In the US, too often our Latinx communities go ignored when it comes to political engagement and education. The blame is placed on us with false titles like the ‘Sleeping Giant’. In reality, we’ve been awake all these years waiting for campaigns to engage with us in a meaningful way. We’ve spent a lifetime playing a game of catch-up and this year, enough is enough. We are taking matters into our own hands, engaging our own communities and educating those who go unrepresented and undervalued by political campaigns.

I know firsthand how critical it is that we turn the tide and show up to vote. My family made Philadelphia our home after the economic collapse of Argentina in 2001. This forever changed my life and my perception of politics. I became incredibly aware about the impact political conflict can have on families like mine and ever since I have been committed to social change.

Because of that, I am now focusing my energy on making voting easy and accessible by organizing for MamásConPoder. For the nearly 1 million Latinx voters in Pennsylvania, community-led efforts for educating voters are too often the only form of voter engagement they encounter. MamásConPoder is an organization of Latinx mothers, women, and families working to increase our community’s participation in the electoral system. Polling has found that this is true nationwide, with a third of young Latinos registered to vote saying they cannot name one politician who went out of their way to support their community. This makes the work of advocates on the ground at the local, state and national level critical in ensuring that underrepresented communities vote.

In the US, Latinx communities are grouped together as a monolithic group. Latin America is a continent as diverse as Europe. Not all of us speak Spanish, such as Brazilians who speak Portugese and indigenous tribes who speak their native tongue. Latinos range from conservative evangelicals to progressives to radicals. We shouldn’t be surprised when conservatives immigrate to the United States and don’t change their political ideology.

In the US, we have Latinos who are first generation and Latinos who have been here since before the US border expanded to include New Mexico, Nevada, and parts of California.

Despite the tired stereotypes about our communities turning out at the polls, Latinxs today are more motivated than ever. I’m in awe of the moms who were spread incredibly thin currently serving as our teachers, nurses and protectors. Yet, they still have found the time and energy to get out the vote in their communities by participating in individualized postcard campaigns - like the one organized by MamásConPoder - to motivate others to vote, participating in zoom events and taking to social media to make their voices heard and their communities feel encouraged. They are joined by community leaders, like the Philly coalition formed to reach Latinx communities in Philadelphia to motivate and educate voters.

Years of organizing and the strength of the Latino vote in states like Colorado and New Mexico have made such an impact that they are no longer swing states, or states that could be won by either political party. Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona have become a swing state due to increased participation of Black and Latinx communities in our election. In Georgia, Latinos are 10% of the state’s population. 27% of Nevada’s population is Latino and 29% in Arizona. In Pennsylvania, we expect that 300,000 Latinos have voted; considering our razor-thin margins, the Latino vote was likely one of the most impactful votes in our state.

While the general election is over, our work is not yet done. We need to ensure that every vote is counted -- and respected -- while trusting the integrity of our country’s electoral process. In addition, MamasConPoder will be working with local partner organizations in Georgia to ensure that Latinx moms and their families are empowered to participate in the senate runoff. In this election, the midterms and every local race in between, Latinx moms will continue to show up for our communities and demand what is best for our families.

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