Kailey Krantz | Staff Writer
Even if it’s no longer surprising, I’m tired of Republicans using the Hispanic community as the punchline to a bad joke.
At former president Donald Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden this past Sunday, the speakers— that his campaign administration picked out— decided to market themselves with blatant racism and pass it off as “jokes.”
Tony Hinchcliffe’s extremely offensive remark when he called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage” has received major backlash and rightfully so. This was nothing less than disrespectful to Puerto Rico and the Hispanic community as a whole.
Though Trump claims he did not hear the joke before the rally, he did not denounce it either. And while Hinchcliffe attempts to defend himself by saying “he loves Puerto Rico and vacations there” it only adds gasoline to the fire he sparked.
Puerto Rico is a home, not a vacation spot.
It doesn’t matter that Puerto Ricans are granted U.S. citizenship, the hurtful and untrue things said will only promote misinformation.
I not only feel disrespected but also mystified as a voter. Why would I want to vote for a man who sees us and our people as a joke?
At this point, most of us aren’t surprised by the blatant racism that the Republican Party and its voters have shown, but it’s ironic they still want our vote.
Hispanics represent 19.1% of the total U.S. population, making us the second fastest-growing population in the country. That represents 19% of the U.S. workforce who can become or are registered voters.
One takeaway from this rally is that it’s clear that Republicans have no respect for the Latin community and only see us as an opportunity to boost their numbers. They will pander to us when they need the votes and toss us aside when they don’t.
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