Hating Us Softly: Republicans change their tune when speaking to Univision viewers but not for long...

Last Sunday’s Spanish-language Republican debate on Univision was remarkable. Not in that it was historic or that it marked the “arrival” of Hispanics as a political force to be reckoned with. It was all of those things for sure. But it was remarkable in the show that Republicans put on so as not to come across as the zealots they have so successfully and enthusiastically portrayed themselves as before conservative white audiences when it came to the issue of immigration.

Political jujitzu some might have called it. It was more like a slow, deliberate, sexy tango in which the leading partners were the Republican presidential candidates and the ones being led were Hispanic viewers waiting to be bombarded with the same hateful rhetoric used up to now to describe "those people" coming from foreign lands, with "funny accents" to take our jobs, use our social services, and if you believe Tom Tancredo, kill like gang members and bomb us like terrorists. But of course that kind of talk never came. Instead, that was replaced with seductive, dulcimer tones of soft, toned down rhetoric that talked about the need to embrace legal immigration, enforce our borders, and welcome hard workers who come here seeking opportunity.

There were heart-warming smiles and flowery prose that described admiration for immigrants and Hispanics, speeches about how Republican values were in synch with Latino values, some even mentioned how they had worked and lived in the barrio. It was clear how they were all just so happy to be there talking to such an important audience. Give me a break.

What gives me solace in the face of such blatant hypocrisy and cover-up, is that Latino voters understand exactly what has happened in the past two years since the immigration debate has unfolded. They are all too familiar with the racist, anti-Latino-speak that has been used far from places like Sunday night at the Bank United Center, and away from the brown faces watching the debate all over the country last night on Univision. Hispanics understand the ugliness that has started to transform this country from a welcoming beacon to one that shuns those that look different, speak differently and listen to music others cannot understand. Latinos, from citizens whose families have been here for centuries, to the undocumented that have come seeking the promise of a more dignified life, have encountered the looks, the whispers, as well as the downright screams for “illegals” to go home in places such as my own back yard in Prince Williams County, Virginia, not far from the nation’s capitol.

Latinos all over the country understand what most Republicans fail to see is the reality of life for Hispanics in this country, and why this silly “dance” that seeks to distinguish and divide the “legals” and the “illegals” further proves that Republicans do not really know or understand our communities. Here is what really happens in this country everyday: A Latino family is sitting around the dinner table after a hard day’s work. Around the table you most likely may have the father, the mother, the grandmother and grandfather, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters. The mother and father may be naturalized citizens, the brothers and sisters may be Legal Permanent Residents or may have a valid Student Visa, the sons and daughters are US born, and the grandmother and grandfather are undocumented. Furthermore, there are cousins and aunts and uncles that also range from being US citizens, to having just arrived in the country on a tourist visa, to having been here for a decade with no legal papers.

This family is not going to be receptive to a candidate who on the one hand embraces some members but abhors and persecutes other members of the same family. It does not make sense from a humanitarian standpoint nor does it make sense from a practical policy standpoint.

The distinction is a false premise that allows Republicans to continue to dodge the real question: How to solve the immigration crisis which includes doing something about the 12 million undocumented immigrants living and working in our country. None of the seven candidates answered this question when it was posed by the Univision moderators.

That is why the Republican candidates and the Republican Party for that matter will never get past this litmus test with Latino voters and be able to talk to them about other issues they care deeply about such as education, health care, the economy and the war in Iraq. Latinos and all Americans deserve real answers to one of our country’s most serious problems.

So last Sunday night we sure didn’t get any real answers, but at least we didn’t get any hate speech. What we got was a Tango and not a very good one at that.