Dear Mr. Romney,
As a Cuban-American, I’m anxiously awaiting the day when a person of Latino heritage takes the oath of office for president of the United States. I dream of a time when a salsa band plays at the inaugural ball, plantains are a staple in the White House kitchen, and the first family’s children speak Spanish at home. I would like for that time to come soon, while my own children are still young. I want them to see — through their still innocent and hopeful eyes — that someone like them can hold the highest office in the land. I can only imagine the incredible impact it will make on their lives.
These things are important to me, Mr. Romney. But there are also other things that are more important.
- Wikipedia
- Romney
You see, when my parents and I came to this country as political refugees in the early ’90s, we didn’t have anything. We escaped Cuba’s communist regime without a single dollar — at the time it was illegal for Cubans to hold U.S. currency. Once here, we applied for government assistance and received benefits that allowed us to rent our first apartment, to buy food, to access healthcare. My father found a job right away working construction. My mother went to school to learn English. My brother and I started elementary school and thrived. We didn’t see ourselves as victims, and we sure as hell took personal responsibility and care for our lives. My father went on to start his own construction business, my mother earned a master’s degree, and my brother and I attended some of the best universities in the country.
We were given opportunities we desperately needed, and thanks to those opportunities, we achieved success. And we fell in love with America.
Can you imagine how different our story would be if the president at the time had decided to write us off like you’ve decided to write off 47 percent of the country?
Mr. Romney, in the same video where you make your now-infamous 47-percent comments, you also say about your father, “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this. But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, it would be helpful to be Latino.”
You seem to think that all it takes to win the Latino vote is a shared heritage with us. That even though you’ve said you’d veto the Dream Act and support Arizona’s “show me your papers” law, we would all vote for you if your last name was Lopez or Rodriguez. That instead of casting our ballots based on the candidate’s policies and values, we only care about appearances. Frankly, I find your position extremely offensive.
Unlike you, I will not generalize. I won’t speak on behalf of all Latinos. But I want you to know, unequivocally, that this Latina will not vote for you. No even if you ask me to in Spanish, while eating a jalapeño, and dancing to a cumbia. I will not vote for you Mr. Romney, not in a million years.
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This article appears in Sep 19-25, 2012.
You fail to mention if you are illegal or legal. If you are legal, Welcome!!!
If not, please return to Cuba until you are willing to put forth the time and effort to become a U.S. citizen. Thanks!
Gracias, Ailen, I share the same sentiment. – Mexican-American
Dear CityOfIdiots,
First of all, using the word illegal as an adjective to describe a human being is considered offensive and dehumanizing. Please, use the term undocumented immigrant next time.
I am a citizen of the United States. I was lucky enough to emigrate from Cuba and be granted political asylum under the Cuban Adjustment Act. Sadly, many immigrants to this country are not as fortunate.
If all it took to become a citizen of the United States was “time and effort,” I guarantee you that our number of undocumented immigrants would be minuscule. For most undocumented immigrants there simply isn’t a path to citizenship. There is no line they can stand in. All the time and effort in the world won’t make a difference.
Thanks for welcoming me to the United States, by the way. I’ve only lived here for twenty years!
CityOfIdiots, is that really all you took away from this blog? Really?
CityOfIdiots: You are a condescending, paternalistic asswipe.
Unfortunately Mr. Romney’s present policy is only a pre-election message targeted to a portion of his electorate that does not support any type of resolution to the present indeterminate state that some emigrants are experiencing in America today. If he gets elected and it is very unlikely I will bet that Mr. Romney will propose and probably enthusiastically advocate some sort of immigration solution to the present crisis. So what’s left for the anti-immigrants crowd? A thumb one’s nose reaction from Mr. Romney. That’s what we do in America in the presence of injustice and nonsensical policies nevertheless the re-election of the president is a better choice for America.
Carlos
The person is not illegal, them being in the country is illegal. Doing something illegal for a long time doesn’t mean that you should get a pass. I will accept that I am an ass-wipe, but one that is tired or wiping other peoples asses. Become a citizen, learn the language, pay taxes.. Assimilate. If you are so proud of where you cam from why are you here?
CityOFIdiots:
Please add to your xenophobic rant some verifiable statistics that show that undocumented aliens don’t work or pay taxes.
As far as your demand that they become citizens, give them the opportunity and most of them would LOVE to become citizens. Unfortunately xenophobic people like you won’t let them.
CityOfIdiots — What the hell are you talking about? Ms. Arreaza’s open letter to Mr. Romney has nothing to do with illegal immigration or undocumented immigrants. It is about Mr. Romney’s comments on the 47 percent of Americans he doesn’t care about.
Ms. Arreaza stated clearly in the piece how her family got to this country, and it has nothing to do with being undocumented. She reiterated it to you in her reply to your xenophobic statements, and you’re still harping on undocumented immigrants. That IS an issue. It’s a huge issue — one whose solution you and I likely disagree on radically. But it’s not the point of Ms. Arreaza’s piece.
So, what planet are you on? What discussion are you in? Why are you bringing the issue of undocumented immigrants into this discussion?
I think I know why. You are a xenophobic asswipe who sees everything in terms of “the other” coming to make your precious life difficult. Screw you! You clearly make many other peoples’ lives difficult — people who are, I’m quite sure, much more pleasant than you. So, go away. Go hide in your fantasy world where every other creature looks and acts just like you.
Hey Brian, I might say that YOU are the idiot. Romney did not say he didn’t care about the 47%. It is just that he can’t worry about trying to get their vote because as piglets sucking at the tits of Big Government, they will not vote for someone who might actually make them do something to earn their “benefits”.
As a Cuban refugee, Ms Latina automatically was granted asylum and given a never ending green card. Big difference from those who enter our country and stay illegally. And evidently she did NOT watch the RNC convention and Senator Rubio’s speech.
If Ms Latina’s parents came to the US in the 90s, it is safe to say that they were fully indoctrinated in favor of government control over their lives. That’s the bottom line in Cuba–period. It’s easy to take chances when you have nothing to lose; coming here no matter how hard it was at the beginning is nothing compared to staying in Cuba. Please do not confuse these people with others like Rubio’s family who came here seeking freedom and not economic benefits.
One can safely conclude that based on her opinions, she shares her parent’s ideology and completely missed the point behind the 47% comment made by Romney. She has become one of the sheeple.
Yes, my mother was so indoctrinated in favor of Castro’s government control over her life that she was actually arrested several times in Cuba for protesting AGAINST the regime.
I’d love to hear your take on Mr. It-would-be-helpful-to-be-Latino’s 47% comments since I completely missed the point. Here, to make it easier I will transcribe them verbatim for you.
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax. My job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
It is interesting to note that Mr. Romney’s family was also given assistance from the US Government when they first came to the US. Neither his family nor Ms. Arreaza’a became “dependent” on government handouts, and both ended up contributing to the economy. Why is Mr. Romney both so disparaging of anyone who “pays no taxes” and so ignorant of the fact that for many families government programs are a temporary lifeline while they get their feet under them – or an earned benefit from many years of paying into the system in payroll taxes in the case of retirees? Or the fact that some of these families work full time (or more) and still cannot earn an income that would require them to pay taxes.
The assertion by Mr. Romney that he would have an easier time getting elected had his father been Latino is both absurd and insulting. In addition to Ms. Arreaza’s points above, Mr. Romney would almost certainly not be in the position he is in today had his father been Latino. If Romney thinks that his and his family could have achieved the same financial, social, and political success had they had the surname of Rodriguez or Hernandez or Martinez – or Arreaza- he is even more of an idiot than he appears.
Pokeinthenose:
Romney did not say he didn’t care about the 47%. It is just that he can’t worry about trying to get their vote because as piglets sucking at the tits of Big Government, they will not vote for someone who might actually make them do something to earn their “benefits”.
The fact that that sounds like a reasonable argument to you says it all.
If she was illegal she wouldn’t have been able to attend college in the US.