Proud Hispanic of the United States

Published in El País
(Spain) on 12 October 2015
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Stuart Abel. Edited by Bora Mici.
Today on Oct. 12, when we commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the American continent, it is also a good opportunity to celebrate Hispanic vigor in the most powerful democracy in the world. Contrary to the populist xenophobia that personalities like Donald Trump preach, this energy not only isn’t threatening to destroy America, but it is also the guarantee of a successful, free and integrated society that will last a long time.

The exclusive and derogatory nationalism that travels across Europe has leaked into American political discourse, especially in the hands of Trump, who, with his outbursts and racist and sexist insults, has comfortably stepped into the role of the “infant terrible” of the 2016 presidential primary campaign. But the problem is not only Trump, whom we can credit with attracting the condemnation of Julio Iglesias and Hillary Clinton. In the polls, for the time being, the preference of the majority of Republican Party voters confirms populism’s contagious effect. Prior experience, including Trump's own of four years ago, argues that this will be a passing phase, although its consequences will be felt in his more moderate rivals and are also equally vulnerable to the short term effect in the polls.

None of this should lead to pessimism, especially when this empty discourse of exclusion and the past compares to serious, strict and vigorous work in favor of themselves, their community of origin, and their adopted society which millions of Hispanics engage in daily in the United States. Two Americans attacked by Trump embody these values: Chef Jose Andres and journalist Jorge Ramos, who were born in two distant places on the map — Spain and Mexico — but are close in their defense of one Hispanic community, which has much to celebrate.


La presencia hispana es garantía de es garantía de que una sociedad de éxito, libre e integradora perdurará largo tiempo

Hoy, 12 de octubre, cuando se conmemora la llegada de Colón al continente americano, es un buen momento para celebrar la pujanza hispana en la democracia más poderosa de la tierra. Una energía que, al contrario de lo que predica el populismo xenófobo de personajes como Donald Trump, no solo no amenaza con destruir Estados Unidos, sino que es garantía de que su historia de sociedad de éxito, libre e integradora perdurará largo tiempo.

El nacionalismo excluyente y demagógico que recorre Europa también ha irrumpido en el discurso político estadounidense, especialmente de la mano de Trump, que con sus exabruptos e insultos racistas y machistas se ha instalado cómodamente en el papel de enfant terrible de la precampaña para las presidenciales de 2016. Pero el problema no es solo Trump (que tiene el mérito de haber concitado la condena de Julio Iglesias y de Hillary Clinton). El que las encuestas le den, por el momento, la mayor preferencia de votos en el Partido Republicano constata el efecto contagioso del populismo. Experiencias previas —incluyendo la del propio Trump hace cuatro años— auguran que será una fiebre pasajera, aunque sus secuelas se dejarán sentir en el discurso de rivales más moderados, pero igualmente vulnerables al efecto a corto plazo en los sondeos.

Nada de todo ello debe llevar al pesimismo, sobre todo cuando este discurso vacío de la exclusión y del pasado se compara con los ejemplos del trabajo serio, riguroso y esforzado en favor de uno mismo, de su comunidad de origen y de su sociedad de acogida que realizan a diario millones de hispanos en EE UU. Unos valores encarnados por dos estadounidenses atacados por Trump: el cocinero José Andrés y el periodista Jorge Ramos, nacidos en lugares lejanos entre sí en el mapa —España y México—, pero cercanos en la defensa de una comunidad, la hispana, que tiene mucho que celebrar.
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