Socioeconomic and demographic changes in North America increasingly influence politics. Slave owners, led by General Grant during the Civil War,* who fought with fire and blood for the right to bring blacks over from Africa to remain shackled on plantations in southern states, could not bear the sight of an African-American Obama guiding the country’s fate. If they saw this, as well as darkness tinting the economic, social and cultural skin of northern power, they would die all over again.
An equally lethal end would be had by those racists led by the Ku Klux Klan, a group which has expanded its hatred and discrimination to the Latin American population. Their rage would cause them to catch fire, something they did to the victims of their racial hatred.
Once free, thanks to Lincoln and others, African-American blackness began to travel the long road of integration into the economy, society and culture, a road which has not yet ended. Some advances are conclusively seen, as demonstrated by the blacks that currently stand out on the national level in diverse areas such as politics. A paradigmatic example is Obama, who may be reelected by the people’s vote in the upcoming United States presidential election. It is equally fitting to mention Colin Powell, a black man who in the Bush era was Secretary of State, and Martin Luther King, an African-American intellectual who achieved worldwide fame for his fight in defense of blacks’ rights and ended up killed by the same old racists.
Now, the political effects of the changes in U.S. demography run in favor of the Latin American population, which has dramatically increased since the 1950s. Latinos are now the second highest U.S. minority in terms of population. The Latin American influence is increasingly greater in politics because the Latino vote, in some states, will define the results of the presidential election. This explains why presidential hopefuls favor themes of interest to Latinos in their campaigns (immigration laws, health, education, etc.).
Currently, important U.S. cities (Los Angeles and San Antonio, among others) are in the hands of North American Latinos. A Latin American of Cuban origin, Marco Rubio, was pegged as a potential presidential running mate by the Republican Party. A woman of Bolivian ancestry, Cecelia Munoz,** is a key member of the federal bureaucracy and works with Obama. It is highly probable that in the not-so-distant future, the popular vote will elect someone of Latino origin as President of the United States.
*Editor’s Note: General Grant was actually Lt. General in charge of the Union (North) Army. General Robert E. Lee was in charge of the Confederate (South) Army. Also, the slave trade from Africa to the United States was ended in the first decade of the 1800s, long before the Civil War. Slaves were still traded within the states.
** Editor’s Note: The author also listed Blanca Otero as a member of the bureaucracy working with Obama, but there is no record of such a person working a high-level bureaucratic job.
Demografía y política en EEUU
Mario Rueda Peña - Son cada vez más fuertes los efectos políticos de los cambios en la estructura económico-social y demografía norteamericanas. Si resucitasen los esclavistas que a la cabeza del General Grant, durante la Guerra de la Secesión, perseguían a sangre y fuego que los negros traídos del África siguiesen encadenados a trabajos forzados en plantaciones y granjas de los estados sureños, no podrían soportar la visión de un “afroamericano” (Obama) rigiendo desde Washington los destinos del país, así como la del color azabache matizando en algún porcentaje la piel económica, social y cultural de la potencia del norte. Presas del pasmo y la furia, volverían a morir enseguida…
Igual y letal epílogo padecerían los protagonistas de esa corriente racista que a la cabeza del tristemente célebre “Ku kux klan” ampliaba el odio y la discriminación a la población “hispanoamericana”. La ira les llevaría a prenderse fuego, tal como a veces lo hacían contra las víctimas de sus odios raciales.
Una vez libres, gracias a Lincoln, entre otros, la “negritud” afroamericana empezó a recorrer una larga ruta de inserción en lo económico, social y cultural que aún no ha concluido, pero que ya registra rotundos avances, como lo demuestran los negros que actualmente se destacan a escala nacional en diversas actividades y en la propia política. Un caso paradigmático al respecto es del de Obama, quien sería reelecto por el voto del pueblo en las próximas elecciones presidenciales de Estados Unidos. Cabe mencionar, igualmente, al del negro Colin Powell, quien en tiempos de Bush fue Secretario del Departamento de Estado y al de Martin Luther King, un intelectual afro americano que alcanzó fama mundial por su lucha en defensa de los derechos de los negros y que terminó asesinado por los racistas de siempre .
Ahora, los efectos políticos de los cambios en la demografía estadounidense corren a favor de una población hispanoamericana que empezó a acrecentarse en forma drástica desde la década del 60 del siglo pasado, al punto que hoy es la segunda minoría poblacional del país (50 millones de personas), por encima de la población negra. La influencia de los hispanos es cada vez mayor en la política a causa de que su voto, en algunos Estados de la Unión, define los resultados de las elecciones presidenciales. Esto explica que los aspirantes al mando en la Casa Blanca privilegien en sus campañas temas que interesan a los “latinos” (leyes inmigratorias, salud, educación y otros).
Actualmente, alcaldías de importantes ciudades de Estados Unidos (Los Ángeles y San Antonio, entre otras) están en manos de hispanoamericanos de nacionalidad norteamericana. Un latinoamericano de origen cubano (Marco Rubio) se perfilaba como compañero del candidato a la Presidencia por el Partido Republicano. En la actual nómina de la alta burocracia de Washington figuran inclusive mujeres de ascendencia boliviana que cooperan al presidente Obama. Son los casos de Cecilia Muñoz y Blanca Otero.
Es altamente probable que en un futuro no tan mediato, el voto popular convierta en Presidente de Estados Unidos a alguien de origen hispanoamericano.
El autor es periodista
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