What has Ted Cruz been like as far as dealing with the Latino Community in TX? (Cameron: 2015, moving)

[beenhereandthere]

Just wondering, or does he figure, since he's Cuban and not Mexican that he doesn't need to care about them?
If the case is the latter, that's like an American Black saying, I don't need to care about Somali's or Nigerians, since they're not from America.

[Bo]

I've heard that Cruz's office is not big on constituent service. The state's other senator is John Cornyn. Cornyn's in the leadership of the Senate and that makes him about as much a part of the establishment as one can get. Most Texans who need help from a Senator go to his office instead of Cruz's.

Does that get at what you were wondering about?

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by beenhereandthere

Just wondering, or does he figure, since he's Cuban and not Mexican that he doesn't need to care about them?
If the case is the latter, that's like an American Black saying, I don't need to care about Somali's or Nigerians, since they're not from America.

Not really, since Black is a race and Latino is not (you can be any race and be Latino; Ted Cruz, for instance, is a white Latino).

[radiolibre99]

Exactly..Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are seen as white Hispanics by the Latino community. Cubans tend to be white and vote Republican. Very conservative people.

[beenhereandthere]

Originally Posted by Mentallect

Not really, since Black is a race and Latino is not (you can be any race and be Latino; Ted Cruz, for instance, is a white Latino).

???

[radiolibre99]

They're right. Hispanic is an ethnicity. There are Afro-Latinos, Mixed race Latinos (which are the majority), and white Latinos. As in Hispanics with mostly European ancestry.

How is this news to you?

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by beenhereandthere

???

Latino (or Hispanic) is not a race. There are folks from Latin American countries (Cuba, the other islands, Central America, South America, Mexico) who are white, black, mixed, Amerindian... . For instance, there are people who are black (race), but are Latino, Cuban or what have you.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by radiolibre99

They're right. Hispanic is an ethnicity. There are Afro-Latinos, Mixed race Latinos (which are the majority), and white Latinos. As in Hispanics with mostly European ancestry.

How is this news to you?

Bingo.

[radiolibre99]

I've noticed the US is the only country that confuses Hispanic as a race. When I visited Latin America I myself was surprised by the diversity and that they never referred to themselves as racially Hispanic. They would say their citizens were; white, black, mixed, or Amerindian/indigenous. There was no Hispanic or Latino race category. Ted Cruz would be a white Hispanic, as would Marco Rubio or Andy Garcia.

How do Americans not know the difference between say Sammy Sosa, George Lopez and Cameron Diaz (Cuban Father)? How do they think they're all the same race? That's like saying Anglos, people who speak English and have a culture derived from the UK are a race.

[L210]

Most Hispanics in Texas are of Mexican descent and mixed race even when they mark "white" on the Census form (usually due to confusion). There was a very small study that found that people of Mexican descent in the U.S. are, on average, around 47% Native American/American Indian. While there are a lot of black Cubans in Cuba, most of the ones who immigrate to the U.S. are white or at least identify as white. I don't think Mexicans in Texas really identify with Ted Cruz. Not only is he white and of different national origin, but only one of his parents is Hispanic.

I regularly have to ask people their race. Except for the one black Latino who knew that he was black, all of the Hispanics say that their race is Mexican, Hispanic, or Latino. I don't press them on it. If they clearly look mixed race, which they usually do, I just mark "other" and keep it moving. Criminal justice agencies, in general, are lazy and will document every Hispanic person as white when they're clearly mixed race. Even black Latinos are often labeled as white. They know that Hispanic is not a race, but they don't seem to understand that Hispanics can be non-white.