Back in 2004, then Senate candidate Barack Obama delivered a powerful speech on the floor of the Democratic Convention challenging our country to shatter the idea that we are a divided people. Obama went on to say that this country is not a country of Black America, or Hispanic America or White America, but a United States of America. “We are one America,” Obama would go on to say culminating a speech that would go on to eventually propel him as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 2008.
Six years after that stirring speech, now President Obama has replaced the lofty rhetoric of hope and unity with fear and divisiveness. With his political party facing the prospect of a receiving a resounding thumping in the upcoming midterm elections, President Obama has resorted to name calling as a last ditch effort to sway the outcome.
Appearing on a popular morning Univision radio broadcast called “Piolin por la Mañana,” hosted by Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, President Obama urged Hispanic listeners to vote for his political party in the upcoming elections and punish the enemies. “If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re going to punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,’ if they don’t see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it’s going to be harder and that’s why I think it’s so important that people focus on voting on November 2.”
You don’t need to speak Spanish to discern that the President was clearly referring to conservatives as the enemy. President Obama went on to remind the listeners not to forget who was on their side come election day.
So much for there not being a Hispanic America but a one people comprising the United States of America…
Looking to blame others for his Administration’s ineptness , President Obama blamed Republicans for inaction on a comprehensive immigration reform bill despite the brutal reality that Democrats control both chambers of Congress and The White House. Obama went on to say that Republicans such as Senator John McCain, who formerly supported an overhaul but now are stressing border security and supporting strict immigration laws like Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration measure “aren’t the kinds of folks who represent our core American values.”
In other words, enforcing our immigration laws is unpatriotic.
The irony is that if President Obama really understood the Hispanic community, he would know that Hispanics are more concerned about the economy and jobs than immigration as confirmed by a recent Pew Hispanic Center Survey. Hispanics, like the rest of the country, are rightfully concerned with the direction of our country. It is painfully clear that President Obama’s reckless spending and failed economic policies are not creating jobs or jump starting our economy as evidenced with a national unemployment rate of nearly double digits, and closer to 12 percent for Hispanics.
For liberals like President Obama, it is inconceivable to think Hispanics could even think disagreeing or doubting the merits of a progressive agenda. In fact, it isn’t too long ago that current Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made national headlines when he articulated this race-tinged sentiment in the heat of his own re-election race by declaring, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican.” Liberals will have to confront the reality that Hispanic voters are not single-issue voters and care about the same issues of concern to the rest of the country.
No one should be defined by race alone. It’s too bad that President Barack Obama has turned his back on his call to live in a country not divided along racial lines. The politics of fear are alive and well thanks to President Obama.
