Relevant, Even in the Rural…

Rebecca Aguilar
2 min readDec 19, 2015

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Sitting here working on an editorial about immigration reform, a random thought occurred to me. I had to stop writing. I started thinking of those who just might think… that immigration is the number one priority to most Hispanics this election. It’s not. So here I am, taking a pause in between, to set some possible misconceptions straight.

Ronald Reagan once said “Latinos are Republican, they just don’t know it.” He was wrong, here within my generation at least. Around 63 percent of us identify with the Democratic Party. And that was even a pre-Trump number! Today, 1 in 6 Americans are Hispanic, we have just blown up in just two generations. Our population only continuing to grow. Every month more than 60,000 Hispanic teens turn of age and become potential voters.

With this boom of Latino Millennials it is no surprise that education is a top priority issue. The high school dropout rate within this generation has decreased dramatically, and college enrollment more frequent. One big reason is, Latinos in general value education and push it on their kin. Understanding and knowing it’s necessary to compete in today’s job market. Most, including myself, attend community colleges because of the lower tuition cost, and not wanting to amass huge student debts. Sen. Bernie Sanders want to make sure that ALL Americans have the opportunity to further their educations if they so choose, with tuition free college.

The economy is also important to most Hispanics. We all know what a mega problem unemployment is in this country. Although unemployment rates dropped from 2014–2015, minorities are the majority of this country’s unemployed. Wapello County is no different. In many settings, those that are working are more than likely being paid lower wages than their white co-workers. Bernie also wants to ensure a fair and living wage for so many Americans that know the impossibilities of living on a minimum wage without having to rely on government assistance.

Health care is important to everyone across our nation. Sen. Sanders values human health over the billions in profits made within the medical industry. He has supported Obamacare, but wants to expand the current system NOW, until a single payer healthcare system is actually implemented. Besides education, economy, and healthcare, environment, national security, and institutionalized racism are also leading topics within our Latino community. Many Americans can identify with most, or at least, some of these same issues. Senator Sanders has publicly set great proposals and policies on the issues stated above. This is why I and so many others stand behind Bernie. He is the change America needs.

http://www.demos.org/publication/retail-race-divide-how-retail-industry-perpetuating-racial-inequality-21st-century http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm http://www.pewhispanic.org/
http://iwin.iwd.state.ia.us/pubs/affirmact/counties/wapello.pdf
https://berniesanders.com/issues/

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