Republicans Connect with Hispanics

The longtime leader of the conservative movement, Phyllis Schlafly’s radical response to the GOP’s attempts to secure the Hispanic vote is brought under the microscope in Republican Outreach to Minority Voters Hits Overdrive, Seen as Wildly Successful by Harold Cook on Letters from Texas. Her statement that Republicans should focus on the “millions of white voters who did not vote in the last presidential election” rather than waist time on “Hispanics coming in from Mexico” who are going to vote Democrat anyway on account of having too many children out of wedlock and their inability to understand the Bill of Rights or the concept of small government, has been a popular political media topic in the recent weeks since her appearance on multiple talk radio and television shows upholding her claim. 

The article points out the extent of Schlafly’s narrow-mindedness and questions whether the Republican Party is truly interested in the welfare of the Hispanic population or simply the figures when it’s time to go to the voting polls. Perhaps it is neither as Shchlafly suggests that Republicans would be more successful in future elections by totally disregarding the idea that Hispanics would vote conservatively and what would be more advantageous is damaging the possibility of increasing the conservative Hispanic vote by blatantly insulting the culture with insubstantial prejudice notions. 

The article also notes that Schlafly’s conservative leadership in the National Republican Party has influenced the Texas State Board of Education to require children to learn about her in future history textbooks where she will be glorified as a key player of the conservative insurgence while her bigotry will undoubtedly be left out. 

The significance of the article rests in the fact that Hispanics represent 37 percent of the Texas population and 16 percent of the US population and many vote conservatively (and do not all come from Mexico). From the Republican National Hispanic Assembly to Hispanic Republicans of Texas and everywhere in between, Hispanic voters do in fact support the GOP. The article emphasizes Schlafly’s confirmation of the Republican Party’s aim to remain predominantly white while the Republican-led Texas State Board of Education continues its efforts to teach children to glorify individuals in leadership roles who are shamelessly prejudice.