My Latino family blindsided me with their Trump vote

After the election, I called my mother to ask if she had voted for Trump. A gut feeling told me to find out.

She remained silent on the phone, and then she told me what I wanted to hear, but what I didn’t believe. She claimed she didn’t vote for him.

And it wasn’t just my mom who I suspected of voting for Trump – my brother did too. Their votes hurt.

Earlier this year, after returning home from my visit to the US/Mexican border, I remember choking up at IHOP as I attempted to tell my family the story of the woman I met who experienced undocumented worker abuse. She was inspiring to a girl like myself who has grown up privileged.

After a long pause, my parents stared at me crying. My brother kept on eating his pancakes. It was like they couldn’t understand my struggles, yet they were the ones who could have known the pain of being undocumented the best.

It hurts to say that my family has forgotten their roots. I have written articles to empower my friends and random strangers to embrace the fact that they’re Latino and proud. I wrote about my parents’ immigration story and showed them the article, translating it so they understood each and every word – and thought I was speaking for them when no one else could hear them. But that wasn’t enough on Election Day.

It was a stab in the back to hear from them: “Trump wants to deport the ‘criminals’, don’t you know how many people are being killed by gangs? He wants to deport them away – not the undocumented immigrants you’re thinking about.”

When election time arrived, my brother began to display his support for Trump on Instagram. I, along with many of my family members wondered what the hell was he thinking when he posted this after the election.

I’ve been called a radical by my family. They said I was dumb for believing that protesting is the best way to combat our new president-elect. I’ve been asked if I could be found on television at any of the protests in Philly. Protests which I was told weren’t even worth shouting a single word at.

What my family and the majority of Latinos who voted for Trump don’t understand is we don’t have a choice expect to protest. We’re pissed that our own people are going against our own mirror images. There has been this great divide among the community that should have been more united about the insults our president-elect has said about us.

Jorge Ramos, the Univision news anchor, said in a New York Times article: “We’re seeing a new divide within the Hispanic community. The wall that Trump was talking about is clearly apparent now within the Hispanic community.”

Out of the 55 million Hispanics in the United States, only 27 million of them were eligible to vote. I ask Latinos everywhere and even my family: why have we lost our sympathy? Are you ashamed of the way we look, how we immigrated into this country? Should we begin to “Americanize” to be accepted by our opposite selves?

A perfect example of this is the Latinos for Trump founder, Marco Gutierrez.

Gutierrez, who was born and raised in Mexico, said in an interview with MSNBC: “My culture is a very dominant culture and it is imposing, and it is causing problems. If you don’t do something about it you are going to have taco trucks on every corner.”

In a CNN article of why Latinos backed Trump, it’s explained that every Latino in their region had their own reason to vote for him. In California, immigration was the top concern. In Texas, Latinos were concerned with lowering the cost of health care. In New York, Latinos wanted to see an improvement in wages. And in Florida, terrorism was the top priority.

The truth is, we heard what Trump has said about our people, but many in our community have chosen to ignore it. Instead, just like the many people who hid their vote – Latino voters did the exact same thing to their own struggling people.

As a Latina, I refuse to sit back anymore. I am proud of my heritage, the way I look, and the way I speak when I’m angry because of the Latina fuego inside of me. I will not let anyone, even my own family, extinguish the pride of being a second generation immigrant.

To the people who had their families vote for Trump, do not turn to anger when confronting them. A wise woman from a church who aides undocumented immigrants in Texas once told me:

“Be the person who educates the ones who will never get the chance to experience what you saw here. These stories you’ve learned, the tears you’ve cried – none of that will be forgotten until the day you forget about retelling them. Keep these stories alive, and be the light in someone’s world.”

Educate yourself, others and even your own families of what minorities feel like after the election. I was lucky to visit the border, but not many will ever get to experience what I learned.

I understand it’s easy to lose your temper, just look at our president-elect. However, we should not descend to their standards and demonstrate ourselves as the way they perceive us to be. Trump and his supporters believe the majority of Latinos are criminals who should have immigrated into the country the right way.

News flash: they have tried! They’re called visas and it takes years to even get one if you’re from a Latin country.

When a country like ours is divided on our future president and protests are still going on, do you really think we should remain silent? I was blindsided with my family’s sudden support for Trump, but I will not allow anyone stop me from advocating for Latinos and their rights.

There are millions of undocumented immigrants in this country who believe they have no voice.

I want to be their voice and I sure will not be silenced anymore – and neither should you.

@gailvivarx3