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CHC: NYT’s Douthat ‘reaffirms the obvious reasons’ GOP lost Latinos

November 20, 2012   ·   0 Comments

Source: Politico

By Mackenzie Weinger:

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Monday blasted The New York Times’ Ross Douthat’s new column as a "rambling piece which reflects his lack of understanding of the diverse Latino community and reaffirms the obvious reasons that Republicans lost Latino support.”

CHC chair Charlie Gonzalez took aim at Douthat for writing in his Sunday column “The Liberal Gloat” that one of the major reasons Democrats are winning the support of recent immigrants is “because those immigrants often aren’t assimilating successfully — or worse, are assimilating downward, thanks to rising out-of-wedlock birthrates and high dropout rates.”

“The Democratic edge among Hispanics depends heavily on these darker trends: the weaker that families and communities are, the more necessary government support inevitably seems,” Douthat wrote.

“Hispanics are not a separate part of America,” Gonzales said in a statement responding to the op-ed column. “We are engaged in every facet of American society and successful Latinos ensure a more prosperous America.  To say that Latinos are assimilating downward is to ignore the obvious facts.”

The Texas representative noted that “immigrants do not come to this country out of laziness. They come to work toward a better life and no one can question the work ethic of Latinos.”

“Latinos seek assimilation, which requires equality with and inclusion in the dominant and established American community. The Republican agenda and policies offered neither and that's why Latinos voted for the Democratic candidates,” the CHC chair added. “The Latino story is the American story. It’s a simple lesson, but one that some conservatives, such as Mr. Douthat, are still learning.”

Douthat has not yet responded to a request for comment.

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