A growing trend has caught
the attention of U.S. politicians
and no, it’s not Qanon. It’s the
rise in the number of Latinx vot-
ers, which political pundits refer
to as the Latino Vote. The Latino
Vote is an elusive creature that
many politicians have tried and
failed to catch, insisting on trap-
ping it, but failing to realize that
it’s less like a fish and more like
the Loch Ness Monster: It isn’t
real. The Latino Vote is a gross
generalization of Central and
South Americans that ignores
the diversity of thoughts and
values within such a varied
body of people; there is no one
“Latino Vote.” The narrative
perpetuated by the media that
all Latinx voters vote straight
ticket blue is incorrect for sev-
eral reasons and harmful to any
campaign that believes in it.
My mother and my uncle
immigrated from Ecuador as
children. When they moved,
they both did not know Eng-
lish and went through the ESL
program in their public school.
They both attended the Univer-
sity of Michigan. Though they
had the same upbringing and
same
immigrant
experience,
they could not be further apart
in ideology. My mother is a mod-
erate, Elizabeth Warren type
of Democrat. My uncle is a rag-
ing Independent that responds
positively towards Trump-like
politicians. After the comments
Trump made about Mexico
sending rapists and criminals,
I assumed my uncle would be
offended by the situation. He
was not. This experience dis-
plays several issues with the
myth of the Latino Vote. Though
there are common experiences,
such as immigration, ESL and
cuisine, Latinx voters do not
always view themselves as a
uniform group. Rather than
identifying as Latinx, some
will refer to themselves spe-
cifically as Chilean or Puerto
Rican. Within these identifica-
tions, there are values held that
are not held by the rest of the
community. For instance, fifty-
eight percent of Cubans identify
as Republican in comparison
to thirty-eight percent of non-
Cuban Hispanics. This disparity
can be attributed to the issues
each group prioritizes; accord-
ing to the Pew Research Center,
Cuban voters consider foreign
policy, health care and violent
crimes more than non-Cuban
Hispanics. Foriegn policy is a
major issue for Cubans, because
a hardline foreign policy against
Cuba means that Cubans have
a harder time visiting family
still on the island. This is not as
much of a problem with non-
Cuban Latinx as U.S. foreign
policy with Cuba changes more
frequently in comparison to
other Central and South Ameri-
can countries.
Latinx voters also hold vary-
ing positions on social issues.
Religion is an important fac-
tor that affects voting pat-
terns for the Latino Vote. More
Latinx Americans are actively
religious (i.e. going to service
regularly) as compared to their
non-Latinx counterparts. Typi-
cally identifying as Christian,
many consider criminalization
of abortion to be a crucial aspect
of the party they are voting for;
older Latinxs hold anti-abortion
views to a much larger degree as
compared to younger Latinxs.
This creates a separation over
this single issue alone. Across
the board, Latinxs identify as
liberal significantly more than
other
non-Latin
Americans
and are considered equally as
accepting of the LGBTQ+ com-
munity as non-Latin Americans.
Considering the variation in
views of these different social
issues, it is hard to determine
what factors sway the Latino
Vote right or left.
As we move forward into the
election cycle, it’s important
that politicians consider all the
oversights that come from cat-
egorizing the Latinx population
into one vote. As diverse as the
community is, the views within
are even more diverse and have
the power to greatly impact the
outcome of the election.
Before beginning this piece,
I want to recognize that I am
speaking from a position of privi-
lege; my family has benefitted
from the caste system for genera-
tions, and many of the opportuni-
ties we have been afforded are not
as easily accessible for some. In
writing this piece, I do not intend
to speak for or over a community
that I do not belong to. My main
purpose is to raise awareness
about the detriments of the caste
system in today’s day and age.
--
On Sept. 14, a Dalit woman in
the northern Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh was gang raped by four
men. Two weeks later, she died
from the severity of her injuries.
The men were identified as being
from upper castes, with a his-
tory of violence targeted towards
minority groups in the Indian
community. As of this past Thurs-
day, the investigators claimed
that “she was not raped” and the
woman’s body was reported to
be cremated without her fam-
ily’s consent. The caste system
has been integrated into Hindu
society for centuries, forcing the
community into an abstract hier-
archy that determines how a per-
son is treated in the world, both
in their personal lives as well as
professionally. While some fami-
lies do not consider their caste
any longer, many still refuse to
marry outside of their caste and
hold this classification as a point
of pride.
Incidents of violence against
Dalit women are not few and far
between. About a month earlier,
a 13 year old girl died in the same
region, and in 2018, a girl was
beheaded in southern India by an
upper-caste male. In a country
that prides itself on being a boom-
ing modern society, why are these
acts of inhumane violence so
prevalent against Dalit women?
Why are they so normalized?
Many people, including those
living in the Western hemi-
sphere, like to brush away caste
as something outdated; legally,
the caste system was outlawed
in 1950, but this was never effec-
tively enforced. Those with privi-
lege in the Hindu community
act like it doesn’t exist because
they benefit from it constantly;
for families whose entire iden-
tity and sense of pride revolve
around some arbitrary, ancient
label, it’s easy for them to forget
that not everyone has that privi-
lege. While higher castes love to
tout their status and look down
at those who are “other,” they
rarely pause and consider that
the same system that gives them
this privilege destroys the lives
of those who don’t have that sta-
tus. The United Nations Human
Rights Council, Human Rights
Watch, and Amnesty Interna-
tional,
among
various
other
human rights organizations, all
identify Dalit women as a vulner-
able population for violence and
mistreatment. Why, then, does
the majority of the Hindu com-
munity continue to perpetuate
and uphold the caste system?
Perhaps it is because they are
afraid of losing the power that
they have held for centuries. Per-
haps, like so many of the systemic
issues we are seeing in the world,
it’s difficult to come to terms with
the fact that your privilege should
not be normalized.
The Hindu community needs
to stop using the excuse that the
caste system is illegal, because
this gives people a way to brush
aside these murders as isolated
incidents.
Putting
something
into law does nothing to uproot
centuries of discrimination, vio-
lence and hatred that still per-
sists today. Our families walk
around saying the caste system
is illegal while still refusing to
marry our children outside of
our castes, while looking down
upon those who aren’t the same
caste as us, while turning a blind
eye at the countless men, women
and children who lose their lives
every year for something they
don’t control, something that
should not even exist in the first
place. Even now in the 21st cen-
tury, the caste system continues
to perpetuate harm and pain to
those who have done nothing
to deserve it. A person’s right to
education,
employment,
even
to life itself should not be deter-
mined by an outdated system that
predetermines a person’s level of
success at birth. In this day and
age, the Hindu community must
move away from this assumptive,
ancient system of classification
that essentially degrades a person
to less of a human.
I don’t think anyone has a clear
answer to how to effectively
get rid of the implications of the
caste system. As the world has
observed throughout the past
few months, changing something
at the cultural, systemic level
takes time, energy and frustra-
tion. It takes stepping out of our
bubbles of ignorance and open-
ing up outlets of expression for
those who have been barred from
them in the past. It takes having
the humility to understand that
your own privilege means noth-
ing if others do not have the same
privileges as you.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan In Color
6 — Wednesday, October 14, 2020
KATHERINA ANDRADE
OZAETTA
MiC Columnist
puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com
By Jeff Stillman
©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/14/20
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
10/14/20
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2020
ACROSS
1 Tranquilize
5 Req. for some
IKEA purchases
9 Icy coating
13 Convenience
14 Construction __
15 Planning to,
informally
16 “Is there a
problem here?”
18 Peyton Manning’s
alma mater, for
short
19 Outerwear in the
bush
21 Tiffs
24 Feminist author
Wolf
25 Rhyming hair-
loss metaphor
28 __ vu
32 Metal in
Montana’s
motto
33 What snobs put
on
34 Descartes et al.
35 Film critic Kael
37 Brother of
Ophelia
39 City on the Ruhr
40 Draws a bead on,
with “at”
41 “We ___ the
World”
42 Grasps
43 Large urban
areas just
outside of a
central business
district
46 Goggle
48 Decorates
superficially
49 Reply to a
salesperson ... or
a hint to the start
of 19-, 25- and
43-Across
54 Top dog
55 At risk of running
aground,
perhaps
59 Get fuzzy
60 Glamour rival
61 Breakfast-in-bed
aid
62 Cut with a tool
63 Place to see
runners
64 Kind of terrier
DOWN
1 Morning coat?
2 “Yay, team!”
3 G7 member
4 Bugs
5 “In your dreams!”
6 The Destroyer, in
Hinduism
7 Cans under
dishes
8 Emphatic
confirmation
9 Drink on a chilly
fall day
10 Fun run dist.
11 Elizabeth I’s
mother
12 Sound off
15 Island east of
Manila
17 Utility pipe
20 Java
21 Checks (out)
22 Part of a
sentence
23 Stimulate
26 Article in Der
Spiegel
27 Dr. with Grammys
29 Involve by
necessity
30 Rode from the
stands
31 Take stock of
34 Formally steps
down
36 <
37 Fish story
38 “Mad Men”
network
40 Look 35 at 45,
say
43 Keen perception
44 Unmanned fliers
45 Common circus
wear
47 Skier’s aid
49 Setups for
knockout
punches
50 Uma’s role
in “The
Producers”
51 Gush forth
52 Pitcher’s goal
53 Teed off
56 TV planet
57 Bit of hope
58 Watch
SUDOKU
1
7
8
2
5
7
3
7
4
9
2
1
5
8
4
3
3
8
2
4
6
7
5
3
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3
6
9
8
2
8
6
WHISPER
“Ryan, bet you
can’t shoot
this >:D”
“EHS is hiding the
fact that we have
multiple cases
in brusley, One
who’s an RA. (It’s
been a week)”
10/07/20
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
18 British detective
33 “Jeopardy!” whiz
Content warning: This article
discusses violence and rape.
Dismantling the caste system is long overdue
SUBARNA BHATTACHARYA
MiC Columnist
The myth of the Latino vote
A few years ago when the
term “Black Girl Magic” became
popularized by social media,
as a way to celebrate the suc-
cesses of black women, I imme-
diately caught on and started
referring to myself as having
“Black Girl Magic.” I finally felt
appreciated by the society that
had rejected me for so long. In
a world where Black women are
stereotyped as unprofessional,
unattractive, loud and angry,
why shouldn’t we want to be
considered magical? Growing
up, I scarcely found people who
looked like me casted in mov-
ies as a princess, or even a fairy
alongside Tinkerbell. The idea of
me being perceived as magical
felt out of reach, but I wanted to
embrace the title so badly. When
I heard actress Taraji P. Henson
denounce the saying, I got defen-
sive and felt a little discouraged.
Taraji P. Henson, a phenomenal
Black actress that I look up to
and consider to be magical, said
the term is “dehumanizing” to
Black women? There is no way!
How can something that gives
me so much hope cause so much
harm?
The more I started to investi-
gate, the more I started to agree
with her. In a world where Black
women are disproportionately
neglected in doctor’s offices,
coined as angry when express-
ing the tiniest bit of passion, and
deemed “ratchet” and “ugly,” the
phrase “Black Girl Magic” only
hurts us by saying we are able to
undertake unnecessary amounts
of pain and rejection, because
we are built to withstand the
toughest of challenges. But in
reality, that is not just.
According to the Endometrio-
sis Foundation of America, Black
women are three times more
likely to die and suffer from life-
threatening disabilities due to
pregnancy complications and
childbirth than white women. A
study conducted by the Proceed-
ings of the National Academies
of Science found that 40 per-
cent of medical students believe
that Black people have “thicker
skin,” and are less susceptible
to pain than white people. In an
interview with Vogue Magazine,
Serena Williams described her
near-death experience after the
birth of her first daughter. Wil-
liams felt a shortness of breath
that she was afraid was linked
to past medical issues. When
she tried to communicate the
problem to her doctors, they dis-
missed her pleas for help. The
problem ended up being serious,
and she had to have emergency
surgery in order to save her life.
Her doctor’s negligence almost
resulted in her death. If a woman
of her status and power is being
overlooked in this type of situ-
ation, just imagine what is hap-
pening to the Black women all
around you.
Black women feel pain. A
brave face is worn as a disguise
to
mask
fragile
vulnerabil-
ity. Our feelings get hurt, we get
sick, heartbroken — we are not
inhuman. In a society that tries
so hard to dismiss every human
thing about us, the term “Black
Girl Magic” is dehumanizing,
and it serves as a rejection of all
the suffering that others have
implemented in our lives. We
must stop referring to ourselves
as having Black girl magic so
when we get in those hospital
rooms and say we are in pain,
they believe us and feel a respon-
sibility to keep us Black women
alive. We must become vulner-
able so that our feelings will
stop being dismissed, and we are
given the respect we deserve as
human beings.
While Black women have sur-
vived a lot, we are not above the
pain everyone else feels. Our
hearts are fragile and must be
handled with care. Black women
deserve a life where we are not
expected to take our own punch-
es as well as everyone else’s — we
deserve to be loved and nurtured
as we love and nurture. We are
capable of so much more than
what society tries to say we are.
Black women are remarkable.
Black women are emotional.
Black women are breathtaking.
Black women are vulnerable.
Black women are human.
MARIA PATTON
MiC Columnist
The harm of Black Girl Magic