Friends and readers, here I am once more, sharing my feelings in these turbulent times. Is this the moment to be fearful? Not at all. Even less is it a time to just be waiting for uncomfortable actions to be directed specifically at the Hispanic community. I refuse to take part in all this, especially when such feelings reach the spirit and psyche of our children.
On the contrary, I think that we have to nourish the faint hope of being rewarded, or at the least of being considered an important part of the machinery that moves this great nation; of being allowed to work, and working together with the new administration, which as everyone knows from the outset has been labeled as anti-immigrant. If we can’t do that, then in some way we have to be grateful that we are regarded as a priority, rising to the top in a sea of issues that a good president and his advisors need to know how to address, drawing on experience to resolve. After all, that is the job of the president. And definitely not to unleash any tainted feelings of prejudice toward a specific ethnic group.
What we know about our next president is little or nothing.
We don’t have full knowledge of what feelings he holds in his heart. We don’t know if he is the source of the anti-immigrant ideas or if he is merely a puppet representing an undisclosed social or economic plan, or racial hatred. Or if he simply sees the immigration issue as a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t fit.
What we do see on all sides is a new anxiety in the Hispanic community, a sense of an uncertain future. The diminished presence of our people in parks, schools, at jobs, in churches, etc., together with the hurried preparations for what is hypothetically coming, reflect the insecurity and fear that we are breathing in the community.
Correctly or not, the Hispanic community is seen as one of the principal if not the principal reflector of the socio-political scene, which is better than being ignored. Approximately 50 percent of Anglos – bureaucrats or not – support us, something that it would be very wrong not to mention. The other half is opposed to us. This unbalanced balance underlines the important if not the vital position at the heart of the social and economic system that our people have achieved over decades.
The president-elect and his team face no end of situations to be resolved in a very demanding political climate. Many enemies to if not conquer, at least convince. The constant commitment to make the country great not just for his sympathizers but for everyone. With all this a question arises: if he has a desk piled high with issues to be reviewed and resolved, with more questions than answers, isn’t that enough political work that he doesn’t need to be thinking about a wall which will not solve anything, either in the short or long term?
But this question will be answered over time. Our job now is to continue working as we have, to support the things we should, and together keep this ship afloat and headed in the direction of fair policies that benefit the many, not individuals or merely a few.
Translated by Anna Pier
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