The Miami Ideology

The Miami Ideology

It is common for Hispanics to say good things about Miami’s diverse culture and its desirable warm weather, but common also is the view that Miami is composed of politically radical Hispanics who take uncommon stances on issues that pertain to Latin America. Outsiders of the “Magic City” view the political culture of Miami as vastly different to that of other Hispanics in the country, especially when they compare Cuban-Americans to the rest. For some, the differences that exist between Hispanics from Miami and those outside is difficult to explain. Luckily, having lived there my entire life and having moved away from the city has given me some insight into a few reasons why this political schism may have taken place.

Many Hispanics outside Miami cannot imagine minorities siding with Republicans on so many issues and identifying with conservatism as much as Miami Hispanics do. Diversity of skin color, religious affiliation, and income makes Miami very akin to diversity of thought; the conglomeration of different immigration experiences also make for a truly diverse outlook on foreign and domestic politics and therefore political affiliations. For this reason, Miami-Dade County tends not to be very moderate, but instead possess a great number of individuals from both sides of the political spectrum, often resulting in very close Presidential election results as was the case in 2000.

Hispanics from Miami don’t buy in to the whole “Republicans are white racists” deal because our experiences with the Republican Party in general are very different. First of all, Miamians tend to have some sort of communication or experience with the GOP because the GOP is a viable party in Miami. Many other metropolitan centers where minorities live often fall victim to Republican Deficiency Disorder or RDD. To many in the big cities, encountering a Republican is like encountering the fossils of a rare species of dinosaur. If they do get the rare opportunity to meet such an extraterrestrial life form, they automatically assume that they are racist, an Evangelical Christian, and obviously intolerant of gays. Most importantly, they assume that the Republican is inherently anti-immigrant and therefore when they meet a Hispanic Republican, they often strip them of their “Latino-ness” even though they may be better acquainted with the culture and language.

Immigrants who decide to come to the United States do so because they know that the U.S. is superior in offering its residents and citizens alike the economic opportunities and political freedoms that don’t exist in their native countries. The Miami Hispanic is more grateful about the United States than they are critical of it because they know that the country they left and love is also a country that does not compare in offering the opportunities that the United States offers. In recognizing that the U.S. has given them a second chance, they embrace the values of the U.S. and therefore identify with being patriotic and loving their newly adopted country. This does not mean that Miami Hispanics jettison their culture and their language and replace theirs with American culture. American culture is actually quite unknown in Miami, especially in its predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods that make up the city’s suburbs where Spanish is the language of business, trade, and everyday conversation.

The Miami Hispanic looks beyond the U.S.’s borders and is quickly reminded of Latin America’s poverty and lawlessness, the non-Miami Hispanic looks beyond the U.S.’s borders and sees a country that they may be distant from but still have a lot of pride for. It is in fact that country that helps to define them and give them an identity in a city or neighborhood where they feel like an outsider or minority and where they feel inherently disadvantaged because of where they’re from. Miami Hispanics are usually all working class poor, although some have succeeded more than others through entrepreneurship or higher degrees. The Miami Hispanic, however, is not as cognizant of how poor they are because everyone around them seems to be in their same income bracket. They do not believe that being Hispanic in the U.S. means being the floor sweeper while the white man is naturally the lawyer and the doctor. In Miami, the Hispanic is the floor sweeper, the McDonalds cashier, the doctor and the lawyer all at once. Because of this you cannot say that the lawyers and doctors had some kind of financial or racial upper-hand on you because you have the same background and the same setbacks, sometimes even the same story.

Cuban-Americans are not unique. Like everyone else, they are the sum of their experiences and their experiences have made many conservative. Aside from the natural tendency of the Latino family which makes Cubans socially conservative on issues of abortion and gay marriage, they side with conservatives because they have helped them more than anyone. Ronald Reagan actively spoke out against Communism, not only in Cuba, but all around the world. He criticized the ideology at its rotten core and the Cuban people understood it because they lived through it. Republicans welcomed Cuban migrants with open arms because they understood that Communism was and is no easy thing to live through. They understand that Communism strips the individual of his individuality and therefore strips him of his economic and political rights. Democrats have often come across as sympathetic to Fidel Castro and Che Guevara – although that kind of Democrat doesn’t exist in Miami. Those who also criticize U.S. policy and claim that Cuban education and healthcare are superior also come across as supporters of a Communist regime, and those people often tend to be liberal, not conservative. The Cuban-American is often passionate about the situation in Cuba and because it is personal, you should not expect a Cuban to tolerate your positive and lofty views on a Revolution that has made it intolerable to live in the country they still love. Often, voting in Miami comes down to this – which candidate supports the embargo and which candidate will come out stronger in favor of freedom and democracy in Cuba? Imposing democracy is not a bad thing as long as it is democracy that we’re imposing and not some other form of government. This view of the world may have to do with Cubans’ history with a volatile politics and their still unachieved dream for complete freedom of the people who live on the island; in essence the dream of Jose Marti is still unachieved and must live on.

The reason why Miami Cubans come off as so radical is because they still possess the 1959 mentality of fighting for freedom. Few groups of men and women did so much to try to undermine a totalitarian government like that of Cuba’s as those men and women who now live in Miami. Most importantly, they seem radical because they lived through the radical and radically changing years after the Revolution that changed their country for the worse and in ways they could not imagine. Most Cubans in Miami never supported Dictator Fulgencio Batista, but actually believed in the Revolution to replace him with a democratic government, as Fidel Castro first promised. However, when Cubans say that they lived better under Batista; that they at least had economic freedom although they had little political freedom, they get called right-wing extremists. It is not true that they are and it is not true that they supported Batista. The reason why the Revolution was so successful was because Batista was so unpopular. Furthermore, the opinion that Che is a murderer and oppressor is nearly universal because the story of Che is synonymous with the
Communism that persists in Cuba.

In essence, Cubans look not at what Che may have said or may have inspired, but instead what Che supported and helped implement in their own country. It was in fact the Cuban people, not others, who saw their humble homes confiscated and their families made to do forced labor for the Revolution and it was Che who inspired and implemented these things in their own country. There is no doubt that other Hispanics in Miami have heard their personal stories and are influenced by them to have negative opinions of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara too.

The opinion that elite Hispanics all immigrate to Miami is false. You need not be elite to have negative opinions of individuals like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. Many Venezuelans who live in Miami are also eligible to vote in Venezuela’s elections and do so from Miami, mostly against Chavez. They do this because they have come to know the freedoms of the U.S. and believe, having taken advantage of them, that they are valuable and indispensible. They want the poor to be empowered in their country, but they do not believe that the empowerment of the poor has to come at the price of losing essential freedoms. They learn a lot from their Cuban neighbors and do not want to fall into the same path that Cuba fell into – for this reason Venezuelans have become increasingly visible in anti-Chavez protests and support tough measures to salvage the rights of their fellow Venezuelans. Hondurans believe similarly as Venezuelans do that the rights they have experienced in the U.S. cannot be sacrificed for empowering the poor. The Congress and Supreme Court of Honduras standing up to Manuel Zelaya’s attempts to consolidate Presidential power and follow the footsteps of Castro and Chavez were mostly welcomed by Hondurans in Miami. Their experience with knowing the Cuban and Venezuelan stories – stories that are all too real in Miami – causes them to stand up the way they do.

Perhaps defenders of freedom may come across as strong and radical to those who have never had to defend their freedoms, but immigrants in Miami are well aware of the sacrifices of defending that freedom. They have themselves or their parents had to live in a time where freedoms were stripped of nations in their entirety and the natural result of the time was to fight vigorously and endlessly. The stories of these freedom fighters still resonate among later generations because they are so well known and talked about in Miami. Sometimes leaving Miami and realizing how unique these stories are may be the only way to appreciate their true value.

To Cubans and Venezuelans and other Hispanics in Miami, government hand outs are the equivalent of intrusive government policies that closely resemble those of the Communistic and ill-run governments they left behind. Many believe that the programs naturally make people feel entitled, resulting in the perpetual and unstoppable growth of government which they have experienced for themselves. They don't trust it from experience and this too shapes the Miami Ideology.