Much is being said about Hispanic participation in American politics today. Are we going to show up to the caucus or the polls? What party are we in favored of? Which candidate will Hispanics support? Will we play a roll in politics this year? We will play in the political landscape?

The preference for a political party Hispanics in America have is widely different based on our social background, country of origin and economical status rather than values. Although most of us share  common conservative values, our interests appear to widely vary based on the elements mentioned before. So, how do we unify our community to be in a position to exhort greater influence on our leaders? How can we assure that policies and laws are made taking into consideration our interests as Hispanic Americans? For starters we must continue to defend what is most precious to us, our conservative values and we must continue to advocate our Americanism.

Perhaps we need to consider that these ambitious, hard-working immigrants, whatever their documentation, will write the next great chapter of a story that's still deeply American, though with a different accent and even broken but official US English language. If the optimists are right, much work remains to be done to incorporate all immigrants fully into our political playground. But one thing is certain; no one will stop us from having a voice.

We ended 2007 no closer to compromise on the immigration issue than when the year began. People are waging a culture war – that's what the struggle over illegal immigration is – not giving up easy. Some are not recognizing the positive contribution that our community has provided to our country. What you think of immigrants says a lot about what you think of America, and what vision of her you are willing to defend. How we deal with the stranger among us says not only who we Americans are today but determines who we will become tomorrow.  So when someone talks to you with a slight accent or writes you an email that may be using English incorrectly, remember at least they know a second language.

Our voices cannot be silenced; we are in the radio, printed press, television, community centers, in our neighborhoods, churches, at the workplace and all over America participating and changing the political landscape of our country. 

Some would like to quiet our voices, but we are here to play and will continue to speak even if it is in broken English. “Although public discrimination on the grounds of race, religion and social class is not now publicly acceptable, it appears that discrimination on linguistic grounds is publicly acceptable, even though linguistic differences may themselves be associated with ethnic, religious and class differences”.  (Milroy and Milroy 1985:3). For every worldwide native English speaker there are three English speaking non-natives to these countries. Three-quarters of the world’s mail is in English and four-fifths of electronic information is stored in English.

Let me remind you American English has become THE global language. Some linguistic experts say that Americans invent more words and phrases in a month than other English speaking nations do in a year. Many believe it is this very inventiveness that has propelled American English past British English in worldwide popularity. But let me ask you, who should decide what's acceptable?

According to PBS “Do you Speak American” special, as more non-native speakers converse with each other, hundreds of impromptu varieties of English are taking on a life of their own around the world. “The polling place would remain open to people who have trouble with English, but it also would remind them that English -- or even broken English -- is the common language of American democracy”. (English Is Broken Here, By John J. Miller,Bilingual ballots are bad for democracy, Policy Review Magazine September & October 1996 – Hoover Institution )

Social scientists estimate the number of varieties of American English range from a basic three - New England, Southern and Western/General America - to 24 or more. Some researchers suggest the number is actually much higher. Many Americans fear that continuous Hispanic migration, and large concentrations of Spanish speakers, threatens American English. That fear is one motive behind the so far unsuccessful campaign to make English our official language. “Do You Speak American?” a PBS special report, argues that Mexican and other Hispanic migrants are learning English at the same generational rate as previous immigrants groups. By the second generation many can no longer speak Spanish. So, making English the official language should not be an issue?

One of the most interesting ideas encountered is that language change is driven by women, who are said to be a generation ahead of men in adopting new pronunciations and speech styles. Linguists see parallels between language and fashion. ( Do you Speak American, http://www.pbs.org/speak/ahead/). So ladies, my beloved Hispanic sisters, lets play a strong and active role in politics, send our message loud and clear to our community, protect our family, our faith and our future. Ah, and let’s do this while we are shopping for the latest fashions.

Although the 2008 elections will not be the first time candidates will be faced with the concerns of Hispanic voters, there is thankfully enough of an increasing awareness of the importance of Hispanics in the political landscape. As we grow in size in the population and become economically stronger and more politically savvy, candidates likely will become sensitive to our needs, our values and those objectives that are important to our Hispanic community.

So let’s play!