Foot in Mouth
Where Tancredo Went Wrong
By Daniel Muniz

"Look at what has happened to Miami. It has become a Third World country. You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America."

- U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo

The reason I find Congressman Tancredo’s comments so offensive is because it vividly depicts the mindset of far too many WASP Republicans. That is, if you don’t live in the suburbs or in an old money neighborhood, then you must be some kind of loser. Yes, there are plenty of neighborhoods that do look like Third World countries. I know because I grew up in one of them.

And I can tell you that poverty wasn’t fun and it wasn’t a lifestyle that I wanted for the rest of my life. My grandparents didn’t want it either but they worked hard to provide for my parents. In turn, my parents worked just as hard to provide for me and my siblings and their efforts paid off. They managed to leave the barrio and move into a nice big house in the suburbs. Today, all of their children have college degrees and work in professional jobs. In addition, my own children are now growing up in a nice neighborhood.

But what Tancredo and other affluent Republicans don’t seem to understand is that the great middle class of America didn’t always exist. It was forged out of the hard work and determination of poor people who came from impoverished neighborhoods. In our modern society, the masses that constitute the middle class originated from the working class. So in other words, the overwhelming majority of high income professionals are descendents of poor people.

Unfortunately, it is this affluence that has corrupted a segment of conservatives. Many of them seem to have forgotten where their grandparents or great grandparents came from. America has had an agrarian economy for far longer in its history than the industrial or technological ones that gave this country its tremendous wealth. As a result, there are a number of affluent conservatives who are simply out of touch with much of America, thus they are incapable of understanding some of the dynamics of our complex society.

And that is something that I have had to fight with all too often.

For instance, I often criticize the image that my local county Republican Party portrays to the public. The Party and many of its auxiliary organizations loves to hold meetings at country clubs and in high priced restaurants. The plush accommodations often suited the tastes of the people who attended those gatherings. That is, they were mostly upper middle class and upper class people who showed up.

And for the county that I live in which is overwhelmingly Hispanic, many of which are culturally conservative, it oftentimes smacked of vulgarity because this WASP element was snooty and condescending. Of course there were always exceptions; many religious conservatives come from all socio-economic backgrounds and they sometimes did play a big role in local party politics.

But it was the snootiness and condescension of people like Tom Tancredo that I found most appalling.

As for myself, I do not criticize poor people merely because of where they live. Poverty has nothing to do with the content of your character. My parents had an incredible work ethic and very strict morals. I never saw them drunk and they never spent the night in jail or had problems with the law. They worked very hard, lived a simple life, and they always sacrificed for their children.

I do criticize the bad behavior of people but it doesn’t matter if they are rich, middle class, or poor.

And perhaps it is this element that keeps certain affluent Republicans out of touch. In my hometown, there are plenty of wealthy Democrats who live in luxury but they have absolutely no problem holding Party meetings and rallies in low priced restaurants or at other places that are accessible to the working class. And they don’t mind walking around in parts of town that do look like Third World countries, especially if they are rich in votes.

It is unfortunate that there are impoverished neighborhoods in so many of our cities but for a lot of people, it is nothing more than a starting point in life. And among the barrios and ghettos walk people who will someday be a part of the expansion of the great middle class.

Yes, these barrios and ghettos are also infested with crime and misery. But they also have plenty of good people who are working as hard as they can for a better life; if not for them, for their children.

It is time for Republicans to drop these kinds of labels. They are counter-productive and do nothing to spread the message and values of the free market.

Congressman Tancredo has done an incredible job highlighting the problems of illegal immigration but his outburst created an unnecessary distraction that detracts from his message and provides an endless supply of ammunition to those who oppose reforms. But it also reveals the misunderstanding that some affluent Republicans have with poor people who live in bleak neighborhoods.

I am also personally grateful that former Governor Jeb Bush publicly clashed with Tancredo on this issue because liberals love to reinforce the negative image that the GOP has with poverty.

From my personal experience, it is the conservative principles of economic freedom and opportunity that will get you out of poverty instead of the liberal ones of government bureaucracy. As for impoverished neighborhoods, it is time for more Republicans to stop viewing them as being hopeless cesspools and begin to see them as stepping stones for people who yearn to be part of the American dream.

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