Hispanic Like Me?

‘IT’S not good enough to simply say that because of someone’s genetics or surname that they should be considered Hispanic.” So came the official pronouncement from Angelo Falcon, representing a group of Hispanic leaders opposed to the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The group, assembled by Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, included representatives of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Southwest Voter Education Project. Falcon’s statement goes beyond mere opposition to a Republican judicial nominee; it marks a new battleground in identity politics. Groups that have consistently argued that race and ethnicity should be compelling factors in everything from college admissions to judicial appointments now want the right to define just who qualifies for inclusion in their racial and ethnic categories.

Estrada has several strikes against him, according to his opponents. Though he was born in Honduras and came to the United States at 17 speaking mostly Spanish, he is from a middle-class background. More damaging still, in the eyes of the ethnic lobby, Estrada excelled academically, needing no special treatment to gain admission to Columbia and Harvard—where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees with honors. Worst of all, Estrada apparently holds conservative views on a number of issues, although his critics have had a difficult time coming up with anything he has said or written that might buttress their claim that those views are outside the mainstream of “Hispanic opinion.” To left-leaning Hispanic advocacy groups—which includes nearly all of the most prominent and well-funded Hispanic organizations— any one of these attributes might be awkward. Taken together, they are disqualifying.

LC

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Linda Chavez

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‘IT’S not good enough to simply say that because of someone’s genetics or surname that they should be considered Hispanic.” So came the official pronouncement from Angelo Falcon, representing a group of Hispanic leaders opposed to the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The group, assembled by Senate minority leader Tom Daschle, included representatives of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Southwest Voter Education Project. Falcon’s statement goes beyond mere opposition to a Republican judicial nominee; it marks a new battleground in identity politics. Groups that have consistently argued that race and ethnicity should be compelling factors in everything from college admissions to judicial appointments now want the right to define just who qualifies for inclusion in their racial and ethnic categories.

Estrada has several strikes against him, according to his opponents. Though he was born in Honduras and came to the United States at 17 speaking mostly Spanish, he is from a middle-class background. More damaging still, in the eyes of the ethnic lobby, Estrada excelled academically, needing no special treatment to gain admission to Columbia and Harvard—where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees with honors. Worst of all, Estrada apparently holds conservative views on a number of issues, although his critics have had a difficult time coming up with anything he has said or written that might buttress their claim that those views are outside the mainstream of “Hispanic opinion.” To left-leaning Hispanic advocacy groups—which includes nearly all of the most prominent and well-funded Hispanic organizations— any one of these attributes might be awkward. Taken together, they are disqualifying.