Is anyone else really bothered in the aftermaths of votes like this?
One thing that really makes me pause is when either side tries to lay claim to something. It happened with the SB 1070 (Arizona immigration law) ruling and it’s happening here—hundreds of media sites going back in forth about whether or not this is a win for Obama or a loss for Romney, as opposed to a win for everyone who doesn’t have affordable health care. While I totally understand how individual issues play out in campaigns and in the forthcoming election, I’m starting to get really annoyed with the “war rhetoric” that’s been flying about.
I think simplifying often complex votes in a manner of win-lose is kind of easier to explain on a talk show but kind of harmful to the larger groups of who this affects. In the case of SB 1070, I was upset with how people easily regulated immigration issues as “Hispanic/Latino issues” and assumed that entire group as a whole could be swayed to either side depending on the results of the ruling. I mean, the Latino community is heavily affected by immigration policy in this country, but that doesn’t mean that other groups are not affected; I follow some African and South Asian immigrants on Tumblr and it’s annoying to watch their issues get wiped out.
I think what bothers me here is the way the media relates to POC when it comes to politics—in that there’s a persuasive idea that one issue is the mainstay of each community so that’s all you have to ever market to them. It makes me queasy to think of the Latino community as pawns under the grip of immigration, that either side can expect this or that for themifand onlyifthey discuss or care about immigration.
At least in the realm of the ACA ruling, this is something that can (and will) be easily marketed to everyone, but I don’t know. There’s just something about the rhetoric here I don’t like.
