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Tale of Two Tacos … err, Hispanic Congresswomen
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden (I’m required to include both titles, apparently) was insensitive but not entirely wrong about the diversity of the Hispanic community in her recent sophomoric speech in San Antonio.
And apparently, San Antonio is known for its breakfast tacos. That was news to me. My Hispanic wife’s family has deep roots in San Antonio, but we’re more about pilgrimages to the San Fernando Cathedral, where her parents were married and the ashes of the heroes who died in Santa Anna’s 1836 attack at the Alamo are still interred (my wife’s ancestors fought on the winning side of that battle). And also – especially – the iconic Mi Tierra Cafe and Bakery, the best Mexican restaurant in town. It’s open 24 hours and almost always crowded. I miss the long-gone economy boot store.
The geographic and political diversity of the Hispanic community is well known, even obvious to most people. New York and New Jersey are ground zero for Hispanics from Puerto Rico and other parts of the Caribbean and historically tend to vote Democratic. The northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC, are home to a vibrant and predominantly Democratic (for now) Central American community. South Florida bustles with a lively and Republican-leaning Cuban-American population.
Texas, of course, has a rich Mexican-American heritage. And the politics there are changing.
The diversity of the Hispanic culture is perhaps best described by comparing two Hispanic women in the US House (I’d add a congressperson of Cuban descent, and there are several). The historic election of Mayra Flores to Texas’ 34th District in a special election last month was noteworthy for two reasons. She’s not only the first Mexican-born woman elected to the US Congress but the first to represent the 34th District in 150 years.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), best known as AOC and serving her second term, is of Puerto Rican descent and represents a traditionally Democratic district in Brooklyn. A leading Progressive member of “The Squad,” she’s the mainstream media’s go-to glamour girl with a remarkable ability to generate millions of social media followers, headlines, and news. If I were a Capitol Hill reporter, I’d seek her for quotes and stories. This gem speaks volumes, courtesy of the Washington Examiner:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seemingly painted a colorful link between getting her nails done and the overturn of Roe v. Wade in her latest Instagram post.
Speaking to her 8.6 million Instagram followers, the progressive firebrand emphasized that there is “no act too small” and encouraged her viewers to search for ways to reclaim lost autonomy even when they feel “powerless.” Ocasio-Cortez then explained how she was using her manicure as “a personal act of reclamation” and “bodily autonomy.”
But lest you think AOC is representative of most Hispanic voters, Nassar Hussain disabuses that notion in his recent San Antonio Express-News oped. Hussain is a scholar working on American identity in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He compares the contrasting media coverage and stories of AOC and Flores. Here’s a sample, but read the whole thing:
Mayra Flores’ stunning victory in the special election for Congress last month is a strong example of how the culture war dominating American social life over the past five or so years has never really been about race.
Texas’ 34th Congressional District is almost 85 percent Hispanic, which is the second-highest proportion in the country, and it went to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. It had been held by Democrats for about 150 years.
Flores’ story could not be more different from that of her Democratic headline-grabbing counterpart — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC.
A comparison between the two sheds light on the cultural and political realignment shaping the country, including a potential sweet spot in American electoral politics, one that emphasizes a socially conservative agenda while centering the economic plight of the working and middle classes. At stake are two visions of America.
Flores is the antithesis of AOC. She embodies an authenticity that the “it girl” of the liberal left sorely lacks.
Make no mistake — despite efforts to cultivate an image of some sort of beleaguered escopetera fighting her way out of the Sierra Maestra, AOC is a product of the liberal establishment. Her mannerisms and sensibilities are derivative of it, at least when she’s not trying to co-opt a Southern drawl or a Jenny from the Block persona. It is AOC who appears on the cover of Vanity Fair and attends the Met Gala — all to speak truth to power, of course.
Barring appearances on Fox News, Flores has received hardly any of this adulating media coverage, which is surprising, given that she is the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress. There are no fawning interviews with Chris Hayes on MSNBC or even Brian Stelter of CNN. Given all the emphasis on “firsts” and representation in our cultural and social life over the past decade, one would think Flores would be plastered all over the mainstream media. Race seems to only matter when it suits a particular agenda.
“Race seems to only matter when it suits a particular agenda.”
Josh Kraushaar, a real journalist writing from his new perch at left-leaning Axios, has noted that political tectonic plates are shifting, including recent polling that suggests Hispanics are moving towards the Republican party.
Democrats are becoming the party of upscale voters concerned more about issues like gun control and abortion rights.
Republicans are quietly building a multiracial coalition of working-class voters, with inflation as an accelerant.
What’s happening: House Republicans boast this year’s class of new candidates is the most diverse in history.
The NRCC notes that 29 of its 75 House targets have a Hispanic population over 15%.
In the Times/Siena poll, Ds hold a 20-point advantage over Rs among white college-educated voters — but are statistically tied among Hispanics.
Hispanic voters backed Democrats by a nearly 50-point margin in the 2018 midterms. In the 2016 congressional elections, Dems lost white voters with a bachelor’s degree.
Legendary Democratic political consultant James Carville is as correct today as he was in 1992 as Bill Clinton’s campaign manager. “It’s the economy, stupid.”
As noted by Fox News commentator and former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, “The Squad” may soon find competition from “The Quad” of four Hispanic women Republican congressional candidates with strong chances to win election in this Fall’s coming GOP tsunami. My local favorite is northern Virginia’s Yesli Vega, a law enforcement veteran and daughter of Salvadoran immigrants running in the new 7th congressional district.
Anyone who has paid attention to Hispanic American demographics should not be surprised. As their population has grown 23 percent over the past decade, now totaling over 62 million, 86 percent are American-born. “While 65 percent of all American households are single family — as opposed to people living alone or with unrelated roommates — 75 percent of Hispanic households fall into that category. Eighty-three percent of Salvadoran American households are family-based, the highest of all Hispanic groups,” reports USAfacts.com, including 78 percent of Mexican Americans.
And while the personal earnings of Hispanic Americans in Texas are lower than non-Hispanic whites or blacks, their homeowner rates are high and climbing at 55 percent. Among non-Hispanic blacks, it’s 41 percent.
Back to our Express-News oped:
Flores’ electoral campaign could not have been more different from the way AOC has carried herself over the past few years. At the heart of this campaign is her family, most conspicuously her father, to whom she is indebted for her outlook on life. He plays a prominent role in her campaign, such as in the ad titled “My Father.” Its message is quintessentially American: “In America, if you work hard, anything is possible.” The camera pans out on the cotton fields where Flores’ parents toiled to receive “honest pay for honest work.”
Unapologetic is a word overused in today’s identity discourses. But Flores really is unapologetically Mexican American with genuine local roots in her community, unlike “Sandy Ocasio,” who was raised in an affluent New York suburb. Flores, still in her 30s, is the mother of four children and married to a Border Patrol agent, John Flores.
Notably, Flores cleverly capitalized (pounced!) on the First Lady’s recent San Antonio miscue to highlight how inflation is hitting the cost of tacos.
Does that resonate more with Hispanic Americans than this?
Which of these congresswomen resonate best with Hispanic voters? We’re about to find out. I think I know the answer. At least in Texas and Virginia.
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Thank you so much! My only regret is that she is ineligible for the Presidency!
Actually, she turns 35 on October 13, 2024. That makes her qualified to be elected and (horrors!) serve as President
The problem is that she was not born in the United States, so she is not a natural born American under the Constitution. According to Wikipedia: “Flores was born in Burgos, Tamaulipas, and her family moved to the United States before she gained citizenship at age 14.” In other words, she can serve as Senator, Governor or in the Cabinet, but she is ineligible to become president.
That provision of the Constitution made sense when we were a young nation, but the Constitution should be amended to remove it.
Didn’t I see Yesli in the TV series Eureka? Oh, I suppose not.
I didn’t think what JB said was all that bad. She said the Hispanic community was as diverse as the breakfast tacos in San Antonio, not the Hispanics themselves. Still, her speechwriters should have been aware of any statement that could easily be misunderstood, and they failed.
But man o man, I love all the taco memes that have come about!
I thought the same. The funny thing is that all the memes have pictures of tacos that aren’t breakfast tacos. I have concluded that no one north of the Balconies Escarpment knows what a breakfast taco is. These are from Los Jarros in Comfort, TX. Los Jarros means “The Jars” but lots of emergency services people call it the Jugs.
I don’t agree. It still makes sense.
Kelly, did they have breakfast tacos in Oklahoma in 1968? Don’t think I ever had them. And don’t recall seeing them at the hotel breakfast in San Antonio a few years ago. One more thing I missed.
The thing that gets me about the whole breakfast taco thing, is that while I have been in Texas nearly 45 years, I have never had a breakfast taco. Breakfast burritos, yes. All the time. But I never see breakfast tacos.
Breakfast burritos make more sense, at least to me. They are smaller than standard burritos, normally made with a small flour tortilla. I’d say it contains about the same amount of filling as a standard taco. The difference is the contents are wrapped up, unlike a U-shaped taco. So it is harder for them to leak out the side.
When I was working at National Oilwell Varco I would grab a pair of breakfast burritos from a small breakfast spot on the first floor of the office building. They were a convenient breakfast. Tacos would have been the same size, but messier. So when I first heard about the breakfast taco flap, I thought part of the issue was Dr. Jill was referring to tacos when she should have been referring to burritos.
Figured a Texas guy would know what is really going on. Only thing I salivate for when I come back there is the chicken fried steak. Plenty of good Mexican food in San Fran.
Next time you are in the Houston area let me know. I’ll take you to a good Texas barbecue place, a good Tex-Mex place, a good Texas steakhouse and a good Texas Coast seafood place. Time after that it won’t be just chicken fried steak you will salivate for.
Will do. Don’t know when I will get to Houston. But Austin was the last city on my US Bucket List after Madison, Wisc. Went there in 2018 and loved it. Maybe before the San. Fran homeless showed up. Best part was the chicken fried steak that took up the whole plate. Love BBQ. But we had that in Oklahoma. And saw the Texas Roadhouse chains on our drive from Dallas to Nashville in May. Loved them. Wife barely survived.
Yes, but do they serve breakfast tacos?
Burritos are just a type of taco. There are literally hundreds of small places in South Texas that serve breakfast tacos and what you get is a small closed end taco (burrito) filled with ingredients such as egg, cheese, potato, chorizo, carne guisada, and bacon. They come in various combinations of these ingredients and are ususually accompanied with salsa and/or hot sauce. San Antonio is, in fact, known for them as is Corpus Christi where I reside.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/burritos-are-indeed-tacos/
So Dr. Jill was correct? :-D
Latinos are as varied as non Latino Americanos. We can call them Latinos, but then can’t use White for non hispanic Americans, we could use western European, but does that include Spain? What works is South Americans, and North Americans, but Mexico and Central America are middle American. It bothers my Colombian wife, but she looks more Arab than most non Colombian Latinos, former jews? Argentina, having killed off many indigenous folks in a war with Uruguay, now has more English and Spanish descendants , not to mention the Germans escaping Nazism and after the war to escape as Nazis. Of course, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Bolivia have very high decedents from pre Colombian civilizations who haven’t really become Latinos as they have in Colombia, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Chile. Venezuela was mostly Caribbean so is different. Colombia’s Caribbean coast has huge chunks of the same Caribbean folks, but most of Colombia was settled differently. The South from Ecuador and folks there still have more in common with mountain folks of Ecuador. Buena Ventura and Guayaquil have more in common with each other than the mountain folk of either country. Valle and the other departments in the rich agricultural area include blacks coming up from the west and Spanish moving South from Antioquia where poor Spanish descendants had become entrepreneurial and once connected by roads in the 20th century led Colombia’s rapid industrialization. Most indians outside of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru were quickly absorbed and turned hispanic. Colombia had some tribes that didn’t integrate and are now becoming a problem as they learn from ours. The Chinese will dominate and keep it poor, basic and resource exploitative. Colombia just had its election stolen by the left and doesn’t understand yet what that means. We don’t know that China now dominates everyone except Portuguese speaking Brazil, but they’e moving fast there as well. They need all of South America controlled while Biden is in the White House so they have us alone to worry about. We’re following their plan perfectly.
To a very slight degree. There were many better ways to make her point.
They have been EPIC!!!!
I moved to San Antonio in 1986 to go to college, but had some out here every summer since we have family locally. The breakfast taco was not something that I was familiar with until I moved here. Sure we had huevos rancheros, Chorizo, migas, and huevos a la Mexicana when I was a kid either in Georgia where I grew up, or in San Antonio when visiting. We even had tortillas and would cram our food into them and eat it, but it was homemade food. It wasn’t until college that I found people selling a stand alone taco that was egg based and wrapped in aluminum foil. After years of living in South Texas when I travel I am always surprised at what other regions of the country make up fill the breakfast taco niche. It might be a biscuit like I grew up with in the South, or it might be a sandwich, but while all are good, the breakfast taco, especially one from a hole in the wall or gas station crammed full of eggs, potatoes, beans, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. is a wonderful experience.
As to being compared to one…well, there are worse things, but coming from a person who likely never has had a breakfast taco, or appreciates them, it was condescending…it was like hearing Dems (like her husband) adopting a specific cadence and pronunciation when speaking at a Black church “There gonna put y’all back in chains!”. It’s designed to make you think that the speaker is just like you…even when they aren’t and likely dislike you intensely. That is why I was offended. FirstLadyDoctor Jill Biden thinks I am diverse, but still only matter if I vote for her husband.
Its time to unleash the breakfast tacos. Election day is Taco Tuesday after all. What happens with Mayra Flores, Cassie Garcia, and Monica de la Cruz will hopefully set a new course for Hispanic politics. They are the future of the GOP in Texas and the US. Monica came very close to unseating Vincente Gonzales in 2020 so he actually switched districts to not face her again. Of course he will be facing Mayra Flores instead. Sending him back home is a TOP priority.
If you haven’t been to Hickory hollow restaurant in Houston you haven’t had a chicken fried steak.
When Dollar Store Kennedy was running against Ted Cruz he was an early adopter of the annoying cold text campaign. It became a thing to answer the texts with “Beto eats tacos with a fork”.
Maybe they have targeted their demographic better as I didn’t get any this time.