By Sikivu Hutchinson
Ever since misbegotten Republican retread Alan Keyes
burst onto the scene as the anti-Obama in 2008 it seems as if every presidential race demands at least one hyper-assimilationist
alpha male of color who embraces the Christian fascist God, Guns n’ Gays shtick more zealously
than his overseers. In a recent interview
with CBS, newly announced GOP presidential candidate Marco Rubio “judiciously”
conceded that being gay is not a choice but drew the line at supporting legal
and constitutional protection for gay couples, claiming that “supporting the
definition of marriage as one man and one woman is not anti-gay; it is
pro-traditional marriage.” In the same
interview he reiterated his willful ignorance of the science behind climate
change. Both viewpoints represent a
repugnant backwards conservatism more in lockstep with the Party’s
demographically challenged white fathers than the “fresh” “new” constituency
Rubio says he’s trying to appeal to. Rubio’s
nose-thumbing climate change denialism is especially dangerous for the younger
generations that he claims to represent.
Failed by segregated high stakes test-happy public schools, Millennials
who already struggle to grasp basic science and math don’t need a Gen X flat
earther who gets his discredited theories about climate change from the Bible. And while Rubio demonizes cap and trade
policies as “dangerous” to the economy hedge fund billionaires, construction
conglomerates and the Koch brothers are among his top
ten donors.
Cynically looking to play the ethnicity card, Rubio
and his handlers haven’t even bothered to do any market research on his
supposedly built-in ethnic constituency.
According to the National
Resources Defense Council, nine in ten Latinos believe climate change is
destructive and should be substantively addressed by the federal government (indeed,
92% of Latinas believe government intervention should be a priority). Climate
change ranks second only to immigration reform as the most important political issue
for Latino voters. According to the Latino Decisions group, “86 percent are
convinced that we have a moral duty to give our children a clean planet and
that our ancestors worked and cared for the Earth, so we must continue their
heritage and legacy by fighting climate change and protecting the environment.”
Banking on his bright-eyed bushy tailed persona and
Latino heritage, Rubio’s brownface antics are offensive to millions of
undocumented, working class people of color who see nothing but nativist
anti-immigrant hysteria and capitalist greed oozing from the GOP’s platform. They are offensive to the scores of queer and
trans youth of color who are overrepresented among the incarcerated, homeless and foster care
populations (unlike fellow candidate Rand Paul, Rubio has yet to say a peep
about mass incarceration’s impact on Latinos.
The private prison operator GEO Group is one of his top ten donors). Contrary to Eurocentric images of same-sex
marriage, African Americans and Latinos are more
likely to be in same-sex families and partnerships than are whites. Same sex families of color are also more
likely to live at or below the poverty line; a stat that underscores the
perniciousness of Rubio’s opposition to same sex marriage, climate change,
reproductive rights and the Affordable Care Act. While corporate Dem Hillary Clinton is hardly
a panacea for communities of color, a GOP presidency in brownface would plunge
gay, lesbian, trans and undocumented families of color even further into
poverty.
By
2044 the U.S. will become a “majority minority” nation with whites
declining to 45% of the population. This
means that the long term health, ecological and social impact of climate change
will wreak the most destruction on poor and working class communities of color—communities
already overburdened by policies that allow mega-billionaire businesses like
the Koch brothers’ to profiteer and pollute with impunity. Rubio’s fealty to big business, anti-undocumented
immigrant nativism and the homophobic Religious Right solidly aligns him with
the very forces that would ensure the 1% remain status quo—only with a new
generation of brown (and black)face flat earth minstrels doing their bidding.
Twitter @sikivuhutch
