Family

If one were to identify the single attribute most politicians incessantly assign Latinas/os—and assume and emphasize as a point of solidarity for the sake of vote procurement for their campaigns—it would indisputably be the salutary possession of “family values.” Although what counts as “values” in the electoral context tends to rely on ethnic and religious typecasting and ideological supposition, the family is nonetheless crucial for Latinas/os as it has long functioned as a “crucial symbol and organizing principle” for collective mobilization and quotidian affairs (R. T. Rodríguez 2009). Indeed, as politicians and others are astutely aware, the family is almost impossible to disentangle from how we understand Latina/o cultures, histories, and politics.