More progressive, young Latinos in North Carolina want to 'break the cycle'

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir Among Latin Americans, generational differences are “considerable,” says Jesse Acevedo, assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver, in an interview with “Le Devoir.”

Sandrine Vieira in Charlotte

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• United States

Young Americans from Generation Z who will vote for the first time in a presidential election are grappling with issues that affect them in a very specific way. Le Devoirreached out to them in several states to explore the issues that are motivating them to go to the polls in November.

In the fan zone at Bank of America Stadium, the stands are wild as Charlotte FC, the North Carolina Major League Soccer team, arrives. Members of the Blue Furia, the club’s Latin American fan group, stand out from the crowd with their banners, blue sombreros, and stadium chants in Spanish. “Esta noche vamos a ganar!” (“Tonight we’re going to win”), they sing in unison to the beat of drums and whistles.

An hour before the game, these hundreds of supporters had gathered to take part in a large festive parade towards the stadium. At the rally, Le Devoir met Juan Cabeza, a 23-year-old supporter wearing the team’s blue jersey and a Blue Furia cloche hat. The young man of Colombian origin, who had just obtained his American citizenship, would vote for the first time in the November elections.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir Latino fans of the Charlotte FC team during a soccer game against the New York Red Bulls. On the right, a sign reading “Latino, your vote counts!” along Central Avenue, an area of ​​Charlotte where many members of the Hispanic community live.

Like many young people his age, he describes himself as a member of a new generation of Latino Americans: a generation that is increasingly trendy and less attached to tradition. “My parents and grandparents are very religious and traditional. Colombia is still a very Catholic country, so they see abortion and drugs as disgusting,” Juan says, standing back from the noisy parade.

Nearly half (49%) of Latinos ages 18 to 29 say they are not affiliated with a religion, while only about one in five Latinos ages 50 or older do so, according to a Pew Research Center report released last year.

“I’m more open-minded than the rest of my family. I believe that women should choose what they want to do with their bodies, and I don’t think smoking marijuana is the end of the world,” Juan says with a smile.

He’s not the only one moving away from his parents’ traditional values. Among Latin Americans, generational differences are “considerable,” says Jesse Acevedo, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Denver, in an interview with Le Devoir. “The average Latino voter is in their thirties, while the white voter is almost 40. It’s a big gap, and we know that age has a big influence on political affiliation,” explains the specialist in Latin American politics.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir Hector Cortes, “Sombrero Man,” the “” of the Charlotte FC soccer club’s ultra supporters team.

Young people, Latinos, blacks, and those living in urban areas traditionally support Democratic candidates, while older, white, and rural voters lean more toward Republicans.

In 2020, Joe Biden won 66% of the Latino vote, compared to 32% for Donald Trump. Several recent polls indicate that the community's support for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is declining. But these polls should be taken with a grain of salt, argues Professor Acevedo, particularly because they often tend to include a disproportionate number of older people.

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Breaking the Cycle

The Latino population in North Carolina, a key state in the upcoming elections, is booming: it has grown from about 67,000 in 1990 to more than 1.1 million in 2020, according to the latest U.S. census data. Along Central Avenue in eastern Charlotte, there are many Latino supermarkets, bakeries, banks and restaurants. Inside, different Hispanic communities gather and chat in Spanish.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir The Mexican restaurant Tacos El Nevado, on Central Avenue, an area of ​​Charlotte where many members of the Hispanic community live.

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At the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, northeast of the city, the Spanish-speaking student population is also growing. Anthony Valderrama, a 26-year-old, goes there frequently to meet with the university’s young Latino students and help them start businesses. “A lot of older Latinos work in construction. We didn’t grow up encouraging us to go into white-collar opportunities,” laments the Peruvian-born, U.S.-born student.

According to Anthony, the new generation of Latin Americans is “breaking the cycle” of generations, both economically and socially. “The old generation likes to say that we young people don’t want to work. It’s not that we don’t want to work: we don’t want to do the kind of work that they were forced to do. They didn’t have the freedom to choose and do work that interested them,” he argues.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir According to Anthony Valderrama, a 26-year-old student at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, northeast of the city, the new generation of Latin Americans is “breaking the generational cycle,” both economically and socially. His girlfriend, Sheila Garcia, who was born in the United States to Mexican parents, speaks of a new Latino generation that is more “rebellious” and more educated than ever.

Her girlfriend, Sheila Garcia, is also the child of immigrants. Born in the United States to Mexican parents, the 24-year-old speaks of a new generation of Latinos that is more “rebellious” and more educated than ever. “My mother is not pro-abortion, she goes to church and is against marijuana. For me, it’s the complete opposite: I’m pro-choice, for [the legalization of] marijuana and magic mushrooms… In short, completely the opposite,” she says with a laugh.

Among the most important electoral issues, the young couple, who dream of being able to buy a house, cites in particular the cost of living. “My parents were able to buy a house only three years after arriving in the country. But I still can't afford a car,” Sheila says wryly.

Even though the myth is that the Republican camp is more competent in economic matters, Antony and his girlfriend will vote for the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. The Democrats' positions on abortion rights and the anti-immigration speeches of former President Donald Trump weigh quite heavily in the balance.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir A garage where “we speak Spanish”, along Central Avenue.

“It's important to me, because my parents are still undocumented, and my sister still has DACA status,” confides Sheila. DACA, introduced by the Obama administration in 2012, protects immigrants who arrived in the country illegally as children, nicknamed Dreamers. In 2017, Donald Trump decided to end the program; the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the attempt in June 2020.

The economy comes first

Despite being left-wing on many issues, Juan Cabeza ultimately decided to vote for Donald Trump in November, a vote he says is for the good of the American economy. The 23-year-old believes a Trump administration can solve the country's inflation problem. “When I arrived in the United States, it was during Trump's first term. The price of food and gas was cheap, and wages were higher,” he relates.

Professor Acevedo notes that many Americans seem to forget how high the cost of living was during the Trump presidency. “Inflation is currently at 2.3%, but the local news is still talking about it as if it were massive inflation. I think Americans just don’t understand what inflation is,” he says.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud Le Devoir A supermarket in Siler City, a small town in North Carolina where half the population identifies as Hispanic.

Juan Cabeza says he is aware that his vote for the Republican camp may seem contradictory, especially since some of his family members living in the United States are still undocumented. Donald Trump has already promised the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. “I think my family will be affected if Trump is reelected. But at the same time, the economic crisis we are experiencing is because [Democrats] give way too much money to immigrants,” he says.

More than a third of Spanish-speaking voters say they support both building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally, according to a recent poll conducted by the New York Times and Siena College.

Anthony Valderrama says it is hard to imagine Latin Americans supporting former President Trump, knowing that “every Latino knows another undocumented Latino.” “When [Latino Americans] are integrated, they forget where they come from. Now that they are Americans, proud and free, they forget that voting for Trump is voting for an individual who does not defend them and who wants nothing to do with them.”

This report was funded with support from the Transat International Journalism Fund-Le Devoir.