Eva Longoria and Sofia Vergara are hot. There is very little almost any heterosexual red blooded American I know would not do to have sex with either of them. However, if you asked for any takers to spend a night having an enlightened political discussion with them over dinner, the numbers might drop appreciably.
And their latest entertainment projects, “Devious Maids” by Eva Longoria, and Vergara’s participation in Saturday Night Live, cast serious doubt an intelligent discussion would even be possible.
If given the chance, maybe I would talk to Longoria about her grassroots efforts with Voto Latino, founded by Maria Teresa Kumar and Rosario Dawson. Perhaps Longoria could discuss what she learned from Dr. Rudy Acuña, the long-established thorn in the side of establishment America who penned Occupied America: A History of Chicanos. Dr. Acuña’s book is a Chicano interpretation of American history, and lays bare the injustices of colonialism and institutionalized racism in our country.
Dr. Acuña’s book is on Arizona’s list of banned books, because it was argued that his writings would foment resentment against the “white majority” in the State. His writings so captured the attention of popular media that Ms. Longoria took a course by Acuña based on his scholarship.
However, beauty and brains are not always cohabitant. God is just I suppose, but if Longoria had learned anything in Dr. Acuña’s class she would know that Latino identity in the United States is constructed around a common narrative, or story. This narrative permeates throughout society and eventually informs government policies that directly impacts Latino lives.
This Latino narrative is, ultimately, what Leo Chavez describes as the Latino Threat. The Latino threat is informed by popular media, and political pundits, by reinforcing our perceptions about a common Latino culture as threatening to American culture.
Simply put, Chavez portrays this Latino threat as threefold, which I describe as invasion, integration, and sexuality.
The invasion threat is built around the unflinching acceptance of the concept of illegal immigration. It is a widely accepted concept, but most people do not know that the idea of illegal immigration did not become prominent in political discussions until the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy (SCIRP) declared in 1980 that immigration was a positive contribution to society, but that illegal immigration made a negative contribution.
Once Congress accepted this moral dichotomy, anti-immigrant organizers began their efforts to expand the scope of the law to declare as many immigrants as possible as illegal. This is why today’s dialogues about citizenship are foolish discussions about paperwork, and why it is a central component of legitimacy in America today.
The integration narrative of the Latino threat frames Latinos as incompatible with American culture. They do not want to speak English or accept “American values” and instead would like to infect the country with their own foreign values. This is usually associated with some suggestions about socialism.
Last, the sexuality narrative paints Latinos and Latinas as hypersexual beings. This perception as “Latino lovers” is a myth that buttresses the nativists’ concerns over integration and invasion. We are presented as breeding machines that will take over the country through attrition. It is no wonder many white supremacist organizations explicitly urge their members to procreate.
One such website is from a popular group called the Political Cesspool. In their mission statement they plead, “We wish to revive the White birthrate above replacement level fertility and beyond to grow the percentage of Whites in the world relative to other races.”
When asked if her show might reinforce stereotypes about Latinas, Longoria instead defended the show, stating that, “most of the Latino community is proud”. Perhaps, but that misses the point. Someone as integrated and informed about politics should be a little more enlightened about why this is not just about stereotypes, but about reinforcing a narrative that is specifically constructed to fortify the anxiety white America already has about Latino cultures.
Longoria and Vergara are both beautiful women. Hardly resistible. I am sure the money, too, is difficult for them to resist. But their roles are detrimental to Latinas and to society as a whole when they unwittingly play into the narrative of the Latino Threat. As the father of three girls, their message is loud and clear that Latina sexuality is yet another commodity that can be leveraged for fame and fortune. They should be smarter than that.
Stephen A. Nuño, Ph.D., NBCLatino contributor and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Northern Arizona University. He is currently writing a book on Republican outreach into the Latino Community.
