Defining Latinos

    On Thursday, the Huffington Post shared a story questioning, "Is Ted Cruz Latino Enough To Represent Texas Hispanics In Congress?" What in the world does that mean, "Latino enough?"

    The article goes on to say that Cruz is a Cuban-American whose father immigrated to the states so that he would have a better life. It is the fact that Cruz has a strict stand on illegal immigration in a border state that upsets the Hispanics in Texas. They make up 26% of Texan voters and are mostly Mexican-American Democrats. It makes sense that they would disagree with Cruz's views, but the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, Gilbert Hinojosa, took disagreeing to a whole new level. He said that the only thing Hispanic about Cruz is his last name. He continued to insult him by saying that he is as Hispanic as Tom Cruise.

    “[Hinojosa's comment is] a base attempt to reach the ugliest part of our human nature, to despise people because of their racial and ethnic origins.”

--Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Aaron Peña to the Houston Chronicle.

    That is a heinous remark from one Hispanic to another. Hinojosa might as well have spit in Cruz's face. Hinojosa's history as a Cameron County judge shows that he built international bridges connecting Texas to Mexico. The current judge's administration is completing the $21 million government-funded Cameron County West Rail Relocation Project, in which a railroad is being built from Brownsville, Texas, to Tamaulipas, Mexico across the Rio Grande River. Of course he's against Cruz because he's not on his side when it comes to immigration, but that doesn't make it okay to bash who he is.

    What exactly makes you qualified to label yourself Latino or Latina? Dictionary.com defines Latino as "a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent." Descent, meaning ancestry or origin. The only real aspect of culture someone needs to be included in an ethnic group is bloodline, and Cruz obviously has that.

    Yes, Hinojosa was a county judge, but he took his judgments too far this time. How do you discriminate against your own? Who does he think he is to judge whether or not someone is Hispanic or not? Every individual in our country is entitled to his or her own beliefs, regardless of where they come from.

     Hinojosa was wrong to belittle Cruz. It is wrong to dictate to someone who he or she is or who he or she is not. It's not an easy thing to handle when someone disrespects you like that, and I admire Cruz for handling this harsh criticism in a humble manner.