I'm a Mexican-American Woman, But I'm Not 'With Her'
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton walks on stage during a campaign rally at East Los Angeles College in Monterrey Park, CA on Thursday, May 5, 2016. (Josue Martinez)
I am tired of having “Vote for Hillary” shoved down my throat. Whether I am logging onto Facebook or Snapchat, or just having a conversation with my best friend, all I see and hear is, “I’m with her!” I understand that the color of my skin and my gender makes people assume I’m a Hillary supporter, but just because I am a Mexican-American woman does not automatically mean I am with her.
Despite Hillary Clinton’s series of scandals, people are still hash tagging "#ImWithHer.” Why exactly are you with her? It seems to me like most people who are voting for Hillary have no idea why they are actually doing it.
No matter who wins this election it’s still the same ball game. Trump and the Clintons are friends in a sense. The Clintons attended Trump’s third wedding in 2005. Trump has been a big supporter of the Clintons for years, before he decided to run for president. So when it comes down to it people are looking at who’s the lesser of the two evils.
Musician Pharrell Williams told Ellen DeGeneres in October 2015 that he supports Hillary Clinton for president, “It’s time for a woman to be in there.” That’s the same message we get over and over: I’m supposed to vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. That’s the only argument people have. Just because Clinton is a female does not mean we have the same views.
Clinton has the privilege to be rich and white, so she will never understand the oppression of people of color. I’ve always had high hopes for Obama to help create policies that will benefit us, people of color, but instead he’s deported more people than any other president in history. With Clinton coming into office, I am certain things won’t change.
I understand that a majority of Latino families are voting for Clinton, but some are actually submitting their ballots for Trump – including members of my own family.
“I voted for Trump because Hillary is a liar. She has blood on her hands, supports Obamacare and should be in jail,” said my aunt Debra Miranda.
Before Clinton’s new policy on immigration on June 17, 2014, Clinton told a reporter: “We have to send a clear message: Just because your child gets across the borders, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay.” So how can I give her my vote if she changes policies just to gain votes without caring about the cause? Not to mention that she was caught telling Wall Street executives that she has separate private and public policy positions.
Her supporters often refer to Clinton as the most qualified person to ever run for president. In my opinion, Clinton hasn’t accomplished anything that shows she’s qualified to be president. When Clinton was elected senator in New York she promised 200,000 jobs. According to The Washington Post, many of the jobs were never materialized and a few of them migrated to other states as Clinton turned to her first presidential run. After the broken promises as senator, Clinton turned to become Secretary of State where she helped impose her dangerous foreign policy and got herself caught in even more scandal. So tell me why exactly she is qualified to be President?
Coming from such a huge Latino family, we don’t all have the same mentality of who to vote for. My aunt and uncle are voting for Trump, my cousin Anabel isn’t voting at all and another cousin is voting for Hillary. That’s the beauty of America that we can all have our different views on politics. But I’m over being pressured into voting for a candidate who will “fit” my standards based off my gender. I am a Mexican-American woman who #IsNotWithHer.