Young Latino Voters

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

hunt	amazing	make it (2)
hope	issue (3)	feel/felt/felt (3)
vote	eligible	middle (2)
care	election	swing/swung/swung (2)
left (5)	turn out	think/thought/thought
option	believe	has what it takes
way (2)	around (3)	win/won/won
brutal	oppress	bubble (2)
allow	evaluate	say/said/said
nasty	laugh (2)	as hard as possible
access	envision	undocumented
able to	separate	come/came/came
proud	consider	take into consideration
entitle	dream (2)	American Dream
versus	look like	a level playing field
illegal	hard (3)	when it comes to
income	regardless	at the end if the day
selfish	field (2)	give/gave/given
sound	provide	choose/chose/chosen
benefit

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Paola Jaime, California: “I want more politicians that look like me.”
Rogelio Piedra, North Dakota: “I love hunting. I love my guns.”
Natali Fernandez, Florida: : “I don’t feel proud to be an American, right now.”
Guillermo Valadezm, Wisconsin: “I hope that whoever win will do what’s best for the country.”
Paulina Diez, Florida: Socialism is not the answer to our nation’s problems.”

 

Every 30 seconds, a Latino in the US turns eighteen — and becomes eligible to vote.

If they turn out, young Latino voters could swing the election.

So we talked to five of them from around the country about what issues they care most about.

 

Natali Fernandez, Florida: In the next election, I will be voting for Joe Biden
Rogelio Piedra, North Dakota: I will be voting for Donald Trump.
Guillermo Valadezm, Wisconsin: I think I will be voting for Biden.

Paulina Diez, Florida: I will be voting for Donald Trump as president. I believe he has what it takes to fix problems left from past presidents.

Paola Jaime, California: I will be voting for Joe Biden. It’s better than any other option — way better than any other option in my opinion.

On political bubbles.

Rogelio Piedra, North Dakota: I don’t want to say I’m a true, hard Republican, cause I’m not. And it’s hard, because there’s not really a middle.

Paulina Diez, Florida: I was immediately oppressed for saying I supported Trump.

Guillermo Valadezm, Wisconsin: Ninety-nine percent (99%) of the people that I work with are Republicans, and they like to show it. I usually just smile at them and say: ‘Oh, OK.’ That’s their opinion.

Natali Fernandez, Florida: Whatever system allowed for Donald Trump to become president could be entirely reevaluated. That would make me feel, not only safer, but prouder to be an American. Other countries are laughing at us.

Rogelio Piedra, North Dakota: My three older sisters are very Democratic. So when we get together and talk about how I think versus how they think, it gets a little nasty sometimes.

 

What issues do you care about?

Paola Jaime, California: I envision a future where every young person has access to a quality education.

Rogelio Piedra, North Dakota: I love hunting. I love my guns. And that is a pretty important thing to me.

Paola Jaime, California: A future where undocumented families aren’t separated.

Paulina Diez, Florida: My parents came to this country with nothing . . . and they were able to create and amazing life for my sister and I, and most importantly for themselves.

Natali Fernandez, Florida: Many people who believe the American Dream don’t take into consideration that not everyone is on a level playing field: you can work as hard as possible, and still not make it.

Guillermo Valadezm, Wisconsin: I want police brutality to stop.

Paulina Diez, Florida: I also believe illegal immigrants are not entitled to free health care.

Guillermo Valadezm, Wisconsin: I like the idea of having access to health care, regardless of income.

Paulina Diez, Florida: I know that at the end of the day, I will be the one providing the money for the free health care to be given to the immigrants.

Rogelio Piedra, North Dakota: When it come to an election in choosing people, it almost sounds selfish to say, but you want it to benefit yourself.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

1. All Latinos (Latin Americans) think and believe the same way. All Latinos share the same ideals and values. True or false?

2. Do only White Americans determine national politics?

3. Since Donald Trump is against illegal immigrants, especially from Latin America, all young Latinos will vote against him. Is this right or wrong?

4. Is the United States a completely free, open and tolerant society?

5. One of the women feels very patriotic. Is this correct or incorrect? How does she feel?

6. Do all family members and friends agree with each other on politics?

7. Is politics only about one issue or are do they have positions on many different issues?Where do they stand on certain issue?

 

A. Politics is the biggest topic of discussion. Yes or no?

B. Does everyone has his or her opinion on different issues? Does everyone have a stand on different issues?

C. Can people in your country be divided into “left” and “right”, liberal, moderate (centralist) and conservative? Do these fit into certain demographic categories?

D. Do friends and family members have arguments over politics, society and economics?

E. What might happen in the future?