Hillary Clinton’s minority outreach over the last week has rekindled the idea that she is a candidate who is out of touch, particularly when it comes to minorities. To many of us, her campaign’s insistence that she is an abuela for Latinos and the changing of her Twitter logo to represent Kwanzaa came across as pandering at its worst.
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Yet these gaffes also display an obstacle that liberal candidates will face in this election cycle. Minority voters not only want a candidate who understands and appreciates their culture, has the capacity to fight for their causes and create positive change, but also one who can successfully navigate the line between appreciation and appropriation. Republicans do not have the same obstacle since their candidates are focused on appealing to a primarily white electorate.
Clinton’s recent blog post on her official website “7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela” was intended to show Latino voters how Clinton is similar to their abuela,or grandmother. Yet many Latinos on social media found this outreach attempt to be pandering, or Hispandering, to an important electorate. Many mentioned how her lifestyle as an affluent white American prevents her from understanding and relating to the true experiences of abuelas in America. ...
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