After Election Day 2020, we saw political pundits (generally white "non-Latinos") in all media outlets bewildered by the "Latino vote" and eager to understand and explain Donald Trump's small amount of support among this voting bloc.

The problem is that the Latino vote is not a voting bloc. I repeat, there is no such thing as a Latino voting bloc. There is no such thing as a Latino voting bloc.

The terms Hispanic and Latino are often used without a clear understanding of what they mean. Hispanic was adopted by the U.S. Census Bureau (open in new tab) in the 1970s in an attempt to directly track people from or descended from 20 Latin American countries and Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain itself (but not Portugal or Portuguese-speaking Brazil). 2000 Census, the two terms began to appear together and are often used interchangeably; Latinx has replaced Latino among many members of the LGBTQ+ community, scholars, and others as a way to be inclusive of all gender identities It is gaining popularity. The use of Latine as an inclusive term is also growing in popularity, in part because it is more adaptable to Spanish than Latino.

But regardless of what one prefers to call them, it is an artificial category that lumps together people of all racial backgrounds, diverse nationalities, different cultural norms, and political histories. [In Latin America, the notion that the majority of people are "mixed race" has been used to perpetuate the myth of a harmonious society free of racism. Similarly, I was recently discussing this with Helen Ubiñas, an excellent columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer (opens in new tab), and we were discussing how the term Latin American, in an attempt to homogenize an incredibly diverse population, has been used to deny racial and national origins to erased, denying any discussion of their unique experiences and circumstances.

Moreover, Latinos are often discussed as if they are a race. To be clear, they are not. And not all Latinos come from marginalized racial groups. For example, white Latinos do not experience systemic racism. As Afro-Caribbean historian and media scholar Anise R. Sands recently pointed out, white Latinos may experience xenophobia and linguistic discrimination, but they do not experience the same racism in their appearance that black, indigenous, and Asian Latinos experience.

Also, while the census may use the term Latino exclusively for those of Spanish-speaking origin, this is not necessarily true for society as a whole. Sands notes that some people from non-Hispanophone regions of Latin America, such as Brazil and the Caribbean, want to be part of the discussion of what it means to be "Latino." In addition, Natalie Belisle of the University of Southern California notes that the recent media focus on the "Latino vote" will draw attention not only from black Latinos, but also from non-Latino black voters. She explains that the preoccupation with the idea of the Latino vote is often rooted in a "deep undercurrent of anti-blackness," which leads to the treatment of black voters as "unimportant and disposable." This dynamic, Eva Longoria told MSNBC over the weekend, "Women of color made a big splash. Of course, you saw black women do well in Georgia, but Latina women are the real heroines here," and later apologized for her remarks (opens in new tab).

In addition to the erasure of race and nationality, mainstream media pundits appear to have little or no knowledge of Latino culture and do little research on religious practices. If that were the case, support for Trump by some Latin Americans would not seem so puzzling. Latin American societies have historically been strongly machismo-driven, have clear gender role divisions, and are not open to members of the LGBTQ+ community. In addition, Catholicism is deeply entrenched in Latin America, and evangelical churches are growing in popularity. According to the Pew Research Center (open in new tab), 48% of Latinos in the U.S. are Catholic and 19% are evangelical Protestant.

Which begs the question: when the media discusses the Catholic and evangelical vote, do they include Latinos?

We are only scratching the surface here. In addition to race, religion, and country of origin, socioeconomic factors are essential. And then there are regional differences. The most prominent groups in the Miami area are Cubans and South Americans. The votes of people in the Miami-Dade area, especially Cuban-Americans, are often reduced to sound bites about socialism. While we do not deny that this is one concern, it is too simplistic to reduce the discussion of voting patterns to a single issue. Miami-based journalist Lizette Alvarez points out that 90% of Latinos in the Miami-Dade area are white (opens in new tab). She added that during the summer of the "Black Lives Matter" protests, Miami was one of the few places where "Cubans for Trump" counter-demonstrations were regularly held. In Texas, the largest groups are Mexicans and Central Americans, and a recent article in the Dallas Morning News (opens in new tab) describes the lack of unity among Latinos along the border on immigration and other issues. In fact, the article notes that many Latinos along the border work in federal government departments, including as immigration agents. The largest groups in Philadelphia are Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, and national polls show Puerto Ricans and Dominicans strongly support Biden.

It is time for the media to stop trivializing Latinos as clever sound bites during elections. We are waiting for the voices of academics, activists, and community members to be heard. Let's hope that this election will be the wake-up call we need to start making a difference.

Luisa Marcella Ossa is an associate professor of Spanish at La Salle University.