Latinas and 2020: A messaging guide

It’s Hispanic Heritage Month, and we are bracing ourselves for the inevitable presumptions and pandering — all performed with good intentions, of course — from politicians at campaign events this time of year.

As Hispanic women, we can expect to be stereotyped by political talking points. We’ll hear too much about immigration and social programs and not enough about the economic issues that matter most to us. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that candidates will know, and mention, that Latinas start our own businesses at a higher rate than any other demographic group. But this fact should be the foundation of their appeal, not a throwaway applause line.