2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Whoa II... Shit Just Got Real... 'Dear Hillary, Let Me Introduce You to My Abuela' - HuffPo [View all]Nonhlanhla
(2,074 posts)But this response seems odd to me. Hillary was not suggesting that her life has been the same as that of this woman's abuela, just that she can relate to grandmotherly things. Hillary can be a tad awkward, and this is most certainly one of those cases. And yes, I can see why this can be perceived as condescending. She deserves to be criticized for this awkward business. But I don't understand this particular criticism.
As an immigrant (non-Hispanic) myself, I know what it is like to be separated from your loved ones. We too were driven here due to economic circumstances. I saw my dad only a handful of times in the last 18 years of his life, and spent only one Christmas with him in all those years. I see my mom every year or two, my cousins and uncles and aunts (to whom I am very attached) once every few years. My daughter is growing up without cousins or grandparents. That is tough. This is not unique to the experience of Hispanics. (Indeed, I envy them the rich cultural presence that they have in the United States. I don't know what it is like to have a community of immigrants that speak my own language all around me.)
From my own experience, I kind of get how this woman feels about her grandmother, but I don't really understand what she is trying to say. It's no more Hillary's fault that her grandmother had a hard life, than that my grandmother had a hard life. Now, to be sure, Hillary did not make an awkward ad about how she's "just like my ouma," so perhaps I just don't get it. But still, all that this ad shows is that Hilary tries too hard to soften her image (I feel kind of sorry for her when she feels she has to do that), and that she can be a bit tone deaf.