I belong to a group of people who came to America at the expense of all we had. My family left Cuba. We owned a car and a home. We had a good life. And we left it all behind. That's what political refugees do.
"Freedom isn't free," is an adage seared into my mother's memory. She kept repeating it in her head as she stood at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport in the winter of 1962. That's when Fidel Castro's Milicianos--his militia men--rifled through her clothing looking for family heirlooms and anything of value. Those leaving weren't allowed to take anything with them, but my Aunt Mimi and others defied them by sewing a handful of jewelry and other belongings into their dresses and, in some cases, even their undergarments.
We came here to the US, and all we had were those handfuls of smuggled memories.
But it's hard to live on memories alone and that made our new life here a struggle. While we appreciated the surplus meat and government cheese (yes, we really did get a monthly block of cheese that we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it tasted exactly like Velveeta), it was hard for all nine of us to share that small two-bedroom dwelling in the inner city.
And while it was tough not having our home and all of the other things we left behind, the hardest part was not having my big brother with us. Months before we left Cuba, Rudy had been snuck out of Havana by the Catholic Church and sent to a convent in Arizona. That made our "cockroach house," as we still call it, a sad and small place, too small for me not to hear my mother every single night, crying into her pillow, praying to be reunited with her son.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio has his own story of how his family left Cuba. Rubio's bio claimed his parents fled Cuba, "after the Castro take-over." It's an inspiring American story--a son of political refugees becoming a US Senator. But that's all it is--a story. It's not reality.
Unlike mine, Rubio's family left by choice, not necessity. Unlike mine, Rubio's family left before Castro even took over.
Rubio says he just, "got a few dates wrong." That's how he excuses his falsehood about when his parents fled Cuba. With that story, he convinced Americans that he was the son of political refugees, implying that it somehow made him different from the other Hispanics who he attacks regularly--the ones in Arizona, Georgia and Alabama that he and others want to detain, arrest and kick out. How dare they come here looking for work and to better their lot in life? Marco Rubio made us believe he is different from them when he's not.
Marco Rubio owes an apology to my parents and the hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans who actually did experience the hardships of being political refugees. Their stories are real. And the dates and times associated with their flight from Cuba are etched in their memories, often to the minute. It's not something they "just get wrong." Ever. Unless they want to get it wrong.
But they are not Rubio's biggest problem. This seemingly likable young man with Tea Party backing will likely be forgiven in Miami. His real problem is that the GOP has national plans for him, and national elections aren't won in Miami. They are won across the country where Mexicans and other immigrants, who make up the vast majority of the Latino vote, may not be as forgiving.
Would you be? Latinos across the country who see themselves as economic exiles, or whose parents came here as economic exiles, say Senator Rubio has continually attacked them. Now, they learn that he is, in many ways, no different from them. He too is the son of economic exiles. His story is their story--one he must now embrace or change. Again.
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http://noticias.univision.com/univision-investiga/investigaciones/article/2011-07-11/la-verdad-inconveniente-sobre-la-familia-de-marco-rubio
How about this other shocking truth: Rubio's anti-immigrant agenda (except of course Cubans), and his hypocritical rhetoric that "the Mx's border must be shut to prevent (he uses the "i" word, very dehumanizing), criminals and narcotraffic..." - BUT his own immediate family were criminally involved in -a-la "Scarface" type of activities that had to do with narcotraffic involving HIS Cuban community (NOT Mexicans), and involved HIS Florida coasts (NOT the Mexican border). You can find more on this investigation here:
Here is an investigative article called "Una verdad inconveniente sobre la familia de Marco Rubio" (An inconvenient truth about Marco Rubio's family", video and legal documents:
http://noticias.univision.com/univision-investiga/investigaciones/article/2011-07-11/la-verdad-inconveniente-sobre-la-familia-de-marco-rubio
On the other hand, I am sorry that his fabrications have sincerely made lessen any emigrants experiences and I can see that he has brought up some very real memories both good and bad for you. Senator Rubio should be sensitive in particular to those he most broadly connects.
When did becoming an American with a story (whose most parents and grandparents have embellished in some sort) become a degrees of 'my experience is worse than yours" match? Economic 'exiles' , aren't we all , weren't we all? Political exiles all with stories to tell.
Rick, Senator Rubio will have to deal with the reality of his family story, Cuban exile or not.. economic or political -- Americans will not care of the dates of how he got here, only what he did with the chance of being here. Again, as I argued with a post you wrote on 'assimilation' it's a matter of perception and the consequence that turns into the reality.
What you left out is the plain truth that the policies which Marco Rubio defends run against the interest of the vast majority of Latinos in this country: We depend more on Social Security and Medicare, which Rubio's Tea Party wants to abolish, not to speak of the Republican "show me your papers" laws, which amount to a direct persecution of Latinos and a sinister denial of our civil rights.I could go on and on, but you get the idea: any Latino, Cuban-American, Mexican-American or otherwise, who is thinking of voting for Rubio or voting Republican, should run and quickly get their heads examined, before they make a terrible mistake, which they will surely regret.
I understand that, unlike me, you must be political in your comments, but please, continue to shine the light of truth on Mr. Rubio.
No, it can't be true! Forget about it!
We know how honest, straight-forward and truthful they all are.
I also agree with those who have commented here that Rubio's "misstatements" about exactly when his parents came to the U.S. might create resentment among those Cubans who were forced to flee Cuba after Castro took over. Here in South Florida, the question of "when did your family come here" among Cubans is very important, especially among the Cuban-Americans who were in the first wave of immigration post-Castro.