Race, Class, and Politics. Oh My!

Two topics I avoid having casual conversations about are politics and religion because they ultimately turn conversations to anything BUT casual.  Also, the majority of people are not particularly interested in simply having a conversation about these things but to win you over/explain to you why your opinion is wrong. 

The other day, at work, a conversation that started with Ricky Martin's recent gay-claration ended in a debate on healthcare reform. I know, WTF!  

It began with simply discussing his gayness, then to Barbara Walters badgering him about his sexuality on national televison, then into Elton John coming out to Barbara on national television, then into a coworker letting us know how enraged his conservative uncle was about Elton John, then another coworker saying "what does him being conservative have to do with it" and it deteriorated from there.

Once it got to that point, I just kind of sat there and was like, yeah, okay, sure, uh huh. I won't go into details about the conversation except to say that it was enlightening in several ways. 

I heard an opposing arguement for healthcare reform that, frankly, was not at all unreasonable. It was an issue of money and the place political/social idealism has during a financial recession.  I was with them for the most part until they revealed that their interests lay with military and big business. 

Even at that point, I could not begrudge her her opinion as they were motivated from similiar stuff as mine. Namely, the affect on the people and individuals she is persoanlly connected to.  She comes from a long line of military families and several of her friends have/will lose their jobs because of this bill. 

Also, it was impressed upon me that people are far more connected by class than they are race.  You see, this coworker was Latino/a as am I.  As such, I naively assumed (as I seem to always do) that her interests stemmed from a similiar place as mine.

To me, healthcare reform, is literally the first type of political/governmental change I can tangibly relate to the people I care and love.  So many individuals that I grew up with and am with currently live/have lived most of their adult lives without insurance simply because they could not/can afford it.  These are hard working, educated, and good people who are not given the right to healthcare simply because of their class. Many of these people are hispanic immigrants or first or second generation citizens. 

I guess I always assume that, despite the various Latino ethnicities, all Latinos in this country understand and support the plight of every other Latino ethnicity.  This assumption led me to naively assume that my Latina friend would see healthcare reform as I do. She does not.

She comes from the same sort of privilege that so many who are against this bill come from.  To them, it's merely politicing and partisanship that is the issue, not the health and lives of thousands of hard working, educated, and good people who are not given the opportunity, the right, of healthcare.