Hispanics prefer to be spoken to in their language, by Fernando Aquino, El Diario/La Prensa, 22 May 2003. Translated from Spanish by Hillary Hawkins.

For those who do not know why Anglo-Saxon politicians make an effort to speak, or pretend they speak Spanish, herein lays the answer.

The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in California, a nonprofit policy research organization, conducted a study that analyzed the Latino community’s behavior in front of the television. The study, Latino Viewing Choices: Bilingual Television Viewers and the Language Choices They Make, revealed that when it comes to serious matters, Hispanics like to be addressed in their mother tongue.

Presented yesterday, the study concludes that half of bilingual Hispanic adults who watch television in English and Spanish “tend to pay more attention” to the political candidates who speak to them in Spanish.

The study emphasizes that a majority of bilingual viewers also tend to watch news in Spanish. But when it comes to watching movies or sitcoms, Hispanics will watch programs in English or Spanish.

“While in 2000 it was unusual to see a candidate speaking in Spanish, now I believe that it will be the norm,” said Louis DeSipio, one of the authors of the report.

Perhaps DeSipio is referring to politicians from California, because here in New York, this study is like discovering the formula for lukewarm water—it’s not by chance that old-time politicians are singing the Macarena.

In the gubernatorial campaign at the end of last year, Governor George Pataki shined each time he addressed the Latino audience in Spanish. As well, it is projected that on the national level, there will be nine million voters in the 2004 elections. The study revealed that 47 percent of bilingual viewers are more inclined to pay attention when a political candidate speaks to them in Spanish, while 45 percent said that it did not make a difference.

The fever has caused many to make fools of themselves. Some politicians look for Spanish translations of their English names, like Councilman Bill Perkins who calls himself “Guillermo” when he’s before Hispanic audiences.

The “struggle” to attract Hispanics in their native language has recently seen City Council Speaker Gilford Miller try his first word in the language of Cervantes in front of the cameras. And although Councilman Joel Rivera is of Hispanic origin, he has difficulty asking for rice and beans in Spanish.

Perhaps the best idea for politicians would be to follow State Senator Eric Schneiderman, who is burning the midnight oil in a Spanish-language “intensive course.”

This idea is not preposterous if it is observed, as the study indicates, that 75 percent of Hispanics adults, roughly 16 million people, watch as much English-language television as Spanish-language.

“Many Latinos live in a bilingual world and television is part of that,” said Dr. Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Institute.

According to Pachon, the study shows that corporations and candidates trying to reach Latinos are excluding 25 percent of this community when they only communicate in one language.