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Some of you may have heard the phrase “A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinion of sheep”. I am sure this is true both literally and figuratively. Another way to put this is: Confident people don’t concern themselves with criticism that comes from small-minded people. A lot has been said about the subject of political correctness, and while I believe in many of the things “woke” ideology stands for, I think the movement, in general, has made us weaker. I blogged a couple of weeks ago about how I think politicians get the Hispanic community wrong. I said that if you ask a hundred Latinos what concerns them most, the issue of racism wouldn’t rank very high. I don’t think most Latinos think about racism much, but we all know there is a vocal crowd who thinks we should care about it more. I believe there is merit to this, but the misguided focus tends to be more about politically correct language and whether we are being portrayed in the media with the correct skin tones – rather than the things that truly make a difference.
Nowhere is the issue of political correctness more prevalent than in America’s college campuses. All you have to do is scan the website of practically any American college to see political correctness in full force – correct pronouns, staged photos of a diverse student body, and language void of anything that could be construed as biased or offensive. I don’t have a problem with any of this except that frequently the most egregious offenders of racial inequality are institutions that cleverly conceal their harmful behavior behind the veil of inclusive language. This is at the core of the problem. All of this focus on political correctness misdirects the attention from where it should be: outcomes. I don’t care what somebody calls me as long as I get what I need from them. I am not excusing rude, condescending, or racist behavior, but I see the people who engage in that sort of behavior as small-minded sheep, and quite frankly, I think of myself as a lion – so screw them. They’re the ones with the problem.
When I think of the issues I care about most as an advocate for the Latino community, it includes homeownership, access to capital, and high-level representation in government and the c-suites of America’s largest corporations. These issues have a profound effect on the prosperity and quality of life for Latinos in this country, and there are very real institutional barriers that have kept us from advancing further in these areas. I think the focus on political correctness gives people an easy way out. It allows them to present themselves as supporters of diverse communities without changing a thing or investing a dime – and that, my friends, is how political correctness makes us weaker.
We would all be better off with tougher skin and directing our collective focus on the end game. There is so much more for us to gain if we get this right.
There are qualities in our community that no data point can fully capture, but this episode is about one of the biggest: grit. I talk about why perseverance, resilience, family, and purpose have always been among the greatest strengths of Hispanics and Latinos, and why those strengths can be a powerful advantage in a world being reshaped by technology, wealth, and access. But grit alone is not enough. If we want to translate all of that talent and determination into lasting economic and political power, we also need stronger networks, better platforms, and more intentional leadership. The opportunity is real. The question is whether we are ready to organize around it.
For years, we’ve been told that mass deportations would mean more jobs and higher wages for U.S.-born workers. But this episode looks at why the opposite may actually be happening. I break down new research showing how immigrant and U.S.-born workers often play complementary roles in the labor market, why removing one group can hurt the other, and how these policies may be making labor shortages, housing challenges, and economic instability even worse. This is a conversation about jobs, economics, and the unintended consequences too many people still refuse to confront.
Something important is shifting, and this episode is about why it matters. For a young and fast-growing community like ours, the rise of AI may be opening doors that were previously harder to reach — not by eliminating every barrier, but by expanding access to knowledge, tools, and opportunity at a scale we’ve never seen before. But access alone won’t determine who wins. This moment calls for strategy, community, and a serious commitment to turning potential into power. The opening is real. What happens next depends on what we do with it.