Habla Espanol? Who Cares

It's true that Castro doesn't speak Spanish very well. I watched him struggle through a recent interview with Univision's Maria Elena Salinas. When speaking Spanish, he has a smooth delivery and not much of an accent. But he seems to be missing vocabulary. Simply put, Castro doesn't know enough words in Spanish to allow him to communicate as effectively as he does in English. It's obvious that, when he is asked a question, he thinks of the answer in English and then quickly translates into Spanish. His mind is probably racing through the answer, and, so when he tries to speak, he sometimes gets tongue-tied.

I'm the same way. It's a common story among Mexican-Americans who were born in the United States to parents who were also born here. We might understand Spanish, and speak a few words. But our native tongue is English.

And we're not alone. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, only 8 percent of second-generation Latinos use Spanish as their dominant language. By the third generation, that figure falls to 2 percent, and almost all Latinos are either bilingual or English-dominant.

During the interview, Salinas asked Castro if he thought it was necessary these days for politicians to speak Spanish. He gave a diplomatic answer, explaining that it wasn't necessary but that it was useful and beneficial.

Perhaps the better question would have been: "Is it necessary for Latino politicians to speak Spanish?"

The answer is still no. The fact that a Latino politician does or doesn't speak Spanish tells us nothing about what kind of leader he'll be or where his heart lies.

I'm tired of Spanish being used as a weapon. This was a silly, childish and counterproductive exercise that Latino liberals have long used to attack Latino conservatives. And now that the arrows are flying in the opposite direction, it is just as silly, childish and counterproductive.

Some Latinos are fluent in Spanish, while others don't speak of word of it.

What does it matter? In my book, they're all equally authentic. It's time to stop insisting otherwise. No matter what language it's delivered in, this is the message that Latinos, and non-Latinos, need to hear and spread and take to heart.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.