Julian Castro, Poseur

Spanish was flying around the stage during the Democrats’ debate last night, as the candidates vied for the Hispanic vote. You might assume that Julian Castro, from San Antonio, is a Spanish speaker. But, as the New York Times told us back in 2010, Castro is actually “post-Hispanic.” Toward the end of a long and admiring portrait, the Times tells us this:

Although he pronounces his name “HOO-lee-un,” he doesn’t really speak Spanish — a fact he isn’t eager to advertise. La Raza put a high premium on the mother tongue, but Rosie Castro [Ed.: Rosie was a La Raza firebrand] spoke English to her sons, and Julián studied Latin and Japanese in school, while Joaquín studied Latin and German. A lack of Spanish fluency isn’t unusual in San Antonio, especially among Castro’s generation, but in the immigrant barrios of Houston and the colonias south of Interstate 10 down to the border, Spanish is the first and often only language. A Mexican-American with statewide political aspirations needs to be able to do more than pronounce his name correctly. Early in his administration, Castro assigned his chief of staff, Robbie Greenblum — a Jewish lawyer from the border town of Laredo whose own Spanish is impeccable — to discreetly find him a tutor. Rosie Castro’s son is now being taught Spanish by a woman named Marta Bronstein. Greenblum met her in shul.

It’s a great story, I think. In today’s world of identity politics run amok, things are often not what they seem.

Via Steve Sailer.

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