I was born in Puerto Rico to a deeply conservative Catholic family that is proudly Republican. The American flag flew outside our home more often than the Puerto Rican one. In my 30s, I had an opportunity to move to Chicago.
I love Puerto Rico. I love America. I love Chicago, my home for the last 15 years. And more than anything, I love my family. We are close. We talk often. They worry about me. They want me to be safe. And yet, right now, their political beliefs are putting me in danger.
That is a sentence I never imagined having to write.
My family openly supports the MAGA agenda. Their Catholic faith shapes their worldview. They simply cannot accept a party that supports abortion or is inclusive of gay and transgender people. In their minds, this is a moral line they cannot cross.
I understand that. What I struggle with is how that single moral boundary has come to erase everything else.
Fox News is a constant presence in their lives, reinforcing the same narratives: Anyone who disagrees is an enemy. Immigrants are threats. Gay and transgender people are immoral. Journalists are liars. Facts are optional. Rage feels constant. This rhetoric turns differences into something to defeat rather than something to coexist with.
We see it in the outrage over Bad Bunny’s halftime show. A Puerto Rican artist labeled “not American” simply because he sings in Spanish. And we see it in the silence when women are publicly humiliated by the president, silence when victims of sexual abuse are dismissed and silence when Latina women are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for how they look or speak.
And still, my family members don’t see the contradiction. They don’t see that in any of these moments, it could have been me.
Part of the disconnect is that we don’t live in the same reality. My family consumes the world through a screen. I live in a big city. I move through communities where fear is part of daily life. I’ve been discriminated against because of my accent. I have seen people taken by ICE. I have friends whose children are terrified their parents won’t come home from work.
This is not news. It’s my life.
When my family calls and asks, “How are you doing?” I want to tell the truth. But instead, I say, “I’m fine.” Because I already feel unwanted by my country. And I’m not ready to learn whether my family’s love comes with political conditions.
— Ana Maria Matta, Chicago
Shift emphasis to dignity
The 2026 election season is in full swing, and candidates have agreed “affordability” is the word of this cycle. That’s for good reason.
The polls revealed that President Donald Trump won the 2024 election in large part because people were frustrated with high prices. Egg prices were trending on social media long after election night, and since polling and “pop” discourse drive political strategy, promises of price reductions now populate the policy statements of virtually every candidate.
We have political reactors. We’ve lost political philosophers.
Affordability is good. Dignified work is better. Dignity is best.
I’m worried candidates are not tapping into the depths of the pain many in Chicago feel. The rent is high, and the kids can’t go to college. But it’s not just that bills and tuition exceed our means. There also seems to be no care nor investments in us as workers and human beings.
Working families can manage high prices. Growing up, my family managed, for example, by going to the thrift store, accepting donated Christmas presents, living in $2 a month public housing and forgoing hospital visits.
What really affected us, and perhaps many working families in Chicago, were the “penumbras of poverty” — the hardships hidden in the shadows of our realities that ate up our sense of worth — our dignity — daily. Such as dilapidated neighborhoods, toxic air, unkept public parks, failing infrastructure, unreliable public transportation and low wages.
So candidates cannot stop at affordability. We must demand programs that reaffirm the dignity of working people.
President Franklin Roosevelt understood this well when he addressed the Great Depression with the New Deal. He did not just promise lower prices or give handouts.
He created the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, putting Americans to work to protect our parks and build the infrastructure we rely on today. He gave use the Social Security Act, which made economic security the government’s job. And he signed into law the National Labor Relations Act, which allows workers to negotiate better wages and more dignified work environments.
This was the best of government service. It wasn’t just about prices; it was about dignity.
These programs were attacked in 2025, yet our candidates are hanging on to the trendy egg prices of 2024 — a fragile strategy.
We should always demand more. That means shifting the policy emphasis on affordability to dignity. The latter guarantees wholesale change.
— Walter Paul Obote, Chicago
Another waste of time
It’s early, but based on what I read, I do believe the Democrats will retake the House. This is unfortunate because instead of dealing with the many difficult issues facing the country, they may move to impeach President Donald Trump. While this may satisfy their base, it is a total waste of time since the Senate will never convict Trump.
Therefore, we will see another wasted two years. Let’s hope I’m wrong, but based on the candidates’ rhetoric, it sure seems like we are headed down this road.
— Dan Schuchardt, Wheaton
Praise for Darren Bailey
Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is to be lauded for rebuking the national GOP for criticizing Gov. JB Pritzker’s weight. Attacks such as the puerile meme that prompted Bailey’s comments are reprehensible for several reasons, including:
- They show that the critics have the maturity and sense of humor of 12-year-olds. Such comments are utterly bereft of thought, class and sophistication.
- They lack a sense of common humanity; attacking others for their physical characteristics shows a propensity toward deriving some perverse satisfaction from the sophomoric derision of others.
- They make the electorate wonder whether the GOP has anything else, anything worthwhile and substantive, on which to criticize Pritzker.
- They indicate that those who make such comments have a very low opinion of the electorate’s judgment and ability to handle real issues.
By calling out these idiotic attacks on Pritzker, Bailey shows that he realizes that the electorate wants leaders of thought and action, not louts and galoots who have nothing better to do than to attack opposing candidates for irrelevant physical characteristics.
We don’t need further division in our country and in our state. We don’t need political discourse based on imbecilic observations of those who are trying to convince us that they and those they support are the answer to our country’s many problems.
Bravo to Bailey. And don’t let the yahoos get you down, Gov. Pritzker.
— Mark M. Quinn, Naperville
Right role models needed
What were the people involved in creating Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton‘s commercial for her U.S. Senate bid thinking? Is this the type of behavior we would see if she is elected? No positive platform suggesting ways to help the people of Illinois? Just expletive-laden rants?
These commercials are seen by everyone, including our children. Leaders should serve as positive role models and not use profane language to demonize an opponent. Parents should be prepared to turn the channel or cover their children’s eyes and ears so they are not exposed to these obscenities.
— Cathleen Bylina, Chicago
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
