How did I miss that? That's definitely a sad moment. Did you really mean that McConnell was showing the Democrats' strategy? I believe his little detour into truthfulness was outing more Republicans than Democrats. It's not news that they don't think of us as either human or American, though I know they're not the only ones.

I wonder if your experiences in Southern Florida are due mainly to interaction with Cubans, who tend to be conservative and definitely think of themselves as "white." In other places, where Latinx people are more native looking or have definite African features, incorporating them into "whiteness" will be a lot tougher.