Making Meaning of Demography is Destiny in Professional Communication

This article investigates past participatory research in the field to make the case that technical and professional communication is invested in disproving Demography is Destiny. Demography is Destiny is the assumption that the demography of a population predetermines the voting pattern. We find that past research in the US Census design highlights conservative Demography is Destiny over fears that the racial and political organizing of Latinos will grant power to the democratic party. We extend this research by showing the democrats also use Demography is Destiny to make unfair assumptions of the expected voting patterns of Latinos. To demonstrate, we use evidence from the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas to explain why an area that is predominantly Latino voted republican in 2024 for the first time in 132 years. We conclude that the field's engagement in participatory design practices can grant insight to the material needs of Latinos, thus dispelling any myth of Demography is Destiny. Our hope is that the field can continue participatory design methods and work with Latinos to combat exclusionary practices exemplified in technical documents.