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Time capsule of the emerging Majority Minority
By Rodolpho Carrasco
January 2003 in the Pasadena Star News
Rodolpho Carrasco is associate director of Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, Calif. In October, he was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
This week the U.S. Census Bureau announced that Latinos outnumber African Americans and are now the nation's largest minority group. Latinos now make up 13% of the U.S. population and number 37 million, while Blacks comprise 12.7% and 36.1 million.
This announcement is a wake-up call to all Americans, especially those living outside of the major U.S. Hispanic centers, as well as occasion to examine important new data about Hispanic attitudes and behaviors.
In places like Los Angeles, Hispanics have outnumbered Blacks for years. In Chicago, Hispanics passed Blacks and Mexicans surpassed Puerto Ricans in the late 1990s. Miami has been a mini-Latin America for some time. Texas will likely be the first state with a Hispanic majority.
But in the flyover states people are just beginning to acknowledge and respond to the new minority presence in their midst.
For years Midwesterners and Southerners watched Hispanics, principally Mexicans, trickle into their cities, towns, farms, elementary schools, banks, and mega-stores. The density increased with each passing year, but they paid little mind, especially as migration patterns meant familiar faces would suddenly disappear and be replaced by new ones.
But in the past decade Hispanics increasingly set down roots, and these Americans have been faced with new challenges, with which I am familiar. My work among churches draws me into fascinating scenarios.
Some elementary schools in Oklahoma City are 40% Latino. What can a nearby church do to reach those families? Assemblies of God ministers in Nebraska struggle with native-born Latinos dropping out of church in their late teens, attracted by neither the Spanish-language Latino congregation nor the mainstream White gathering. In Wyoming - Wyoming! - a pastor has decided to plant an English-speaking Hispanic church.
Hispanic understanding - everyone needs it. From sea to shining sea, from Canada to La Frontera, we are unified as a nation in our need to get to know the Hispanics in our midst.
Toward a greater understanding of Hispanics of America, some snapshots from the National Survey of Latinos are useful. Produced jointly by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the survey results deliver timely data in numerous areas, including language, education, and discrimination.
Language: 89% believe immigrants need to learn to speak English to succeed in the United States. The recognition of the importance of English will come as a surprise to many, especially residents of small, central California towns with Hispanic majorities where much Spanish is spoken in public. But the recognition is real. Bilingual ability means better, higher paying and more secure jobs. Children are schooled in English, and who wants to lose touch with their own children?
The survey also finds that while 47% of Hispanics are Spanish-dominant (17 million), 25% are English-dominant (9 million) and the other 28% consider themselves bilingual (10 million). 19 million English-speaking Hispanics are enough for innovative publishers to risk producing products like the recently released Latino Heritage Bible, which is entirely in English. Who ever heard of using pure English to attract Latinos? Now you have.
Education: 7% of foreign-born Hispanics and 13% of native-born Hispanics hold college degrees. That figure is far too low in an economy that must replace baby boomer-aged, skilled laborers who will retire over the next two decades.
Major efforts are underway to increase the number of college-educated Latinos. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) is committed to doubling the rate of Hispanics graduating from college by 2010. In 30 years, HSF has granted $90 million to more than 32,000 Hispanic scholars. Toward their goal, HSF is establishing scholarship cohorts on college campuses nationwide and tapping alumni for ongoing support.
Discrimination: Latinos overwhelmingly say that discrimination against Latinos is a problem. In a new twist, the survey also finds that an overwhelming majority (83%) say that discrimination by Latinos against other Latinos is a problem, and almost half (47%) feel it is a major problem.
The exact dynamic of intra-Latino discrimination will vary depending on region of the country. Around Los Angeles, and in many parts of the country, the issue is Mexicans marginalizing Central Americans and Caribbeans.
One example of this is a Dominican Protestant pastor who was recently replaced removed from a Spanish-dominant church. The reason, he said, was because he was not a Mexican. I don't have all the details. Perhaps there were other factors. But the hurt and anger in his voice are not debatable. In this instance, he perceived that it was not Whites or Blacks who had treated him poorly, but other Latinos.
While there is much work to do in the areas of language acceptance, education and discrimination, I am struck by how far Latinos have progressed. English is commanded as well as widely used. College graduation rates will increase if HSF and many others reach their goals. Hispanics have acquired so much power that we now study ways in which that power can be abused.
Yet and still, the Census Bureau announcement signifies that it is time for all Americans to get serious about the growing Hispanic presence throughout this country. It remains critical for all of us - especially this new Hispanic majority minority - to continue building bridges and relationships with African Americans. It's also time to put as much energy into understanding Hispanics as we do African Americans.
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