The Latino population it the United States is growing and becoming more powerful. 30 years ago, many Latinos in the United States were poor immigrants with little or no education. They worked hard jobs and long hours for low pay picking vegetables, cleaning houses, washing cars, etc. Today we see the first and second generations graduating from high school and some from college, becoming more active in politics, and earning more money. Although many Latinos are still living under the poverty level, there are many who are becoming successful as we see Latinos becoming teachers, police officers, nurses, lawyers and business owners.

Population

According to the US Census Bureau |website|.

· There are 37.4 million Latinos in the United States.

· 13.3. % of the U.S. population is Latino.

· 66.9% of Latinos in the United States come from Mexico.

· 1/3 of Latinos are under the age of 18.

· The Latino population is younger than the non-latino population.

· Hispanic family households are more likely than non-hispanic white family households to be maintained by a female with no spouse present.

· Among latino households, Puerto Ricans have the largest proportion of households maintained by a female with no spouse present.

· About ½ of latinos over 15 years old are married.

· Latinos are more likely to be living in poverty than non-latino whites.

· Over ¼ of latino children under the age of 18 live in poverty.

· 45% of California's workforce is Latino, 15 % of that work in the agriculture industry.

· Most Latinos live in Texas, California, New York, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois.

Politics

Over the past 25 years, latinos have been gaining power in US politics. Last May, Mexican-American Antonio Villaraigosa was elected mayor of Los Angeles |website|, the second largest city in the United States. He received 59 percent of the votes. Los Angeles is approximately 50 percent Latino.

Also, two US Senators, Mel Martinez of Florida and Ken Salazar of Colorado, were elected in 2004.

In the beginning of this year, President Bush appointed Alberto Gonzales as his new attorney general |website| after John Ashcroft resigned. Gonzales is now the most senior person of Hispanic descent in the administration.

Many of these Hispanic politicians came from modest backgrounds |official bio |. Gonzales was one of eight children living in a two bedroom house in Texas. His parents worked hard in the fields.
The number of elected Hispanics in the United States has grown 30 percent in the past eight years, from 3,743 in 1996 to 4,853 in 2004.

Hispanics are getting support from all groups. For example, 59.4% of white people, 58.3% of black people, and 86.3% of Latino people voted for Villaraigosa in Los Angeles.
The number of Hispanics has grown nationwide (to 35.3 million - surpassing blacks as the nation's largest minority) and the number of Hispanic voters has doubled (from 5 million to 10 million) in the past 10 years.



Education

In 1994, the governor of California, Pete Wilson |website |, tried to pass a law called proposition 187 | text | |info:wikipedia |. It said that only citizens of the United States could attend public school. The proposition was blocked by the court system, and it caused the Latino population to want to become more involved in politics and more interested in their own education. In the United States, everyone has the right to a free education, even people who are not living legally there.

In the 1990's, a law called proposition 209 | text |  | details | gave minorities admission to public universities, even when they had low grades and low test scores. Many Latinos took advantage of this program and received very good college educations. In 1998 the law was taken away; however, Latinos continued to follow their friends and relatives to college. |more: hispaniconline |

| read: "Education urged to integrate growing Hispanic minority" - pravdaonline 01-03-2006 |

| read "Hispanic high school dropout rate nearly doubles" - gazette.ne (Maryland) 23-02-2006 |

Today, more Latinos are going to college and graduating from college than ever before. . A total of 8,438 Latino students from California were offered admission to the University of California, compared with 5,570 in 1997. They now represent 16.8 percent of total admissions, compared with 14.05 percent in 1997.

|read & write: Diversity matters @UCSD |

This isn't true for black Americans. A total of 1,593 black students from California were offered admission to UC, up slightly from 1,503 in 1997 but down from the 1,720 accepted in 2003. They represent only 3.18 percent of the total admissions this year.

|click: "Top 50 Colleges for Black Students" |

Military

Latinos comprise more than 1/3 of the 41,000 foreign citizens in the military. Through April 2005, 171 Latinos have died in the Iraq war. President Bush offered green card holders fast citizenship if they were to fight in the Iraq war. Latinos are most present in the Army and Marines, the two areas where most of the casualties occur. Latinos have very low numbers in the Air Force and the Navy.

Closing the borders

People cross the Mexican border into the United States illegally every day. Some swim across the Gulf of Mexico into Texas, some walk through the desert to Arizona and some hide in the trunks of cars while someone drives them into California. Even though there are border control points, the border is very long and cannot be covered adequately. The trip is very dangerous and not everyone survives. People drown from the strong currents, die from heat in the desert, get lost and cannot find their way to cities, and suffocate in the hot trunks. However, thousands make it every year. Many pregnant mothers will make the trip to give birth in the United States, because every child born in the United States is automatically a United States citizen. And the people who make it find jobs working as house keepers, child care providers, field workers, handwerker, etc. but they don't pay taxes. This has become a burden to the individual states because they use the hospitals and public services, their children receive a free education, etc. This has begun the debate to "secure the borders." The debate became strong after September 11th and will continue to be an important political topic over the next few years. Some politicians are talking about building a "wall." Governor Schwarzenegger has recently been criticized for his remark that the United States should "close the borders." He later said that he meant to say "secure the borders."

Driver's License

On September 5th, 2003 the governor of California Gray Davis signed a law giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Latinos were happy because they are living in California, have jobs in California and now they can drive without worrying that the police will take their car away from them. Then Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor and took that law away. Latinos in California organized themselves and agreed to an economic boycott. Latinos agreed not to go to work or buy anything on December 12th, 2003. The idea was that if they weren't a part of society, then they would take themselves out of society for a day to show the economic effect they could have.

Culture

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated by just as many people in California as the 4th of July.

In New York, there is a huge Puerto Rican parade every year.

A girl's 15 birthday (quincinera) is celebrated with a huge party.

Mexican food is very common in the southwestern parts of the United States.

Chicanos/Chicanas - Mecha Club (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan) or "Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan"

Advertisements often use Spanish.

Many service jobs prefer that you speak Spanish.

Early this year, a spanish radio station put an advertisement on the freeway. It was a picture that put a Mexico City momument into downtown Los Angeles with the words, "Los Angeles, CA" on it, but the "CA" was crossed out and replaced with a red "Mexico."

| WebQuest Hispanic Music and Cultures in North America | 

Tijuana

Watch out for crossing people |more|

<c> Jennifer Peshkoff, Feb 2006