We all know someone like Marcelo Lucero—an immigrant who was working hard, sending money home to help his family in Ecuador, dreaming of returning to the country he left but already long settled and accustomed to a nation that has benefited from generations of men and women like him.
This was lost on the gang of youths that hunted for “a Mexican,” as reported, surrounded Lucero and who one of them killed last Saturday in Patchogue, Long Island. READ FULL STORYRead more…
California's black and Latino voters, who turned out in droves for Barack Obama, provided key support for a state ban on same-sex marriage. Christian, married and older voters also helped give the measure the winning edge, according to exit polls for The Associated Press.
Proposition 8 overturns a May California Supreme Court decision legalizing gay nuptials and rewrites the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Exit poll data showed seven in 10 black voters and more than half of Latino voters backed the ballot initiative, while whites and Asians were split. READ FULL STORYRead more…
They're soldiers like any others, enduring the grind of military life and sometimes risking their own as peacekeepers in hot spots like Afghanistan. But these troops defend a flag that is not their own.
Spain has struggled to recruit soldiers since it abolished the draft in 2000 and created an all-professional army.
At one point it even lowered the IQ threshold for enlistees, although it later raised it again, and eventually opened up the military to immigrants.
Today, such foreigners — most of them young Latin Americans — make up nearly 7 percent of the military's 80,000-member force. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Some people have misconceptions of Latinos' level of civic commitment, according to a new Brown report.
A team of researchers, including some Brown faculty members, recently released a report that presents counter-arguments to commonly held myths about the opinions and attitudes of the Latino community.
Under the leadership of Evelyn Hu-Dehart, director of Brown's Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, the project, entitled "Myths vs. Reality: Results From the New England Latino Survey," was an extension of the Latino National Survey. Conducted in 2005 and 2006 by a group of Latino political scientists, the survey, according to a University statement, was "a study of political and social attitudes of more than 8,600 Latino residents in the United States." For the New England-focused report released Oct. 30, the Latino communities in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts were surveyed. READ FULL STORYRead more…
New Census numbers show whites no longer in majority in Dodge City and Liberal
Hispanic people now account for slightly more than half of Dodge City's population, leaving non-Hispanic whites in the minority, according to new Census figures.
The Hispanic segment of Dodge City's population has risen to 53.6 percent since 2000, while non-Hispanic whites dropped to about 41 percent, the figures show. Blacks now account for 1.5 percent of the population, and Asians make up another 2.2 percent.
Dodge City Commissioner Jim Sherer said Sunday he had not seen the figures, but he was not surprised by them.
"I just think that this has been happening over the last 20, 25 years," he said. "To me, it's a very positive thing that we all need to know about, first of all, and understand."
Sherer said that he viewed the increase in Dodge City's Hispanic population as a positive trend, saying it would bring more opportunities for cultural exchanges. He also said that the trend indicated that the community's economic health was strong. READ FULL STORYRead more…
If you think it's embarrassing for an African-American to have to identify himself to the police while in his own house, imagine how humiliating it is for U.S.-born Latinos to have to prove their citizenship in their own country.
With racial profiling in the news lately, it's worth noting that America's largest minority has to endure the practice, too — but with a twist. Not only, according to several studies, do Latinos get pulled over by police and have their cars searched at a higher rate than whites. They also sometimes suffer the indignity of having to prove that they have the legal right to even be in the United States. READ FULL STORYRead more…
During his recent HBO special, "Tall, Dark and Chicano," comedian George Lopez tore a hole in the Big Tent. Incensed that 31 Senate Republicans had voted against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Lopez informed the GOP that it would never again get the votes of Latinos. In fact, he said, given changing demographics, Republicans might as well get used to losing in the years to come because "you won't win a ... pie-eating contest."
That's harsh, but fair. Republicans know not what they did. They're only fooling themselves if they think they won't pay a price for their petty opposition to the nation's first Latina justice.
Remember when Republicans used to say that people should take responsibility for their actions? Never mind. They didn't mean it. Not when it comes to Senate Republicans trying to dodge responsibility for voting against Sotomayor. They might be able to stand behind their votes if they weren't afraid that they were standing on quicksand. They're terrified that Latinos will be sore winners and take retribution at the ballot box - starting in 2010 and possibly lasting for decades. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Violent and racist e-mail jokes alluding to the assassination of President Barack Obama, the killing of Latinos and violence against black people were forwarded by Atwater City Councilman Gary Frago during the last six months, according to more than 200 new e-mails obtained by the Sun-Star from the city of Atwater.
The councilman, who forwarded the newly obtained e-mails to city staff and a county supervisor, among others, has been under public pressure to resign since it was learned in July that he had sent other racist e-mails in late 2008 and early 2009.
One of the most troubling of the new Frago e-mails, forwarded in January, joked that Nokia had designed a new cell phone for "nervous white people" who want to make calls in a series of cities known for their large black populations, such as Oakland and New Orleans. The phone was a gun. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Locked in a healthcare debate that is claiming much of his energy, President Obama acknowledged that a push to overhaul the nation's immigration system will have to wait until 2010 and even then will prove a major political test.
Obama suggested it would be too ambitious to aim for passage of new immigration laws before the end of the year, at a time when he will be confronting "a pretty big stack of bills." READ FULL STORYRead more…
Hispanics account for more than half of the overall U.S. population growth since 2000, the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington reported.
Hispanics, the largest minority group in the United States, account for 50.5 percent of the country's population growth since 2000, the center reported.
The center said the population growth is more the result of new births in families already living in the country than it is the result of new migration from other countries. READ FULL STORYRead more…
A new study today by an organization opposed to affirmative action concludes minorities are more likely to be admitted to the state's two public law schools than similarly qualified Anglos.
The report by the Center for Economic Opportunity shows the number of Anglos, Asians, Hispanics and blacks admitted to the law colleges at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona is pretty much in proportion to the number that apply. READ FULL STORYRead more…
In a Pennsylvania coal-mining town last July, four high-school football players were accused of shouting ethnic slurs at a Mexican immigrant before a brawl erupted and Luis Ramirez, 25, was killed.
Three of the teens were charged with ethnic intimidation, and the attack became part of a growing category of crimes reported in the U.S.: hate attacks against Hispanics.
Attacks on Hispanics grew 40 percent from 2003 to 2007, outpacing the estimated 16 percent increase in the Hispanic population in the U.S., according to FBI statistics. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Posted by HispanicPro on September 30, 2008 at 11:44am
America's largest minority is a paradox. Latinos have a reputation for being fatalistic. Yet many, especially immigrants, also share an entrepreneurial belief that people chart their own destinies. The result is 46 million Americans -- 15 percent of the U.S. population -- who vacillate between pessimism and optimism.
At the moment, pessimism has the upper hand. According to a new survey from the Pew Hispanic Center, Latinos in the United States are increasingly gloomy about their own situation, the economy and their prospects for future success.
That is true of many Americans. However, it's precisely because Latinos -- as with other groups with a strong immigrant tradition -- are known for being optimistic and overcoming obstacles that a surge of pessimism should be taken seriously. Imagine what other groups typically less optimistic are going through. READ FULL ARTICLERead more…
Next to the door of one of New York’s favorite stores, Filenes’ basement on 79th and Broadway, there’s a dark dirty figure with a sign that says, “Homeless, please help.”
He is 30-year-old Juan Carlos Gonzalez. He has an inserted bolt in his right ankle ever since he was in a car accident when he was just 15 years old.
Originally from Manta, Ecuador, he came to New York four years ago, after obtaining a work permit to work for an air conditioning company here.
“I came from a small town where streets are made of sand, you know… New York always seems like being in a movie, it’s so beautiful.” Until a few months ago Juan Carlos shared an apartment with a couple of friends, had bank accounts, money to send home, and even money left over for a couple of weekend beers. READ FULL STORYRead more…
A day after President Obama announced that legislation to overhaul immigration laws would have to wait until next year, the secretary of homeland security played down the need for change in a speech here and took a tough stance on enforcing current immigration laws.
The secretary, Janet Napolitano, defended the administration’s assertive strategy against illegal immigrants and companies that employ them, relying largely on programs started under President George W. Bush.
That strategy has drawn fire from immigrant groups and many of Mr. Obama’s Hispanic supporters, who say the president has not lived up to campaign promises to ease the pressure on illegal workers and to seek changes in immigration laws that would give more workers visas. READ FULL STORYRead more…
A Washington think tank says Nevada had the highest unemployment rate among Hispanics in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2009.
The Economic Policy Institute, a labor-leaning economic think tank, says in a report that the state's unemployment rate among Hispanics was 16.4 percent. California came in second at 15.7 percent.
The report says the rate is due in part to a large number of job losses in the construction industry.
The overall Nevada unemployment rate in the quarter was 11.3 percent. READ FULL STORYRead more…
Hispanics who move to the United States are 40 percent more likely to develop certain cancers than those who remain in their native countries, according to a study from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine that was conducted in Florida, a state with a diverse Hispanic population.
Researchers speculate that one reason for the increase in cancer risk is that immigrants quickly adopt new, less healthy dietary and lifestyle habits, such as increased alcohol consumption, after moving to the United States. It is also possible that some of the increase may be due to more aggressive diagnostic measures in the United States that result in greater cancer detection compared to other countries.READ FULL STORYRead more…
Google's grants program favors nonprofits run by whites and Asians, in effect is raising ad prices for African-American and Hispanic nonprofits, a new report says.
Over the past three years, Google has given away $300 million worth of free advertising on its site, says the report from TechMission, an association of Black and Latino-led nonprofits addressing the digital divide.
That $300 million in advertising grants is used by recipient nonprofits to bid on specific search terms related to their organizations and missions.
This practice has "flooded the market" for nonprofit ads with virtual dollars, the report says, forcing nonprofits that do not receive grants to pay more for search terms.
TechMission estimates 95 percent of Google Grants recipients are nonprofits led by whites or Asians, and only five percent are led by African-Americans or Hispanics. READ FULL STORYRead more…
The Latino/a population in the United States is expected to triple by 2050, according to projections from the U.S. Census Bureau. And along with that growth, says University of Illinois professor Lydia Buki, will come a rise in the number of individuals from that population who are diagnosed with cancer.
In particular, based on current statistics, Buki expects that diagnoses of breast and cervical cancers among Latinas will increase significantly. READ FULL STORYRead more…
More than half of the nation’s 16 million Hispanic children are the U.S.-born sons or daughters of at least one foreign-born parent, the Pew Hispanic Center says in advance of a report due out Thursday on the rise of this second generation of Latino children.
Their foreign-born parents typically came to the United States in the immigration wave from Mexico, Central America and South America that began around 1980.
The newest figures represent a striking demographic change. In 1980, a significant majority of Hispanic children were the U.S.-born sons or daughters of U.S.-born parents. READ FULL STORYRead more…
