The Latino Face of America

CFP ^ | March 14, 2005 | Alan Caruba

[MikeEdwards]

A funny thing happened to me while I was pushing a cart up and down the aisles of my local Pathmark supermarket. I hit one aisle and suddenly realized that a very large portion of it was devoted to Goya and other products favored by Latinos. Not being a Hispanic or Latino--the terms are interchangeable--I had not noticed that before, but the fact is, New Jersey and nearby New York are major population centers for Latinos, even though much of the Hispanic population remains spread throughout the Southwest and, of course, throughout California.

In the past, I have written some pretty harsh analysis of the impact of illegal immigration on the United States of America. I have not favored the further granting of amnesty to the eight to 12 million illegal aliens here, most of whom are from Mexico, South America, and Caribbean nations. There is, however, a power in numbers and in history. They are both relentless when examined without prejudice.

Let me share some numbers with you from an interesting book, Right Before Our Eyes: Latinos Past, Present & Future (Scholargy Publishing, 1555 W. University Drive, Suite 108, Tempe, AZ 85281, www.scholargy.com) by Robert Montemayor with Henry Mendoza.

• Latinos are the largest and the youngest ethnic minority in the United States.

• At approximately 40 million today, Latinos account for 13.7 percent of the U.S. population.

• By 2050, one out of every four Americans will be Latinos, a number that will exceed 100 million.

• In 2020, one out of six workers in the U.S. will be Latino; in 2050, it will be one out of four.

• Latinos will spend $700 billion this year.

• Latinos represented between 6 to 8 million votes in the 2004 presidential election. . . . .

[EagleUSA]

Oh, pleeeeezzzzeee DON'T REMIND ME....

[unkus]

'RECONQUISTA' is the name of the game, muchisimas gracias.

[RebelBanker]

Please have a care to differentiate Mexican and/or other Latin American illegals from Puerto Ricans (read: Native US citizens)or other legal residents who happen to be Hispanic. Many people automatically assume Mexican when anyone refers to Hispanics in this country. IIRC, Puerto Ricans and Spaniards do not take kindly to being called "Latino," as that term generally refers to Central and South Americans.

[AmericanChef]

The Unjournalists assume that all people who speak whatever version of Spanish are one big brotherhood. Not so. There's no love lost, for example, between Cubans and Puerto Ricans.