Civic Engagement Process Analysis

The presence of Latino leaders in all levels of government is necessary in order to have advocates who will represent the needs of the Latino community. Although the Latino population is on the rise and quickly becoming one of the largest ethnic minorities in the United States, the ethnic and racial backgrounds of leaders in government positions are not reflective of our nation’s diversity. Leadership can be developed within the Latino community by individuals who are active participants, have strong roots in their community, and

Immigration from Latin America and the growth of the nation 's Latino population are two of the most important and controversial developments in the recent history of the United States. Latinos are destined to continue to have an enormous impact

In chapter seven of Racial Formation in the Twenty-First Century, the author Tomás Almaguer discusses how the Hispanic and Latino populations in the United States are identified in terms of race and ethnicity. Almaguer mentions how Latinos were initially identified as “white” in government documents mainly due to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. However, soon enough due to the increase of the Latino population in the United States from various Latin American or Hispanic countries, they began to be placed under an ethnicity.

Over the past fifty or so years great strides have been made on the subject of Mexican-American civil rights, but the first pivotal moment for these civil rights barely gets any recognition in the annals of American civil rights, in which it rightly deserves. This victory, which has been labeled “The Longoria Affair”, would cause a momentum within Latino civil rights movement that was previously unseen and would lead the way for political opportunities for Latinos.

In 2008, African-American presidential nominee Barack Obama garnered 67% of the Latino vote. In his bid for re-election, President Barack Obama acquired 71% of the Latino vote (Pew Research Center). With these statistics in mind, one can conclude that there has been a consistent growing pattern of continued co-operation between blacks and Latinos at the national level. This is in complete contrast however, to the mindset of some observers who believed that Latinos would not come out in the numbers they did because of racial bias and because of the fact that Obama received much less support amongst Latinos in the democratic primaries when faced against Hilary Clinton (Hero & Preuhs, p.3). Many people mistakenly thought this to be so because

Hispanics are a growing group in the USA in terms of politics, this can be seen through demographics, according to the 2000 census, they did form 12% of the population, but by the 2010 census this figure has increased over 16% (51 million people) this was due to immigration and birth rates, therefore over the years they have become more influential as they are now a larger proportion or the electorate.

In accordance with the New York Times article ‘’27 Million Potential Hispanic Votes. But What Will They Really Add Up To?’’ writed by Marcela Valdes, the hispanic vote is determined for a such of circumstances, which explained through different testimonies in different contexts; starting with a background about one of the most important political issues in America today.

Since the majority of Latinos are not legal citizens; therefore, they cannot vote in an election (Ginsbert et al, 2013). For the Latinos that can vote are more likely to vote Democratic. Voters for the Democratic are seen as urban countries, with large minority population, older and native Texans (Ginsbert et al, 2013). Teachers, business men and women, and citizens with higher educations are more likely to vote depending on who is running and their platforms. Hispanics and African-American are seen voting more for the Democratic candidates and whites voting for the Republican candidates (Ginsbert et al, 2013). Women are move likely to vote Democratic than men (Ginsbert et al,

While many may believe that the most important issue to Latinos is immigration reform, a survey taken by the Pew Research Center in 2013 reveals that “some 57% of Latino registered voters called education an ‘extremely important’ issue facing the nation today” (Krogstad). The reason why this is seen as most important may be due to Texas’s overall low national rankings. As reported by the U.S. News and World Report, of the 1,492 Texas high schools examined for the nation’s best high schools, only 357 made the list in 2014 (Brown 367). As an increasing number of students “have come… from families that are ethnic minorities or economically disadvantaged,” such low rankings possibly result from the low quality education that they receiving as “historically, Texas not served minority and less affluent student as well as it has Anglo and middle-class students” (Brown 367). Additionally, in the 2012-2013 academic school year, the Texas Education Agency reported that 51 percent of students in the state are Latino, therefore as the amount of Latino students increases throughout the state, the higher the notice of this lower quality education as compared to their Anglo counterparts (Brown 367). This has lead to an outreach throughout the Latino community to improve the quality of education that they are

This research examines the disjuncture between Hispanic strength in population and Hispanic participation in politics. I examine the nature of this disjuncture: its severity, its causes, and its consequences. Hispanics currently comprise 11.2% of the U.S. population, but the Hispanic vote in the 1998 elections comprised only 4.7% of all ballots cast. The situation is even bleaker when considering Hispanic representation in Congress. Currently, less than four percent of U.S. House members are Latino. Add to that clear disjuncture the fact that two of the Hispanic Congressmen do not even possess the ability to vote and that there is not a single Hispanic Senator, and we see that

A diverse minority group of Latino and Spanish-speaking peoples has played an important part of what it means to be American and what it means to be a citizen in the United States today. Moving into the future, in order to analyze the trajectory that this group is in, we must first understand the group’s history in the United States and in territories that would become the United States. In addition, we must look at the origins of the most recent wave of Latino immigration in order to understand their current effect on American society and the intersection between both minority and majority groups. Finally, we get to the apex of this investigation: what lies in the future for Latino Americans in the United States? Although Latino

My hometown of Tolleson, Arizona is a small city of six thousand, five hundred residents with a predominantly Mexican population, with nearly 78% of the residents declaring themselves as Mexican in the 2010 census (citation). The focus of my research will be on the power of Latino representation in government in Latino-majority cities, like Tolleson, whose city council is majority Mexican. Tolleson has been making great strides to fix up the town and provide more jobs and opportunities to its residents, and in doing so, the city has asserted itself as a major innovator. For example, Tolleson was the only city in Arizona to not lay off employees during the 2008 Great Recession, and the Paseo de Luces, which was created by Mayor Adolfo F. Gámez, who also fought to keep highways such as the Interstate 10 and South Mountain Freeway from dividing the city, is a major project completed by the city in order to attract jobs and create a sense of community and history. Another example is the Home Rule Measure (or alternative local expenditure limitation), in which voters had this measure on their ballots to decide whether to allow Tolleson to continue to spend the revenues it collects. Approval of this measure does not increase taxes, just reallocates them, and in order to ensure the passage of the measure, Gámez and other city council members walked door-to-door to explain the bill and to urge everyone to vote in favor.

For decades, immigrants have surrounded the United States with culture and diversity. In these states filled with Latinos, we see a lot of rich culture with food, music, fashion, and achievements. Latinos have a huge impact on movements and policies that happened in the United States for years. Starting with marches, protests, walkouts, laws, and policies. The most salient factor for migrant empowerment and migrant rights is the advancement of the policies and movements that the United States unlatched.

The United States of America is considered a melting pot of heritages and nationalities from all around the world. There is no official language, and no one culture all citizens abide by. Despite the fact that everyone in this country is different from one another, there is still a constant uniform citizen that has a more favorable position. This citizen is white, English-speaking, and somehow always in the front of the public sphere. In the recent years, there has been an increasingly dominant Latino presence in America. Their strength in numbers challenges there being a poster American citizen, and that that citizen will remain white. When working to assimilate to America’s “culture,” Lations seem to believe that there is one America, within which people speak a singular language and experience one culture. The pressure to assimilate stems from the white citizens of the country feeling threatened when there is a new culture and language, which they do not understand. As a result they feel personally threatened by the people who can speak both Spanish and English, and their response response involves marginalization and the obvious exclusion of Latino groups in the United States. There is a phenomenon, cultural citizenship, where Latinos perform their cultural practices to stretch their identity into the states, and practice their right to be authentic members of their community.

The Latinos in my class differed in the way that they were proud to say they were Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Dominican. Thus, I pursued a relationship with these classmates and I began to feel differently about Latinos. I realized that I was taking part in the prejudice thoughts my previous classmates had toward Latinos by concealing my identity. I also recognized that Latinos were struggling to pursue a better life and that we are looked down upon. As a result of discrimination, it is difficult for us to accomplish our goals in life. Presently, every opportunity I get, I talk about my culture. I discuss the hardships Latinos face and I describe my experience growing up Puerto Rican. Although I am Puerto Rican, I don't know as much about my culture as I should. Reading Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez has brought new insights to my knowledge of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in general. Gonzalez focuses on language and writes that speaking Spanish is treated as a handicap instead of as an asset.