Political Power
Our text identifies multiple contributing factors that limit the political power of Latinos as a group in the United States. However, there is a strong argument that non-citizenship and poor English, language skills are the two main contributing factors.
Major political parties are recognizing the weight the Hispanic population could carry in an election, and have begun to reach out to members of the community. A multilingual ballot is now required by Federal law in districts who have at least 5 percent of the eligible voting population that do not speak English. Creating a multilingual ballot in cities with a large Latino presence is a major step in encouraging voters. However, a major factor against this effort is, many …show more content…
As mentioned above multilingual ballots are required when a specific portion of a district does not speak English. In 2007, 46 percent of Latino’s cited language skills as the biggest cause of discrimination, and while Latino’s agree college is important, their level of attainment beyond high school is one of the lowest in the Hispanic Origin Group. (pg 210, 212)
Latino communities are making great strides in increasing their number of ballots, however, this group is still grossly under represented in proportion to their population …show more content…
My curiosity, however, has been heightened. I am curious if their sense of family and community are so strong that Latinos as a group do not strive for increased political power. With a large number of non-citizens it is possible that the communities do not want the attention that political power may give them. I am disturbed by the number of non-citizens, not for political reasons, for personal. To knowingly come to a country that does not allow you to be counted offers a strong suggestion of how much worse it was in your homeland. I also wonder if this sense of family and community, along with strong religious beliefs offer Latinos a comfortable peace of mind. It is evident that the political power of the Latino group is limited, however, through all of their turmoil they have managed to maintain the family unit, and hold onto traditional, cultural and religious beliefs. Perhaps we as Americans could learn from
Our text identifies multiple contributing factors that limit the political power of Latinos as a group in the United States. However, there is a strong argument that non-citizenship and poor English, language skills are the two main contributing factors.
Major political parties are recognizing the weight the Hispanic population could carry in an election, and have begun to reach out to members of the community. A multilingual ballot is now required by Federal law in districts who have at least 5 percent of the eligible voting population that do not speak English. Creating a multilingual ballot in cities with a large Latino presence is a major step in encouraging voters. However, a major factor against this effort is, many …show more content…
As mentioned above multilingual ballots are required when a specific portion of a district does not speak English. In 2007, 46 percent of Latino’s cited language skills as the biggest cause of discrimination, and while Latino’s agree college is important, their level of attainment beyond high school is one of the lowest in the Hispanic Origin Group. (pg 210, 212)
Latino communities are making great strides in increasing their number of ballots, however, this group is still grossly under represented in proportion to their population …show more content…
My curiosity, however, has been heightened. I am curious if their sense of family and community are so strong that Latinos as a group do not strive for increased political power. With a large number of non-citizens it is possible that the communities do not want the attention that political power may give them. I am disturbed by the number of non-citizens, not for political reasons, for personal. To knowingly come to a country that does not allow you to be counted offers a strong suggestion of how much worse it was in your homeland. I also wonder if this sense of family and community, along with strong religious beliefs offer Latinos a comfortable peace of mind. It is evident that the political power of the Latino group is limited, however, through all of their turmoil they have managed to maintain the family unit, and hold onto traditional, cultural and religious beliefs. Perhaps we as Americans could learn from