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 Latinos of voting age are non-citizens, and therefore, are ineligible to vote. There is also a lack of effort, between elections, to pursue the Latino population’s interest. Latinos feel the political parties rediscover their community every four years, calling it “fiesta politics” (pg 214 text) or “Hispandering”. (pg 214 text). This is a double edge sword scenario; a larger presence at the election polls may change how this population is pursued; yet how will the numbers increase with so many Latinos being ineligible to vote. The level of education, specifically language skills and the ability to speak English is another area of concern. …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 numbers. RELIGION Our text states “the most important formal organization in the Hispanic community is the church” (pg 214) There is also suggestion that while 3rd generation immigrants agree religion is important, they do not agree it needs to be formal. (pg 215) Religion has offered a sense of belonging in communities where immigrants are often over looked. Hispanics have long relied on their own patron saints, personal altars and a more expressive form of religious faith as a way of holding onto traditional religious beliefs. The largest Hispanic affiliation is with the Catholic Church. Sixty nine percent of 1st generation immigrants, and forty percent of 3rd generation immigrants, state their faith to be Catholic. There is …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 Latinos of voting age are non-citizens, and therefore, are ineligible to vote. There is also a lack of effort, between elections, to pursue the Latino population’s interest. Latinos feel the political parties rediscover their community every four years, calling it “fiesta politics” (pg 214 text) or “Hispandering”. (pg 214 text). This is a double edge sword scenario; a larger presence at the election polls may change how this population is pursued; yet how will the numbers increase with so many Latinos being ineligible to vote. The level of education, specifically language skills and the ability to speak English is another area of concern. …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 numbers. RELIGION Our text states “the most important formal organization in the Hispanic community is the church” (pg 214) There is also suggestion that while 3rd generation immigrants agree religion is important, they do not agree it needs to be formal. (pg 215) Religion has offered a sense of belonging in communities where immigrants are often over looked. Hispanics have long relied on their own patron saints, personal altars and a more expressive form of religious faith as a way of holding onto traditional religious beliefs. The largest Hispanic affiliation is with the Catholic Church. Sixty nine percent of 1st generation immigrants, and forty percent of 3rd generation immigrants, state their faith to be Catholic. There is …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