What you know about Hispanics is probably wrong
Hispanic Heritage Month in 2016 is a conflation of opposed ideas.
On one hand, the time between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15 is this year as it has in the past been an occasion for Latinos to enjoy a rarified presence. That’s seen both nationally — President Barack Obama called the Latino immigrants’ story one of “hardworking people, strong advocacy, coming together” — and locally with the city recent hosting of the Blanco y Negro Awards and the annual Fiesta Hispana.
On the other, there seems to be a greater unwillingness to actually listen to and engage the voices of Hispanics. The most germane conversations pertaining to Hispanics seem to be occurring around Hispanics and generally what to do about them. “Strengthen the U.S. border with Mexico to stem the flood of undocumented workers,” goes one oft repeated line. “Do something about immigration so Hispanic voters will stop clamoring about that,” goes another.
Look in to the facts however and you’ll realize that these are just convenient mistakes that keep repeating themselves erroneously.
For example, the most important issue to the Latino electorate is — and has been since Obama’s election — education. Nearly half of voting Latinos responding to a Pew survey ranked education only slightly above access to good jobs. The same data shows immigration has held as a top issue for 31 percent of likely Hispanic voters during that time period.
Also, regarding the glut of undocumented Mexicans coming to the United States — unauthorized immigration has actually fallen dramatically, a trend that precedes the recession. The U.S. has actually lost more Mexican immigrants in that time. From 2005 to 2014, 1 million Mexican nationals and their families left the U.S. for their home country, according to data from the Mexican government. In the same period, the U.S. took in 870,000 immigrants resulting in a net loss of about 160,000 Mexicans, according to the U.S. Census.
It bears mentioning that 61 percent of Mexicans who left the United States reported family reunification as their cause for emigrating rather than deportation, which drove a mere 14 percent of exits.
Beyond the myths, there’s a class of people who show an incredible potential for success. As an example, the St. Louis Federal Reserve estimates that Hispanics living in the U.S. could see their wealth triple by 2025. Latinos living here will have property and assets valued at between $2.5 and $4.4 trillion by then.
Here’s another fun fact: did you know Latinos are 25 percent of moviegoers but has only 4.2 percent of speaking roles in the top 100 films in 2012 by sales?
Answering the question of why we’ve failed to miss these key facts is beyond the scope of this editorial. But let’s dispense with the notion that everything there is to know about this powerful group of people has already been said and repeated to a point of common knowledge. Stop yourself before you listen to say, a racist politician divorced from reality offering non-facts about a problem that doesn’t exist in a pretend version of the world.
In short, know your Latinos.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month.
