Wednesday
Jun032009
Latinos: The Sleeping Giant?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 5:14PM
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
The U.S is not responding to the needs of its Hispanic citizens even though the population of Hispanics college students in the US rises and many industries are gearing their marketing toward this changing demographic, according to former director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros.
Cisneros, now Executive Director at CityView and author of “Latinos and the Nation’s Future”, gave a speech on” Latinos and the Nation’s Future” today at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
“A very interesting phenomenon will be the growth of the second generation of Hispanic immigrants. The Pew Foundation says that this number, which is 11 million second generation Hispanics today, will be 30 million in 2030, so it will triple in 20 years or so,” said Cisneros.
Recently, the nomination of Hispanic judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has brought many criticisms from Republicans, who argue that she is not being sufficiently patriotic because she pronounces her name with a Spanish accent.The criticism of Sotomayor has renewed the debate on immigration integration.
Tamar Jacoby, President and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA and co-author of “Latinos and the Nation’s Future”, said “For a long time, people have said that Latinos in American politics were the sleeping giant of American politics... The reason they thought that is because they said ‘look at these people, look at these demographics’... The political participation was below the potential.”
But Jacoby rejoiced of this complete turn for the best which began with the most recent presidential election of Barack Obama, saying that “In November 2004, 7.5 million Latinos voted; In 2008, 11 million Latinos voted.”
As a consequence of this Hispanic political awakening, Cisneros says that “We will see that the make up of community schools and colleges will be decidedly different in the time period we are describing... We will see that in markets as consumer products relate to the reality of these markets.”
Cisneros added that “Many industries view the growth of Latinos and immigration as the principal basis by which they will grow.”
“The sleeping giant woke up,” said Jacoby.
The U.S is not responding to the needs of its Hispanic citizens even though the population of Hispanics college students in the US rises and many industries are gearing their marketing toward this changing demographic, according to former director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Henry Cisneros.
Cisneros, now Executive Director at CityView and author of “Latinos and the Nation’s Future”, gave a speech on” Latinos and the Nation’s Future” today at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
“A very interesting phenomenon will be the growth of the second generation of Hispanic immigrants. The Pew Foundation says that this number, which is 11 million second generation Hispanics today, will be 30 million in 2030, so it will triple in 20 years or so,” said Cisneros.
Recently, the nomination of Hispanic judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has brought many criticisms from Republicans, who argue that she is not being sufficiently patriotic because she pronounces her name with a Spanish accent.The criticism of Sotomayor has renewed the debate on immigration integration.
Tamar Jacoby, President and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA and co-author of “Latinos and the Nation’s Future”, said “For a long time, people have said that Latinos in American politics were the sleeping giant of American politics... The reason they thought that is because they said ‘look at these people, look at these demographics’... The political participation was below the potential.”
But Jacoby rejoiced of this complete turn for the best which began with the most recent presidential election of Barack Obama, saying that “In November 2004, 7.5 million Latinos voted; In 2008, 11 million Latinos voted.”
As a consequence of this Hispanic political awakening, Cisneros says that “We will see that the make up of community schools and colleges will be decidedly different in the time period we are describing... We will see that in markets as consumer products relate to the reality of these markets.”
Cisneros added that “Many industries view the growth of Latinos and immigration as the principal basis by which they will grow.”
“The sleeping giant woke up,” said Jacoby.
Bipartisan Commission Tasked With Shaping Housing Recovery
By Adrianna McGinley
The Bipartisan Policy Center introduced a new Housing Commission led by former Cabinet members and senators that has been tasked with giving lawmakers policy suggestions for long-term housing wellness.
Former U.S. Senators Kit Bond, George Mitchell, and Mel Martinez; and Henry Cisneros, former HUD Secretary under President Clinton, will serve as co-chairs of the commission that was touted as an idea generator to solve the lingering housing issues plaguing the country.
Mitchell jokingly said the bipartisan commission “does not have the luxury” of proposing solutions that will not be able to pass in Congress. Instead, Mitchell said he had high hopes that his new team will be able to “assist those in office by demonstrating that it’s possible to come up with a meaningful, practical solution that is deliberately bipartisan in nature.”
One notion that members of the commission came to consensus on was that the revival of the housing market and job creation are linked and should both be considered when designing a path to recovery.
“I don’t think you can have a meaningful jobs recovery without improvement in the housing sector and I think the reverse is true as well,” Mitchell said.
Cisneros in addition emphasized the importance of addressing homelessness when debating housing policy.
“It’s an example of where we can’t allow other things to be eliminated because they involve real people and real pain,” Cisneros said.
He also acknowledged the role immigration reform could play in boosting the housing market saying he believes immigrant populations will provide the spark the housing market is looking for.
“I suspect that one of the really big surges in the market for housing going forward is going to be the immigrant population,” Cisneros said. “We’re blessed in this country to have that rich infusion of workers and talent and many of them completely believe in the American dream, their definition of the American dream is home ownership.”