HISPANIC AMERICANS

Hispanic Americans

Introduction

The U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanics or Latinos as those who classified themselves in one of the specific Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino categories listed on the census 2000 questionnaire—Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano, Puerto Rican, or Cuban—as well as those who indicate that they are “other Spanish/Hispanic/Latino,” which includes those whose origins are in Spain, the Spanish-speaking countries of Central or South America, and the Dominican Republic or people who generally identify themselves as Spanish, Spanish American, Hispanic, Hispano, Latino, and so on (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). In this study, the term Hispanic is used to describe both Hispanic and Latino populations. (Massey, 1993)

Discussion

There were about 48 million Hispanics residing in America in 2007, 70% of whom were concentrated in seven states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, and New Jersey. About 40% of Hispanics in the United States are foreign-born. It is projected that the total population of Hispanic origin will grow from 35.6 million to 102.6 million, an increase of 188%, between 2000 and 2050. Their share of the nation's total population would nearly double, from 12.6% to about 25% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). The percentage of Hispanics in the U.S. workforce is high, but incomes tend to be low. The median Hispanic household annual income is about $38,679, which is lower than the national median for non-Hispanic households, $54,920 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). The poverty rate of Hispanics is about 20.7%, compared with 24.7% among Africans and 10.6% among Asians. These statistics have significant implications for philanthropy and fundraising among Hispanics in the United States. (Gutiérrez, Yeakley & Ortega, 2002)

Currently, the Latino population is the largest minority group in the United States and accounts for more than half of the overall population growth in the nation. In 2008 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that of the 30.1 million Hispanic adults in the United States, 14.4 million (48%) were women. Since the 1960s, U.S. Latinas have acted as agents of change in the battle against racism, sexism, and class inequality in society. Yet, these women have had the extra burden of fighting against gender oppression central in the Hispanic culture, also referred to as machismo (Hispanic male chauvinism). (Baker, 1994)

In general, Latina contributions have been ignored in the historiography of the U.S. Latino movement. In the 1980s and early 1990s, feminist scholars disputed the male-centered historical accounts that portrayed Latinas in a submissive and subordinate manner. This chapter will highlight the unique struggle Latinas face, important leadership developments, and moral agency achieved by North American women of Spanish-speaking heritage since the 1960s.

During the civil rights era of the 1960s and 1970s, along with other minority groups, people of Spanish-speaking heritage mobilized to address discrimination and exploitation. They formed pressure groups and became politically active. For example, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta cofounded the Farm Workers Association, which eventually became the United Farm Workers (UFW). Although Huerta was fundamental to the success of the UFW, only in the 1990s did she begin receiving any credit for her key ...