Atlas of Hispanic-American History

I

n 1967, when the U.S. population hit

a milestone 200 million, the U.S.

population was 84 percent white, 11

percent black, four percent Hispanic and

one percent Asian and Pacific Islander.

In 2006, when the U.S. population

reached 300 million, the population

makeup had changed to 66 percent

white, 12 percent black, four percent

Asian and Pacific Islander and nearly 15

percent Hispanic. Of those 100 million

new Americans, 36 percent were

Hispanic, and the total Hispanic popula-

tion had grown from just 8.5 million in

1967 to 44.7 million in 2006.

Not surprisingly, this enormous pop-

ulation shift has had a profound impact

on American culture, economics, and pol-

itics. While Americans of all ethnic back-

grounds danced to the sounds of Latin

musical artists like Ricky Martin and

Gloria Estefan in the 1990s or Jenifer

Lopez, Shakira and Yankee Daddy in the

2000s, politicians on local, state and fed-

eral levels eagerly courted Hispanic vot-

ers, even though Latinos do not typically

vote as a monolithic bloc. Although

Hispanic Americans are still underrepre-

sented at the highest levels of power and

many Latinos still live in poverty, business

leaders also increasingly understand the

economic clout of the Hispanic-American

community, and Hispanic American-

owned businesses are a rapidly growing

force in the American economy.

THE CONTINUING DEBATE

ON IMMIGRATION

Meanwhile, the tensions over legal and

illegal immigration have grown, becom-

ing an even greater concern in the U.S.

Congress, in the 2008 presidential race,

and in the minds of many American

citizens than ever before. According to

a January 14–16th, 2008 nationwide

poll of 1000 adults conducted by Fortune

Magazine, 60 percent felt that the

immigration issue was either extremely or

very important to them.

This view was especially pronounced

among Republican voters, particularly in

Iowa, which held the nation’s first 2008

presidential caucuses earlier that month.

According to Iowa Republicans, the issue

of illegal immigration was the single most

important issue facing the nation, topping

the state of the economy, the Iraq War or

terrorism. In fact, Republican Senator

John McCain of Arizona, who would go

on to win his party’s nomination, gar-

nered considerable heat from the conser-

vative wing of his party for working with

the liberal Senate icon Edward M.

Kennedy of Massachusetts to craft a com-

promise immigration reform bill that

would have allowed some illegal immi-

grants to remain in the country with a

guest visa as long as they paid a $1,500

fine. Former Massachusetts governor

Mitt Romney, one of McCain’s competi-

tors for the nomination, accused McCain

of offering “amnesty” to illegal immi-

grants, a charge McCain denied. For his

part, Romney argued that any immigra-

tion reform must start with securing the

U.S.-Mexican border and issuing tamper-

proof cards to all non-citizens so that

employers could verify their legal status

before hiring them. Yet the deep reliance

of the American economy on cheap, ille-

gal labor from Latin America was under-

scored when the public learned that the

landscaper hired by Mr. Romney to care

for the front lawn of his mansion used

illegal day laborers from Guatemala.

The Migrant Worker

Debate

Tensions between proponents of stricter

enforcement of immigration laws and ille-

gal migrant farm workers and day laborers

are made infinitely more complicated by

the U.S. labor force’s deep reliance on

migrant farm workers and day laborers.

According to one recent survey, more than

two million year-round and seasonal

migrant farm workers, including 100,000

children, work in the United States. About

two-thirds are immigrants, and more than

Hispanic America Today

9

CHAPTER

“The [African-American]

civil rights slogan was

‘We shall overcome.’

Ours is going to be we

shall overwhelm.”

— Christy Haubegger, Editor,

Latinamagazine