¡Ya Basta! 14

The term Hispanic, coined by technomarketing experts and by the

designers of political campaigns, homogenizes our cultural diversity

(Chicanos, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans become indistinguishable),

avoids our indigenous cultural heritage and links us directly with

Spain. Worse yet, it possesses connotations of upward mobility and

political obedience.

Guillermo Gómez-Peña

9.7 million Latino/a citizens reported voting in the 2008 presidential

election. This was an increase of 47 percent from 2004.

Voting and Registration in the Election of 2008, http://goo.gl/5cJPN

Counting in Spanish

The U.S. Census Bureau reported an approximate 48.4 million persons of
Latino/a origin in 2009, about 15.5 percent of the current total population.
Figure 14.1 provides a view of immigration over time. On this basis it is
quite easy to see how it is that the Census Bureau projects that people of
Latino ancestry will make up almost 25 percent of the nation’s population

in 2050.^1