Chicanas/os and Latinos in the News
1) Solomon Moore, Latinos largest ethnic group in U.S. prisons, The New York Times, February 18, 2009. In http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11734919
Latinos, the largest group in the federal prisons, comprise for 40 percent of the inmates. Latinos made up 13 percent of the U.S. adult population in 2007. This rise was the result of tougher enforcement of immigration laws. About 48 percent were convicted of immigration violations.
Also see: 2.18.2009. A Rising Share: Hispanics and Federal Crime, http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/104.pdf
Reaction: Anonymous. “The 'Usual Suspects'; Our View: Racial Profiling Concerns, Record Number Of Federal Prosecutions For Immigration Offenses Leave A Community Feeling Under Siege,” The Sun. Baltimore, Md.: Feb 24, 2009. pg. A.12
Ties racial profiling to the number of arrests of immigrants.
2) Lisa M Krieger, New UC eligibility standards will open college doors, but may change demographics, Oakland Tribune, Feb 15, 2009.
The University of California will admit less Asian and more white students, fewer African-Americans and slightly increase the number of Latino students. The UC has eliminated SAT subject tests. The plan is to “broaden the socioeconomic and racial diversity of the applicant pool and offer admissions offices more flexibility in creating a freshman class.” Asians are critical of the plan; they account for 37 percent of UC admissions. It is projected that the number of Asian admits will fall since Asians tend to perform well the "subject tests." According to Ward Connerly, "The university has essentially lowered its standards.''
3) Cary Clack, “Histories, too, go in melting pot,” San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio, Tex.: Feb 12, 2009. pg. F.1
“Welcome to Black History Month - that special month when we learn some of the things about black history that we can't get around to learning the rest of the year. It's that one month when every movie ever made with a black person and every documentary about blacks find their way to television.”
4) Scott Shenk, Survey: Latinos moved to area for employment; Many hurt by recession, The Daily Progress. Charlottesville, Va.: Feb 8, 2009. http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/survey_latinos_moved_to_area_for_employment/35473/
An American Red Cross survey, of 140 Latino immigrants in the Charlottesville region, showed that the overwhelming majority came to the area for work;73 percent planned to return to their country of origin.
5) “Conservative Foundation Decries Republican Self-Deception on Immigration in Wake of November Defeat,” U.S. Newswire. Washington: Feb 3, 2009.
Americas Majority Foundation president Richard Nadler says that Republican party has alienated Latinos and business and helped Democrats. The enforcement-only solution has been disastrous for Republicans. "The median Latino population of congressional districts won by 'enforcement-only' candidates was 2.3%. The median Latino population of districts carried by CIR advocates was 12.8%. Nation-wide, Latinos are 15% of the U.S. population.”
See: Richard Nader, “The Edge of the Wedge: Immigration and the Congressional Contests of 2008," January 2009, Americas Majority Foundation Americas Majority, 138 pages, at http://www.amermaj.com/pdf/EdgeWedge.pdf
6) David Bacon, Photographs and Stories, http://dbacon.igc.org is one of the premier immigration journalist. http://dbacon.igc.org/Imgrants/imgrants.htm
David Bacon is one of the most prolific essayist and photographers of the immigrant experience in Los Angeles and on the border. Click on to the above links to view some of these images.
7) Angela Provitera McGlynn, “Hispanic Women in America: The Demographic Picture,” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Paramus: Oct 20, 2008. Vol. 19, Iss. 2; pg. 34, 2 pgs. American Community Survey (2006), U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/acs/www/.
The fertility of Latinas is one-third higher than that of non-Latina women. Mexican born Latina immigrants earn 9 percent less than immigrant women from Central America and 15 percent less than women from the Caribbean, and 31 percent less than immigrant women from South America. In 2006, annual births to Latina women for the first time exceeded one million; one in four children under the age of 5 are Latino. Some forty-two percent Latinas are ages 18 to 34, as opposed to only 28 percent of non-Latinas. The full report, F.Gonzales, (2008), Hispanic Women in the United States, 2007, www.pewhispanic.org.
8) “Immigrant Youths Explore Identity In High School,” ScienceDaily (July 15, 2008), http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/sfri-iye070808.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715071432.htm
Immigrant children do not “give up their families' ethnic and cultural background in order to assimilate with American culture.” Researchers studied about 380 Asian and Latino adolescents in Los Angeles over four years of high school. “Most teenagers who grow up in immigrant families choose a hyphenated label (such as Mexican-American) to describe themselves, according to the study. Moreover, significant numbers of these adolescents change their labels from year to year, suggesting that high school is a time for youths from immigrant families to explore their identities.” Citation: Society for Research in Child Development (2008, July 15). Immigrant Youths Explore Identity In High School. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 20, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/07/080715071432.htm
9) “Children Of Immigrants Form Ethnic Identity At Early Age,” Science Daily (Sep. 25, 2007) — http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070924104616.htm; also http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2007/09/ethnic-identity
A three-year study of over 400 first-generation immigrant children suggests that ethnic identity forms prior to adolescence. First generation first and fourth graders from Cambodian, Dominican and Portuguese backgrounds. The “better children feel about their own ethnic identities, the more they want to play with others, regardless of ethnicity.” See: Brown University (2007, September 25). Children Of Immigrants Form Ethnic Identity At Early Age. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 20, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2007/09/070924104616.htm
10) A Francesca Jenkins, “Students: A Statistical Survey,” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Paramus: Jan 5, 2009. Vol. 19, Iss. 7; pg. 54, 3 pgs. Can also be found at http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1631699581.html
By 2050, it is projected Latinos will be the largest school-age population. Twelfth graders account for the highest percentage of long-term absenteeism The study gives the figures for White, Blacks and Latinos receiving bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees and compares how the groups scored on the SAT and ACT tests.
11) Garrett Therolf, “20% in Los Angeles County receive public aid,” Los Angeles Times, February 22, 2009. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-welfare22-2009feb22,0,4377048.story
Nearly 2.2 million people receive public assistance payments or benefits. Officials warn that it will worsen.
12) Tyche Hendricks, “Why politics won't stay out of the census,” San Francisco Chronicle, Feb 23, 2009. pg. A.1
The article summarizes the controversy over the census and why it has become of concern to minority organizations. It reports that the 2010 census has become a partisan political football.
13) Melissa Campbell, “New Trends in Latino Studies,” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Paramus: Dec 27, 2004. Vol. 15, Iss. 7; pg. 29
“By definition, Latino studies programs investigate the historical roots, cultural aspects and contemporary conditions of Hispanics living in America. The term Hispanic, created by the government in 1977 to help in census data collection, arbitrarily placed Chicanos and Puerto Ricans in the same category, despite drastic historical and cultural differences between the two groups. This collective term works to belie and even obscure the multitude of cultures and experiences the Hispanic population possesses.”
14) Sam Roberts. “Census Finds Fewer Homes Have a Child In Residence.” [National Desk] New York Times. Feb 26, 2009. pg. A.18
There is declining fertility rates among aging baby boomers, according to the 2008 Current Population Survey on family structure. “Among women age 45 to 49, 79 percent of Asians, 69 percent of white non-Hispanics, 62 percent of Hispanics and 43 percent of blacks were married.” Seventy percent of Hispanic children liver with two parents compared to 85 percent of Asian children, 78 percent of white children, 7 and 38 percent of black children.
15) Kathy Wyer. “Income Gap between Whites, Latinos Has Grown at Four-Year Colleges,” The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Paramus: Jan 5, 2009. Vol. 19, Iss. 7; pg. 60, 2 pgs
“Latino men constituted 57.4 percent of Latino freshmen in 1975, but only 39 percent by 2006.” The UCLA report shows a more rapid decline among Chicano males than Puerto Rican and other Latino males. The disparity in income between Latino and non-Hispanic has grown over the three decades. In 2006 Latino households earned 62 cents on the dollar of white households. Latino freshman were more concerned about school financing than white freshman. “By 2006, Latinas kept pace with female Whites (38 percent and 37 percent, respectively), and both female groups spent more time studying or doing homework in high school than Latino males (28.8 percent) or White males (25 percent) . Latinos work hard to make the grade, perhaps because of the challenges they face or the general belief that hard work leads to success, the report authors said.”
Source: Sylvia Hurtado, Victor B. Sáenz, José Luis Santos and Nolan L. Cabrera. “Advancing in Higher Education: A Portrait of Latina/o College Freshmen at Four-Year Institutions: 1975-2006. www.heri.ucla.edu or call the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA at (310) 825-1925.
Mexico Under Siege: The drug war at our doorstep. Los Angeles Times, Last updated Feb. 26, 2009http://projects.latimes.com/mexico-drug-war/#/its-a-war
Complete coverage with Interactive Map, Multimedia Gallery and Video Q & A. 7,337 have been killed since 2007. Mexican President Calderón has employed 45,000 troops, 5,000 police in 18 Mexican states. The article has a timeline listing an links to a couple of dozen articles that have appeared on the drug war in Mexico. For example, the July 30, 2008 article on narco corridos.
Anonymous. “American Association for Cancer Research; European ancestry increases breast cancer risk among Latinas.” Women's Health Weekly. Atlanta: Dec 18, 2008. pg. 25. http://www.newsrx.com
“Latinas are what geneticists refer to as an "admixed" population with most of their genetic ancestry from European or indigenous Americans.” The researchers identified the genetic ancestry of 440 Latina women with breast cancer and 597 Latina women with no breast cancer. “For every 25 percent increase in European ancestry there is a 79 percent increase in the risk of breast cancer” .