Maria Serrano/ Contributing Writer
Hispanics have always been classified as a minority in the United States, but now, we’re no longer just a minority, but a large majority.
“Between 2000 and 2010, the Hispanic population grew by 43 percent, rising from 35.3 million in 2000 to 50.5 million in 2010. This same year, through the rise in immigration, Hispanics comprised 16 percent of the total U.S. population of 308.7 million,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
It’s evident that the Hispanic population in the U.S. has grown and will continue to grow. This increasing population size is important for Hispanics because the bigger a minority is in a nation-state, the more influence it has on public matters.
“Hispanic millennials accounted for nearly half (44%) of the record 27.3 million Hispanic eligible voters in 2016 — a share greater than any other racial or ethnic group of voters,” according to the Pew Research Center.
Hispanics’ voting power gives them uncountable possibilities to influence our nation’s public matters. We can have a significant impact on who deserves to be the next state senator or even choose who is worthy enough to be the next U.S. president.
Aside from our voting power, Hispanics maintain a collaborative community commitment that helps us unanimously stay together.
“In Los Angeles, one study found that unlike African-Americans, who are more integrated into white communities than ever, the growing Hispanic community remains tightly knit together because of the language barrier,” according to CBS News.
As a Hispanic, I can heavily relate. Part of my family in the U.S. does not speak English, which is one of the main reasons why the majority reside in Miami.
The anxiety and wariness of being away from home is significantly reduced by being closer together. The language barrier is also significantly reduced as Miami is a majority Latino city.
Seventy percent of Miami’s population is Hispanic, according to NBC News, while a Pew Hispanic reports that “about 13 percent of Miami-Dade’s Latinos are from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Mexico, and 32 percent are from other Central and South American countries such as Guatemala, Colombia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras and Brazil.”
The ability to navigate between different cultures and have strong familial bonds, is what keeps us together and keeps us strong. In Miami alone, Hispanics have an easier time integrating, and this has led to a combination of factors necessary to bolster Latino communities around the U.S.
We are powerful because we are aware that our contribution to the U.S. only makes it a better nation. We are powerful because sacrifice is encrusted in our bloodline and we understand that this can finally lead us to “the American dream.”
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Photo taken from Flickr.
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