Post Election Latinos Face Dangers And Opportunity
By Victor Escalante, NewsTaco
As the countdown to the election continues, both parties are now relying heavily on their war chests to buy the election. Surrogates are coming out in droves, some are opening up their wallets to get their vested message out. This is the perfect storm for media to benefit from the advertising spending and ratings bonanza.
Regardless of whom wins one thing is certain; we live in “interesting times.” The grand irony is that, in ancient China, this expression was meant as a curse. Today, we are cursed with many difficult challenges for generations to come. The bitter partisan politics will need to be quickly put behind as we near the fiscal cliff once again as well as myriad of other problems.
The country faces a “crisis” on many fronts. Again, in ancient China, this word came from two characters meaning, danger and opportunity. This is the plight of many Latinos that are still predicted to produce the winning vote for the next president. We face dangers from an intolerant minority that will not change their swords into plowshares after the election. What they fail to realize is that Latinos have been a large part of the economic engine for job growth. In addition, as the country is graying rapidly with the seventy six million retiring baby boomers, Latinos are browning America. If you closed the borders today and did not allowed one more immigrant, Latinos will be the majority demographic in just four decades.
While we have seen this growing browning in colleges and universities, Latinos per capita, have an extremely high deficit in technical training and education for high paying jobs. To put this in perspective; sixty one percent of Asian immigrants is college educated, while fifty percent of Latino immigrants is not even high school educated.
Both presidential candidates have promised that if elected they will pass some sort of immigration reform. This needs to happen not just for the benefit of the undocumented but for the good of the country. We need a large employment base with high paying jobs to sustain the burgeoning cost of the retired baby boomers.
This analysis is what Rice University Professor Stephen Klineberg has been saying for years after studying the economic impact immigrants have had on Houston, Texas for more than thirty years. His message has been embraced by industry, policy makers, and Latino groups. The study of Houston’s transformation is a preview of what America will face in the future. Mr. Klineberg warns that we face “interesting times” that need wisdom, sensitivity, and determination to seize the opportunity.
[Photo by: Victor Escalante]
