Latinos are majority in 11 counties; what’s next?
When California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro saw the recently released 2020 Census numbers showing Latinos representing 39.4% of California’s 39.5 million residents, he saw an opportunity to be bold.
“The data will help illuminate where bold opportunities exist to potentially serve more traditional-aged students from diverse backgrounds, as well as where new opportunities are emerging to expand educational opportunities for adult learners,” said Castro, who oversees the country’s largest higher education system with 23 campuses serving about 433,000 students.
The Census data, said Castro, is one of many sources that helps the CSU “forecast future enrollment trends.”
Castro and the CSU are not alone in gleaming through Census data in planning.
Government entities – from Congress down to school boards – will determine how districts are drawn, which in turn will determine who will likely get elected to make public decisions.
Businesses will look for opportunities to expand.
Families will search for best places for a home.
“The most recent census data provides insight into ongoing changes in population and helps forecast changes in demand for enrollment – what regions are continuing to grow and which are regions where growth has slowed,” said Castro in a written response to questions by Vida en el Valle.
The data, he added, will guide universities on “can be more responsive in their public-service mission.”
“Finally, the data also provides context for assessing how the university may be meeting the needs of a diverse California population; whether CSU and campus demographics are aligning with shifts in the entire population.”
Here is a snapshot of how the census data provides challenges and opportunities.
Latino Community Foundation
“So, when the data was released last week, we learned several things. We learned that there are nearly 15.6 million Latinos living in the state of California, which means that they make up about 39 percent of the state’s population,” said Eduardo García, senior policy manager with the Latino community foundation which has been working on the Census, redistricting and engaging Latinos in elections.
“The growth that California has seen over the past 10 years; Latinos make up two-thirds of that growth. And so, for us, that represents a tremendous opportunity to engage Latinos in the various civic processes that will impact not just their lives, but the state of California as a whole,” García said. “That’s the broader picture about what the data is telling us about Latinos.”
The data, he said, underscores the “need to continue to support Latino communities across the state because in order for those numbers to translate into fair political power, from the philanthropic board rooms to state and local governments, this is the time to invest in this growing and dynamic population.”
The foundation is now focused on engaging Latinos in the redistricting process.
Fresno County: 53.6% Latino
“There’s opportunities, I think, for those Latinos, there’s a lot more of us,” said former Kerman City Councilmember Espi Sandoval. “So that means politically, I think we can have more influence if all of us come out and vote.
“For example, in the Central Valley, just to give you a quick example, I’m looking at the at the numbers it gets Tulare County, and if I’m not mistaken, 65 percent of the county is Latino now. Then everything is over 50, but when it comes to supervisors, we only have one Latino supervisor in every county.”
“So to me that’s a great opportunity for us to organize yourself better, because there’s more of us,” he said. “If you analyze, we only have 20 percent influence in the counties.”
“Politically, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get more of a say on our county,” Sandoval said, adding that the challenge continues because Latinos are not politically engaged.
As an educator, Sandoval said the biggest challenge is how many more people can “we get to move up the social ladder as far as getting college degrees.
“I really think, if we were to have more of a political say in in decision making, in government, I think we can encourage more people to get educated,” Sandoval said.
Tulare County: 65.5% Latino
“There are many different challenges that Latinos will face in the next 10 years in Tulare County, one is representation at the state and federal level, employment opportunities (which creates for educated Latinos leaving the area), affordable housing and the list goes on,” said Vincent Salinas, vice president of the Tulare/King Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
“During the COVID 19 impact, a lot of Latinos business were impacted and did not have the skills or equipment to guide themselves thru the funding maze that was available to all other businesses. So, we hope that those challenges will change,” Salinas said. “We, the Hispanic Chamber, are trying to find avenues to make those changes.”
Madera County: 59.6% Latino
“The data shows that the Latino population continues to grow. And I think within that, there are still issues involved with economic disparities within the counties, specifically for Latinos,” said Madera Community College President Ángel Reyna
“When, you know, the Latino population, even though continues to grow at a higher percentage, live in poverty compared to their white peers and their educational attainment percentage is less compared to their white peers, so if we have a growing population that lives in poverty and has a lower educational attainment rate, I think it’s problematic for the counties when you’re looking for a workforce and for livable housing, et cetera,”’ Reyna said.
“It almost looks like one of the challenges is, as we continue to grow as the Latino population, are we getting pushed out or down in a certain area because of the economic impact,” Reyna said, adding that another challenge as the Latino population continues to grow is “does the representation across the board reflect that? And it doesn’t.”
“So, when you look at elected officials, does they represent the growing population? It depends, right, where and at what level,” Reyna said giving the example of the appointment of Sen. Alex Padilla by the governor, being the first Latino U.S. senator in a state that is 39 percent Latino.
Reyna said the opportunity is where Latinos exercise their ability to be able to vote and represent in tern of those that reflect the population.
In education, Reyna said, in general the issue is that many faculties in higher education and in education in general don’t reflect the students that they serve. Same with health field, with lack of health professionals that represent the communities that they serve which lead to a disconnect culturally as well.
“When you are talking about policies, who is making the policies that impact the largest population in the county, it’s more than likely is not us because of our lack of representation,” Reyna said.
Madera County Supervisor Leticia González said county staff is still analyzing census data in preparation for redistricting. She said the data will help determine where county funding goes for services and infrastructure.
Madera Mayor Santos García believes the census undercounted the Latino community because of the coronavirus pandemic and former President Donald J. Trump’s failed efforts to put a citizenship question on the questionnaire.
“We were hit at the worst time to try to conduct a census,” said García. “There’s no way we only grew 3% in the country.”
García said an undercount will mean less federal funding for health care, education and infrastructure.
Kings County: 56.8% Latino
“California was projected to lose more than one congressional seat. So, for us, for California to only lose one, you know, we see that as a victory,” said Ruth López, executive director of the Kings County-based nonprofit Valley Voices. “That means that California, took the census seriously, reached out to hard-to-count communities, including undocumented Latinos.”
“There’s a lot of work to be done. With the census data coming now, what we see is that, you know, we see that transformation in America amongst the growth of our people of color, including Latinos,” López said. “And hopefully this is going to allow us to continue to show that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere.”
“And hopefully, you know, it’s going to affirm that we have the political power to make change that we need, and where we live,” she said, adding that to her organization “it’s a good time to reflect and congratulate everyone who participated in the census. We’re not going to back down. We’re here. We’re here to stay, despite whatever manipulation, that has happened in the process, we showed strong.”
“In reality, we could have lost two, we could have lost three if we didn’t invest and counting our communities, especially in the hard to count,” she said, adding that challenge is to use the census data at the local level, to ensure “equitable maps” and the work that has been done, doesn’t get undone in the next 10 years.”
“And so we do feel that redistricting is our chance to empower our most vulnerable communities again, to engage them, to educate them on the process and the importance of it. And so, we hope that just like we showed up for the census, that we’re going to show up during these redistricting conversations and use our you know, there’s power in numbers,” López said.
Stanislaus County: 48.1% Latino
Dale Butler established the Latino Community Roundtable 25 years ago to focus on political opportunities for Latinos and improving social aspects of Latino residents.
Since then, he has seen an increase of Latinos on school boards and city councils, primarily because Latinos got involved in the redistricting process.
“Numbers do mean a lot,” said Butler, a retired county worker. “The City of Modesto now has two Latinos (on the council), the school board has three. Back in those days, if we had one that was about it.”
Butler expressed concern that restrictive voting laws could dampen minority population growth throughout the country.
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 30 de agosto de 2021, 4:47 p. m..
