Monday, September 15

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Beginning today until October 15th, Hispanic Heritage Month will be observed across the United States.  It began as a week long celebration in 1968.  Two decades later in 1988 it was expanded into a month long celebration.  September 15th was chosen as the start because it is the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.  The population of the people whose origin or background is of these countries account for a little more than 4-percent of the total Hispanic population in the U-S.  Every weekday at this time, Texas Public Radio will feature a Hispanic Heritage Month moment, this year focusing on Hispanic statistics or a significant historical event.

Tuesday, September 16

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As of July 2006, the Hispanic population in the United States was approximately 45-point-five million people. At 15-percent of the nation’s population, it is the nation’s largest minority, reaching that milestone on January 21, 2003.  The U-S Census Bureau reported that between April 2000 and July 2001, the Hispanic population in the U-S grew by 4.7 percent.  The African American population, previously the largest minority, grew by only 1 and a half percent during this same period.  Those of Mexican background make up the largest percentage of Hispanics in the United States, 64-percent.  Coincidentally, Mexico, which celebrates its independence today, is the only country in the world with a larger Hispanic population than the U.S. 

Wednesday, September 17

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This is the fourth week of the 2008-2009 school year.  Hispanics in the United States account for 19-percent of students attending elementary, middle and high school.  In 2007, the United States Census Bureau reported 60-percent of Hispanics 25 years of age or older have at least a high school education.  Among that same age group 13-percent had a bachelor’s degree or higher, of which 811-thousand have earned an advanced degree.  Among certain Hispanic groups these percentages are much higher.  Cubans for example 25 years of age or older, 73-percent had at least a high school education and 24-percent had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Thursday, September 18

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Today, September 18th is Chile’s independence Day.  There are almost 69-thousand Chilean Americans in the United States today, with 3-point-7 percent of them living in Sleepy Hollow, New York, the city in the U-S with the largest Chilean American population.  Most of them live in the New England area, with Florida and California being the states with the next largest Chilean American population.  Most of the Chilean immigration occurred within the last 25 years.  The first wave of immigration was to escape the political repression of Augusto Pinochet; then later for economic opportunities.  Some notable Chilean Americans include television celebrities Jorge Garcia of the t-v series “LOST”, Horatio Sanz of Saturday Night Live fame and Mario Kreutzberger, better known as “Don Francisco” of Sabado Gigante.

Friday, September 19

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In 1868, the 14th Amendment was adopted to the U-S Constitution, thus declaring all people including Hispanics, born in the U-S to be U-S citizens.  The first section of the amendment states “All persons born or naturalized and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.  No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Monday, September 22

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The states with the largest Hispanic population are California, Texas and Florida.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2007, California had the largest Hispanic population with 13.2 million, followed by Texas with 8.6 million and Florida at 3.8 million.  These three states also were tops with regards to the largest increases between 2006 and 2007, but in this case Texas led, followed by California then Florida.  With regards to the states with the highest percentage of Hispanics, New Mexico leads that category.  Forty-four percent of New Mexico’s population are of Hispanic descent, followed by California and Texas, with Hispanics making up 36-percent of their population.

Tuesday, September 23

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In 1823, Erasmo Seguin, a Texas delegate to the U.S. Congress is persuasive in passing a colonization act to bring more Anglo settlers to Texas.  By 1830, Texas has at least 18-thousand Anglo inhabitants.  Then in 1836, Anglo Texans resist the military rule of Mexican dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna who leads his army northward to San Antonio, surrounding the mission known as the Alamo killing all resisters.  Six weeks later though, Texan forces defeat Santa Anna and Texas declares its independence from Mexico.  In 1845 Texas is annexed by the United States, angering Mexican officials, upon which a conflict occurs.  In 1846 the Treaty of Guadalupe ends the conflict and half the land area of Mexico is ceded to the U.S.   The treaty also gives Mexican nationals a year to decide their citizenship; about 75-thousand Hispanics become citizens by conquest. 

Wednesday, September 24

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The United States Census Bureau estimates the population of San Antonio in 2006 to be nearly 1.3 million people.  Of that, nearly 59 percent are of Hispanic descent.  Bexar County’s estimated population, in 2006 is a little more than one and a half million people, of which Hispanics comprise a little more than 57 percent.  The percentage of the Hispanic population of San Antonio and Bexar County is almost twice that when compared to Texas’ population.  In 2006, 23.5 million people lived in Texas, of which Hispanics made up almost 36 percent.  As it has been mentioned, Hispanics are the largest minority in the country, comprising 15 percent of the U.S. population.

Thursday, September 25

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Hispanic households with an annual income of $150 thousand or more are a growing group.  The marketing firm of Latin Force Group estimates there are approximately a little more than 397 thousand households in the United States in this category.  By 2013, this group is projected to grow to almost 610 thousand households.  Los Angeles, with about 76,400 Hispanic households earning $150 thousand or more annually has the highest number of households in this category in the U.S.  Texas has three cities making the top ten cities in the U.S. with Hispanic households with an annual income of $150-thousand or more; Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.  San Antonio comes in at number ten, with about nine thousand Hispanic households.

Friday, September 26

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In 2007, there were approximately 21.4 million United States Hispanic internet users.  That number is projected to increase to 29.4 million by 2012 according to emarketer.com.  More male Hispanics used the internet in 2007 than did female Hispanics, 64 percent to 59 percent.  That number perhaps is not surprising since Hispanic males outnumber Hispanic females.  The U.S. Census Bureau in 2007 reported there are 23.5 million Hispanic males to 22 million Hispanic females, a ratio of 107 Hispanic males per 100 Hispanic females. That is a higher ration than the overall population, of 97 males per 100 females.

Monday, September 29

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In 1910 the Mexican Revolution begins and thousands of Mexicans flee northward settling in the Southwest. During World War I, in 1917, temporary Mexican farm workers, railroad labourers and miners are permitted to enter the United States to work. During that same year, Congress passes the Immigration Act of 1917. By 1921, limits on the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. during a single year are imposed for the in the country’s history. In 1925, Congress creates the Border Patrol. With the Great Depression 1929, Mexican immigration to the U.S. practically ceases and return migration increases. Mexican Americans frustrated at finding fewer opportunities for them in the U.S., create the League of United Latin American Citizens in Texas.

Tuesday, September 30

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There are sixteen states whose Hispanic population is at least 500 thousand. They are Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Related Link: Hispanic Business Magazine 

Wednesday, October 1

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In the Hispanic Business magazine’s September 2008 issue, the best graduate schools in the country for Hispanics were listed.  According to the magazine, the top graduate business school in the country for Hispanics is the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.  When it comes to the top engineering school in the country for Hispanics, Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering in Atlanta takes the top spot.  The University of New Mexico School of Law is the leading school for Hispanics in the field of law.  And if you are pursing a medical career Hispanic Business magazine ranks the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas at the top.

Related Link: Hispanic Business Magazine 

Thursday, October 2

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Yesterday, the four top graduate schools for Hispanics were featured as named by Hispanic Business magazine.  Two San Antonio colleges were listed in the top ten graduate schools for Hispanics.  The University of Texas at San Antonio College of Business was ranked at number nine in the Top Business Schools.  Among the top ten schools, UTSA’s College of Business was third in the percentage of Hispanic students enrolled, with nearly 20 percent and its Hispanic faculty made up nearly 10 percent of the business school’s faculty.  The other San Antonio institution making the top ten list, at number four, is the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center.  Hispanics comprise 17percent of its medical school enrollment, with 15percent of its full time medical school faculty being Hispanic. 

Friday, October 3

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The purchasing power of Hispanics in the United States is larger than all but nine countries in the world according to the Multicultural Economy report of 2007 by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.  The report showed Hispanics in the U.S. wielded about $862 billion in spending power, up from $498 billion in 2000.  And it is expected to increase to 1.2 trillion dollars by 2012.  In 2012, Hispanics will account for 9.7 percent of all buying power in the United States, an increase of 4.7 percent from 1990.  The five states with the largest Hispanic markets in 2007 are California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois.

Related Link: Selig Center

Monday, October 6

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In 1954, the landmark case of Hernandez v. Texas, the nation’s highest court acknowledges that Hispanic Americans are not being treated as “whites.”  The Supreme Court recognizes Hispanics as a separate class of people suffering profound discrimination, paving the way for Hispanics Americans to use legal means to attack all types of discrimination throughout the United States.  It is also the first U.S. Supreme Court case to be argued and briefed my Mexican American attorneys.  Then from 1954 thru 1958, the United States government program known as Operation Wetback, locates and deports workers, resulting in the deportation of 3.8 million persons of Mexican descent, of which thousand of U.S. citizens of Mexican descent are also arrested and detained.

Tuesday, October 7

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The United States Census Bureau projects the Hispanic school-age population, age 5 to 17 will increase from 11 million in 2006 to approximately 28 million in 2050; an increase of 166 percent.  During this same time period, the non-Hispanic school age population is projected to increase only by four percent.  A Pew Hispanic Center report states 84 percent of Hispanic public school students were born in the United States, with more 52 percent of those students enrolled in just two states, Texas and California.  The majority, 69 percent of Hispanic students are of Mexican decent, followed by Puerto Rico at nine percent, Dominica and Salvadoran with three percent, and Cuban with two percent.

Wednesday, October 8

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In 1947, the American G.I Forum, a civil rights group is founded.  Mexican American veterans create the organization in response to a Three Rivers Texas funeral home’s denial to bury a Mexican American soldier killed in the Pacific during World War II.  In 1965 the Voting Rights Act is passed, primarily to enfranchise African Americans in the South, but Hispanics don’t realize the potential of the act until 1975 when the Voting Rights Act amendment making the national ban on literacy tests permanent.  The amendment is crucial for Hispanics making bilingual ballots required in certain areas.

Thursday, October 9

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In 1947, the American G.I Forum, a civil rights group is founded.  Mexican American veterans create the organization in response to a Three Rivers Texas funeral home’s denial to bury a Mexican American soldier killed in the Pacific during World War II.  In 1965 the Voting Rights Act is passed, primarily to enfranchise African Americans in the South, but Hispanics don’t realize the potential of the act until 1975 when the Voting Rights Act amendment making the national ban on literacy tests permanent.  The amendment is crucial for Hispanics making bilingual ballots required in certain areas.

Friday, October 10

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From a United States Census Bureau report released in 2006, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S. grew by 31 percent between 1997 and 2002 to 1.6 million. Of that number almost 45 percent of all Hispanic-owned firms were owned by Mexican, Mexican Americans and Chinese. Of these firms, there are a little more than 29 thousand Hispanic-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or more. The U.S. Census Bureau reports, nearly 43 percent of Hispanic-owned companies operate in construction, administrative and support, waste management and remediation services. Retail and wholesales trade accounted from nearly 36 percent of Hispanic-owned business revenue. Texas ranked second, only to California, in having the most Hispanic-owned businesses in the U.S.

Monday, October 13

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The growth of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States was three times that of the national average between 1997 and 2002 according the United States Census Bureau growing from 31 percent compared to the national average of ten percent. In 2002 Hispanic-owned businesses’ revenue was nearly $222 billion and is expected to increase to more than $1 trillion by 2011.  The Center for Women’s Business Research showed Hispanic-women owned businesses generated nearly $46 billion in sales nationally in 2006.  The same study showed there was an increase of 121 percent of the number of Hispanic women owned businesses from 1997 to 2006.  California, Texas, Florida, New York and New Jersey were the states with the largest number of Hispanic-owned businesses.

Tuesday, October 14

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Three weeks from today, voters will be casting their ballots for the next president of the United States.  Both presidential campaigns have been vying for the Latino vote.  In a Pew Hispanic Center report, there are 3.6 million Hispanic eligible voters in Texas which account for 20 percent of all U.S. eligible Hispanic voters.  In Texas, Hispanics make up 25 percent of eligible voters, making it second only New Mexico with 38 percent in the share of the state population.  In 2007, 57 percent of Hispanic registered voters said they aligned with the Democratic Party, compared to 23 percent who said they aligned themselves with the Republican Party.

Wednesday, October 15

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Fall is full of sports.  Major League Baseball is in its second round of playoffs.  Football is in full swing; and Hockey and Basketball are just about to begin.  The October 6th issue of Sports Illustrated has a “The Latino Athlete Now” section, providing some interesting statistics…such as 36 percent of U.S. Hispanics watch sports regularly, compared to 30 percent of U.S. non-Hispanics; almost nine percent of NASCAR fans are Hispanic; three of the top ten female surfers in the world are Hispanic.  In 2003 Arte Moreno bought the Los Angeles Angel for $180 million;  Angels marketing to the Hispanic community increased the Hispanic attendance from 13-percent in 2001 to almost 30 percent in 2007.