Hispanic States of America

In a couple of weeks I will be at Tijuana Innovadora, an event that for roughly the past five years, has gathered a number of the city’s organizations in order to reinvent Tijuana’s image, and where, inevitably, interesting topics are always discussed. This year, and on account of NAFTA’s 20th anniversary, the conference’s central theme will be Mexican diaspora and bi-national experience. The theme couldn’t be better. For many years, it’s been commonplace to speak of a “Hispanic moment” in the United States. Demographic and economic numbers, and even statistics on Latinos’ political participation, are already significant and will continue to increase. Slowly but surely, yesterday’s invisibility has given way to unquestionable relevance.

Let’s look at some numbers. There are 53 million Hispanics in the U.S., close to 17 percent of the country’s total population. Conservative calculations suggest that by 2050 this number will double, surpassing 102 million, or almost 24 percent of the total population. Thirty million out of those 53 million are of Mexican origin. Some 12 million people who were born in Mexico live today in the United States. An incredible number: it is the equivalent of a Mexican state with the second-highest population (only the state of Mexico has a higher number.) Hispanics’ purchasing power is equally impressive. By 2015, the Hispanic market in the U.S. will amount to over $1.5 trillion. Latinos’ current per capita income is higher than that of three of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). Other significant things should be considered. For example, Hispanics are voracious consumers of online content. They spend 68 percent more time consuming audio-visual content from the Internet than “non-Hispanic whites.” Sixty percent of Hispanic households have at least one online device, compared to 43 percent in the rest of the market. And there is a long list of etceteras .

To these we must add another fundamental factor: the Hispanic population’s youth. Some 75 percent are under the age of 45. Moreover, 60 percent are under the age of 35. This group, the “millennial generation,” has become an obsession for the media, corporations, and politicians. This week, Obama visited Los Angeles, where he met with a group of young entrepreneurs. At the same time, the White House distributed a report on this generation, with a special focus on the achievements of Hispanic millennials.

The issue to which the Hispanic community in the U.S. has yet to respond is that of political involvement. Despite this long, positive list of numbers and forecasts, Hispanics’ participation in the country’s electoral processes is far from what it should be. Around 12 million Hispanics voted in the 2012 elections, a significant number, and fundamental for Obama. Without Hispanics’ overwhelming support, the president would not have clinched the re-election. Unfortunately, the number of Hispanics who did not register to vote was comparable. In short, only 50 percent of Latinos eligible and able to vote chose to do so. This number is even lower for local elections. This is a serious problem. Various Hispanic organizations — with much talent and effort — have spent years trying to find a solution. Organizations like NALEO (National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials), the National Council of La Raza, and others work tirelessly to increase the number of registered Hispanics. Univision, which aims to promote the value of education, and civic and political participation, has done the same.

I myself believe that a definite solution will not arise solely from the efforts of organizations that promote the vote or from the media. The real push for Hispanics will come from political leaders with true influence. Despite its demographic and economic growth, the political representation of Hispanics is, for now, far from what it should be. Three out of 100 senators, for example, are Hispanic. None of them, by the way, are of Mexican descent. This is the challenge that the Mexican diaspora and its descendants face: to transform one’s adopted country into one’s own country; first to participate, then to govern. If the younger generations choose to become more politically active in this country, the Hispanic population will make an important turn in the cycle of its evolution: from a mostly invisible minority fighting for its rights, to a thriving minority that not only reaps the benefits of those conquests, but that takes hold of power.