This article was originally published in the Chicago Tribune. To view the original, click here. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-07-02/news/8502120853_1_hispanics-population-growth-political-power

As the 1980s were beginning, some in the private sector proclaimed this to be the ``Decade of the Hispanics,`` bringing with it great expectations and hope. Some believed and forecasted that we Hispanics would develop major political power and rise to new heights in our quest for equal treatment. The first four years of this decade do not reflect any of these great expectations.

Though progress has been made in the form of Hispanics elected to major political positions, such as the mayors of Denver, San Antonio, Tampa Bay and Miami and the governor of the State of New Mexico, and in an increase of five Hispanics elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, the condition of Hispanics has not improved. In many cases, sad to say, it has worsened.

This is evidenced by statistics: a staggering 29.9 percent of the Hispanic population living in poverty in 1983 (up from 21.6 percent in 1978), and an all-time high of 13.7 percent unemployment in 1983 (an increase from 8.3 percent in 1979). No intelligent Hispanic would want to claim this decade in the name of Hispanics.

These figures have decreased, but the conditions they reflect are compounded nonetheless by an approximately 50 percent school dropout rate nationally and by the fact that Hispanic children in public schools are more segregated than any other schoolchildren. (This was brought out in a study conducted for the Joint Center for Political Studies in 1981 by Gary Orfield of the University of Chicago.) If we equate prosperity with education, then Hispanics are looking at a past, present and future in which a clear majority of our community has lived and will continue to live outside mainstream U.S. society.

Despite the continuing decay of Hispanic aspirations, the election of more Hispanics to public office could be considered a major indicator of growing political power. The foundation for this success and potential is grounded in the effective use of the Voting Rights Act to overcome voting obstacles and the phenomenal 61 percent growth of the Hispanic population from 1970 to 1980. Perhaps the population growth has been the major factor sparking the media`s attention--attention that has catapulted the Hispanic community into the limelight of political activity.

This unprecedented growth is viewed as a major new market for the private sector and a major new political player by political institutions. That the Hispanic community has a median age of 22 years presented new and rewarding challenges to the private sector. However, in the political arena, the age profile was not given enough attention in assessing Hispanic political strength. Instead, political observers and the national media focused solely on the population growth and, as a result, predicted that Hispanics would develop major political power during the 1980s.

A significant shortcoming of these developments was that many Hispanic elected officials and organizational leaders joined in the chorus and trumpeted the `80s as the ``Decade of the Hispanics.`` It appears that certain Hispanic leaders and spokesmen recognized the media attention Hispanics were beginning to receive and began to exploit the circumstances to raise their issues. Many Hispanic leaders at all levels of advocacy recognized that they could use this growing paper tiger to push their concerns effectively, for the general public had developed an impression that Hispanics had formidable political power. This ploy has worked to some extent in gaining political access and victories. However, political expectations have risen so high that Hispanics have been and will be unable to meet them.

The first part of this decade has brought unprecedented suffering to Hispanics, and the future looks no better. The 1984 presidential election was hyped by Hispanic leaders as the election in which Hispanics would make the difference; yet initial post-election voter surveys showed Hispanics voting in higher numbers for the Republican ticket, and fewer Hispanics voting than had been predicted. Hispanics made no major difference in the presidential election, for the Anglo community increased its vote, which offset any major increase by Hispanics.

As a result, the Hispanic community was criticized and once again labeled as politically disorganized. Furthermore, major political schisms came to the surface within the Hispanic community between Cuban-Americans and others, bringing charges that Hispanics were still not united. These and other criticisms of our political participation, coupled with the continued demise of our integration into mainstream U.S. economic life, underscored that Hispanics were not politically sophisticated, organized or capable of seizing the times and so-called opportunities that went with our growing population. In essence, as we played the ``Decade of the Hispanics`` game, we too began to believe that we would make significant progress. Unfortunately, our difficulties have continued to far outweigh our successes.

Perhaps the irony lies in that we have yet to agree on what our political expectations should be for this decade. In failing to develop our own expectations, we appear to have accepted someone else`s, which were developed out of selfish motives and ignorance.

As a student, observer and practitioner of the political process, I believe that many of our efforts toward political empowerment are neither well planned nor well coordinated. Furthermore, there has often been a general lack of critical analysis of our political development. While the general media have begun to take interest in the Hispanic community, they have failed in seriously and objectively analyzing recent political developments concerning Hispanics in immigration, foreign affairs and party politics.

More important, we Hispanics should not be afraid to critically assess our political development, for there has been virtually no constructive evaluation of our elected officials, organizations and political leanings. As a community, we have no political institutions to speak of or established journalists who monitor and critique our political decisions. There is no entity which provides an analytical insight into our political development and furnishes a basis for debate about our future. This lack of analysis creates stagnation and inertia. We must develop knowledge and appreciation of how far we`ve come, how we`ve evolved and how these factors will affect our future. We must be willing to learn from our past and institutionalize mechanisms that allow us to practice what we learn.

Furthermore, Hispanics are not well-informed nor encouraged to learn about previous struggles, such as the black civil rights movement. We have not examined the failure and successes of this movement in our attempt to improve our own political development.

Hispanics share a tremendous ignorance of each other as groups and are willing to deal with each other based on stereotypes and myths. There is little sharing of experiences and perspectives among Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, Cubans and other Hispanics from Central and South America. As a consequence, there is little knowledge and understanding among us as to the reasons for our political beliefs, development and participation. Though we at times discuss each other`s political philosophy in generalities, we don`t know the complexities surrounding our views.

This situation presents more difficulties than many recognize, for it is imperative that Hispanics foster and practice better relations among ourselves. Failure to accomplish this will mean substantially less political power, more intercommunity rivalry and, possibly, intergroup confrontations. Under these circumstances, no one can deal effectively with the structural problems confronting the Hispanic community.

What is needed is a constant and constructive critique of our political development. This includes monitoring and analyzing the work of our elected officials, our advocacy and service organizations, political institutions in the U.S. and how they relate to Hispanic interests and political needs.

Furthermore, we must seriously assess the stages of development of the Puerto Rican, Mexican-American, Cuban-American and other Hispanic communities and how they interrelate or fail to relate to one another. This would include providing better bases for understanding historical and contemporary factors affecting our present circumstances.

Lastly, we must seriously challenge the popularly held opinion that Hispanics cannot be unified, by emphasizing issues of mutual concern and developing mechanisms for undertaking joint efforts.

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